How Netflix Is Stacking the Deck Against the Competition

It's hard to understate Netflix's (NASDAQ: NFLX)accomplishments over the last five years. The company has gone from experimenting with original content to becoming the most disruptive force Hollywood has seen in decades, spending far more on programming than any of its direct competitors. At the same time, Netflix has become a global brand, completing its international expansion in 2016, and it now claims 125 million members worldwide, up from 36 million five years ago.

It's no surprise, then, that Netflix shares have surged in that span, up a whopping 885%. Netflix is now worth nearly as much as Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS), the company long seen as the gold standard in the entertainment industry.