Analysts predict YouTube could surpass Disney in revenue this year

YouTube could be worth around $550 billion and is likely to see its revenue surpass Disney’s, according to research firm MoffettNathanson.

In the report, published March 31, 2025, the firm’s Michael Nathanson notes that if the video site was a standalone company, it could be valued at around half a trillion dollars — somewhere in the range of $475 billion and $550 billion, according to MoffettNathanson analysis of other corporate valuations. 

YouTube, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, has also been dubbed the “new king of all media” by the the firm.

In 2024, YouTube also brought in $54.2 billion in revenue. In that theoretical standalone company match-up scenario, that would place it second only to Disney among all other media companies. 

Meanwhile, Nathanson predicts YouTube will surpass Disney’s $91.4 billion in overall revenue recorded in its latest fiscal year later in 2025.

A key factor in this strong growth is that YouTube has been able to generate revenue from both advertising and subscriptions, something that’s proven more challenging for other media companies and standalone streamers. All told, YouTube brought in $36 billion in advertising revenue in 2024.

That’s a monumental figure, considering that Netflix, which had $10.2 billion in overall revenue in 2024, is only projected to hit around $9.3 billion in ad revenue by 2030.

By comparison, Disney’s own Disney+ streamer, which has a lower-priced ad-supported tier, made $10.4 billion in revenue in total in 2024.

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To be clear, Netflix and Disney+ have different business models than YouTube, including the fact that none of either streamers’ content is available for free even with ads, whereas the vast majority of the video on YouTube’s website can be viewed for free — often with ads.

On the subscription side, YouTube has capitalized on a variety of subscription options, including YouTube Premium, YouTube Music and vMVPD YouTube TV (Disney has its hand in vMPVD through its Hulu-branded live TV offering that is in the process of being merged with FuboTV, though both brands are expected to continue operating after the deal closes).

YouTube TV also offers additional subscriptions on top of its almost-as-expensive as cable offering, including NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube Primetime Channels and other premium options.

The fact that YouTube TV has been steadily increasing its price point (while, at least to some degree, keeping up with more content offerings) means that it will likely see its revenue level off in the coming years, MoffettNathanson notes.