YouTube Is a $455 Billion Media Giant Hiding in Plain Sight

  • Potential value may eclipse streaming peers such as Netflix
  • Separating part of YouTube could boost Google shares: Needham

YouTube has a dominant and growing share in streaming, as consumers shift away from broadcast and cable TV.

Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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Investors attach a $2.3 trillion valuation to Alphabet Inc. for its status as an internet search behemoth and AI innovator. Yet even that massive figure underplays YouTube’s true worth, according to analysts at Needham & Co.

The streaming unit is one of the world’s most valuable media companies and worth at least $455 billion on its own, Needham’s Laura Martin and Dan Medina wrote in a July 3 note. That’s more than 50% above Netflix Inc.’s market cap.