Netflix shares rose to their highest level since 2021 as part of a significant resurgence for the streaming leader.

T he share price closed at $698.54 that is above its all-time peak of $691.69 reached on 17 Nov 2021. This was after having risen by 1.5% on Tuesday. The push behind the increase comes in the wake of an announcement from Netflix that upfront ad commitment is 150% year-over-year and boosted by a new advertising tier.

Shares are up more than tripled since finding a low in May 2022 and are approaching pre-pandemic highs, outperforming all other major publicly traded streaming services. In contrast, Disney+ has dropped 56% from its peak in 2021, Max is down 90% and Paramount+ has declined 89%. Comcast's Peacock is classified similarly to Netflix and has declined 35%, while Spotify has fallen 11%. Those declines reflect some differences in their business models compared to Netflix.

As this resurgence continues to unfold, however, Netflix shares have not matched the performance of the S&P 500 index. To be sure, while that November 2021 low the benchmark has rallied some 25%, Netflix shares are up a paltry 1%. As of the last trading session, Netflix's market capitalization had grown to just shy of $300 billion-to surpass Disney Inc. and other competitors, including Paramount, Spotify, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

A subscription growth stimulus also came about with the introduction of the ad tier in November, at a time when the company also cracked down on password sharing following a difficult 2022 in which Netflix saw its first subscription decline since 2011 and its market value plummeted by 50% in April. Meanwhile, Netflix reported record quarterly revenues that edged close to $10 billion and reached a new milestone at 278 million global subscribers.