Short sellers are betting on Netflix succumbing to aggressive competition from Disney and Apple as the streaming giant faces its biggest challenge yet.

Disney and Apple are preparing to launch cut-price video streaming services within a month, undercutting Netflix’s monthly charges. Shares in Netflix have fallen by 25pc in three months, and several Wall Street analysts have cut price targets for it ahead of third-quarter results on Wednesday.

Short sellers – who borrow shares in a company and sell them, predicting they will be able to make a profit by buying them back at a lower price when stock falls – have taken out a $6bn (£4.7bn) bet against Netflix, according to data from S3 Partners.

Around 5.2pc of its shares were out on loan last week, up from 3.2pc at the start of the year.

Apple TV Plus is due to launch in 100 countries at the start of November, with Disney’s service to follow two weeks later. Netflix is fighting a defensive action against the two launches with a slate of fresh programming, such as a new series of The Crown and film releases including Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.