Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Soars to 52‑Week High as Bidding War Heats Up – All the Key Series A Stock News on November 29, 2025

Published: November 29, 2025

Quick Overview: What Changed for WBD Stock Today

On November 29, 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Series A common stock (Nasdaq: WBD) — the company’s only traded share class ^[1] — continued its explosive 2025 run as:

The share price hit a new 52‑week high around $24.20 on heavy volume. ^[2]
Reports surfaced that Comcast is considering a higher, $27–$28 per‑share bid for WBD’s studio and streaming assets. ^[3]
Analysts and policy watchers detailed what a Paramount–WBD mega‑deal could mean for streaming and competition. ^[4]
New filings showed fresh insider selling by the Chief Accounting Officer and hedge‑fund profit‑taking. ^[5]
A long‑time business‑affairs chief at Warner Bros. Pictures, Steve Spira, announced he’s stepping down, adding another leadership change to a company already in strategic flux. ^[6]

Below is a detailed, Google News‑ready rundown of everything that matters for WBD Series A shareholders and watchers today.

WBD Stock Today: Rally Extends at New 52‑Week High

MarketBeat reports that Warner Bros. Discovery shares traded as high as $24.20 in Friday’s session, marking a fresh 52‑week high and closing just above $24 on elevated volume. ^[7]

Key points from that move:

Intraday high: ~$24.20, with the stock last changing hands around $24.00–$24.05 in late‑day trading. ^[8]
One‑year range: roughly $7.52 to $24.19, putting the stock at the very top of its 12‑month band. ^[9]
Market cap: about $59–60 billion at current levels. ^[10]

The rally caps what Benzinga describes as a triple‑digit year‑to‑date gain (around 120–130%), driven largely by growing expectations that Warner Bros. Discovery will either be sold or split into separate units. ^[11]

In other words: the stock price today is no longer driven just by earnings, but by takeover math and deal speculation.

Sale Process: Comcast Eyes a Higher Bid as Second‑Round Deadline Nears

Board wants better offers by December 1

Reuters reported earlier this week that Warner Bros. Discovery has asked potential buyers to submit improved bids by December 1, following an initial round of non‑binding offers from Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix. ^[12]

WBD previously rejected a mostly‑cash Paramount bid of nearly $24 per share, valuing the company at about $60 billion. ^[13]
After reviewing enhanced proposals, the board may enter exclusive negotiations with one bidder. ^[14]
All of this sits on top of a prior plan to split WBD into two publicly traded companies, separating Studios & Streaming from its declining cable networks. ^[15]

Comcast: potentially up to $27–$28 per share for assets

Benzinga, citing New York Post reporting, says Comcast CEO Brian Roberts is preparing an aggressive second‑round bid focused on WBD’s studio and streaming assets: ^[16]

Roberts is considering a bid in the $27–$28 per‑share range for those assets,
That would top Paramount Skydance’s roughly $25 per‑share offer for the whole company,
And likely exceed Netflix’s first‑round proposal for the same studio/streaming piece.

The article notes that WBD’s board launched its strategic review after receiving unsolicited interest, and is weighing options that range from:

A full sale of the company,
To separate deals for its Global Networks (CNN, TNT, Discovery Channel) and Streaming & Studios divisions. ^[17]

That second path would align with the previously announced plan to split WBD in April 2026 into two companies: one housing Warner Bros. studios and Max/HBO, and the other focused on cable networks and sports. ^[18]

Paramount & Netflix: different deal shapes, different risks

Separate Reuters coverage outlines how Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix each present their own regulatory and political risk profiles: ^[19]

Paramount Skydance
- Aims to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including cable networks.
- Backed by billionaire Larry Ellison, whose capital and political ties could help in Washington.
- A combined Paramount–WBD would control about 32% of the North American box office and unify HBO Max and Paramount+ under one umbrella, raising antitrust and media‑plurality questions. ^[20]
Comcast
- Wants WBD’s studio and streaming assets (Warner Bros., HBO, Max) to bolster Universal, Peacock and Comcast’s theme‑park portfolio. ^[21]
- A Universal–Warner combo could command over 43% of the North American box office, likely drawing intense DOJ scrutiny. ^[22]
Netflix
- Is primarily eyeing WBD’s studio and streaming businesses to strengthen its library and franchises (e.g., Harry Potter, DC). ^[23]
- Regulators would focus on subscription streaming dominance if Netflix folded WBD’s 128 million streaming subscribers into its own massive base. ^[24]

For WBD Series A shareholders, the headline risk is clear:
the stock price now embeds expectations that something big happens — either a sale at a premium, a split, or both. If negotiations stall or regulators push back, the share price could re‑rate lower towards fundamentals.

Paramount–WBD “Super‑App” Scenario: What It Could Mean

Competition Policy International (via PYMNTS) published a piece today exploring what a Paramount–WBD deal might look like from a streaming and antitrust perspective. ^[25]

Highlights:

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is reportedly keen on a single, consolidated streaming app, likely folding HBO Max into Paramount+ rather than building a brand‑new platform. ^[26]
The combined service would sit on top of two deep libraries of films and series, potentially reshaping subscription competition if pricing and bundling are aggressive. ^[27]
There is no current plan to sell off major cable assets from either side, and analysts note that CNN and CBS News could share resources inside a merged news operation. ^[28]

Separate sports‑media analysis has flagged that a Paramount–WBD combination would likely unite CBS Sports and TNT Sports under one roof, consolidating key live rights and raising the stakes for sports leagues, distributors and regulators. ^[29]

For investors, this scenario implies:

A potentially stronger streaming business with global scale,
But also greater regulatory risk and a high likelihood that any deal would come with divestitures or strict conditions.

Insider and Institutional Selling: How Worried Should Shareholders Be?

Chief Accounting Officer sells $235,400 under 10b5‑1 plan

In fresh insider‑trading disclosures published today, Investing.com reports that Lori C. Locke, WBD’s Chief Accounting Officer, sold a total of 10,000 Series A shares for about $235,400. ^[30]

5,000 shares sold on November 26 at $23.25
5,000 shares sold on November 28 at $23.83
Locke still directly owns 140,084 shares after the transactions. ^[31]

Crucially, the filing notes these sales were executed under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 trading plan established in August 2025 — which is designed to reduce the risk of insider‑trading accusations by automating sales on a preset schedule. ^[32]

Hedge fund trims stake; insiders have been net sellers

MarketBeat highlights that CrossingBridge Advisors LLC cut its WBD stake by 38.5% in the second quarter, selling 25,000 shares and leaving a 40,000‑share position worth roughly $458,000 at the time of filing. ^[33]

In the same piece, MarketBeat notes:

WBD insiders have sold about 1.19 million shares over the past three months, worth roughly $22.8 million in aggregate,
CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sold more than 530,000 shares in September, and other executives have also realized gains. ^[34]

How to interpret this:

Insider and hedge‑fund selling doesn’t automatically mean bad news — executives often diversify after big runs, and rule‑based plans are set months in advance.
However, the scale of selling, combined with third‑party valuation work suggesting WBD may now be 20% or more above intrinsic value, has some analysts warning that the stock is priced for a very favorable deal outcome. ^[35]

Leadership Change: Business Affairs Chief Steve Spira to Exit

Variety reported today that Steve Spira, the long‑time business affairs chief for Warner Bros.’ motion picture group, will step down at year‑end. ^[36]

Key details:

Spira is a 40‑year studio veteran, first joining the Burbank lot in 1985, then returning in 2022 when CEO David Zaslav installed new film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. ^[37]
His exit is not directly triggered by the current sale talks, but it comes as WBD weighs offers from Paramount, Netflix and Comcast and considers selling Warner Bros. (studio + Max) separately from Discovery Global, its networks arm. ^[38]
Variety suggests the replacement will likely be chosen from within Spira’s existing team, preserving some continuity in deal‑making and talent relationships. ^[39]

For shareholders, this move is more qualitative than numerical: Spira is widely considered a key holder of “institutional memory” and a trusted advisor on talent deals. His departure adds to a sense that WBD is entering a new era, regardless of which strategic path the board chooses.

Under the Hood: Fundamentals After Q3 2025

Despite the takeover buzz, Warner Bros. Discovery is still a real business with real earnings — and those fundamentals are more mixed than the stock chart suggests.

According to WBD’s own Q3 2025 earnings release and Reuters’ coverage: ^[40]

Revenue:
- Q3 revenue was $9.0–9.05 billion, down about 6% year‑on‑year on a constant‑currency basis.
- Excluding the one‑off boost from the 2024 Olympics in Europe, revenue was roughly flat ex‑FX.
Profitability:
- GAAP net loss was $148 million, driven by around $1.3 billion in acquisition‑related amortization, content step‑ups and restructuring charges. ^[41]
- Adjusted EBITDA rose about 2% ex‑FX to $2.5 billion, helped by Studios and Streaming, partially offset by ongoing declines in cable networks. ^[42]
Streaming & subscribers:
- WBD ended the quarter with 128 million streaming subscribers, adding 2.3 million vs. Q2 — a solid but below‑expectations number relative to Visible Alpha consensus. ^[43]
Balance sheet:
- The company finished Q3 with about $4.3 billion in cash and $34.5 billion in gross debt, for net leverage around 3.3x. ^[44]
- WBD repaid $1.2 billion of debt in the quarter, including $1 billion on its bridge loan. ^[45]

Takeaway: operationally, WBD is still transitioning — studios are thriving, streaming is growing but volatile, and linear TV continues to erode. The sale/split process is partly about getting ahead of that structural decline and unlocking value.

How Wall Street Now Values WBD Series A Stock

There’s a striking divergence between Wall Street ratings and valuation models:

Analyst ratings: generally bullish

StockAnalysis aggregates 19 covering analysts as a “Buy”, with an average price target around $19.21, implying almost 20% downside from ~24 dollars — a sign that many targets haven’t yet fully caught up with the rally. ^[46]
MarketBeat and Nasdaq show a “Moderate Buy” / “Overweight” consensus from roughly 28 analysts, with an average target just below $22, implying mid‑single‑digit downside to current prices. ^[47]
TickerNerd, summarizing 33 Wall Street analysts, puts the median target at $24, essentially in line with today’s price, and notes 13 Buys, 12 Holds and 0 Sells. ^[48]
Anachart, which tracks analyst accuracy, shows some more aggressive targets, with an average near the mid‑20s and a high around $28. ^[49]

Valuation models: caution on overpricing

Simply Wall St, using a discounted cash‑flow model, estimates WBD’s intrinsic value around $19.74 per share, about 21% below the current market price, and flags the stock as “overvalued” on both DCF and price‑to‑earnings measures. ^[50]

Meanwhile, MarketBeat’s 52‑week‑high note points out that: ^[51]

WBD now trades at a P/E near 80x,
And insiders have been net sellers, even as analysts remain broadly positive.

Put simply, the analyst narrative is “fundamentally OK plus deal optionality,” but many numeric models are flashing “expensive unless the deal is great.”

Today’s Other Notable Mentions of WBD Stock

A few ancillary but telling datapoints from November 29:

MarketBeat’s “Promising Entertainment Stocks To Research – November 29th” list features WBD alongside Disney, Verizon, Sea, Flutter, Roblox and Autodesk, highlighting the stock’s huge trading volume and central role in the entertainment complex. ^[52]
TechBuzz, in an article updated today, recaps WBD’s formal strategic review, launched after the board rejected earlier offers around $20–24 per share and signaled openness to $20+ billion worth of potential asset deals. ^[53]
Broader market commentary notes that the “Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war” has become a key driver in both media stocks and some tech names (for example, Netflix sentiment pieces now explicitly reference WBD sale “jitters”). ^[54]

Key Risks for WBD Series A Shareholders

Even with the excitement, investors monitoring WBD should keep several risks front‑of‑mind:

Deal Risk
- Bids could come in below the levels now implied by the share price, or negotiations could collapse entirely.
- MarketBeat and Nasdaq both stress that a failed sale could trigger a sharp pullback, especially given how far the stock has already run. ^[55]
Regulatory & Political Risk
- Any deal involving Paramount, Comcast or Netflix would face intense scrutiny over competition in streaming, theatrical distribution, news and sports. ^[56]
Execution Risk if No Deal Happens
- If WBD proceeds with its split‑into‑two plan instead of selling, execution missteps or weaker‑than‑expected trading in the new entities could weigh on value. ^[57]
Debt and Cyclicality
- With over $34 billion in gross debt, WBD remains sensitive to interest rates, advertising cycles and box‑office swings. ^[58]
Valuation vs. Growth
- If the sale premium doesn’t materialize, models suggesting 20%+ overvaluation could start to matter again. ^[59]

None of these risks invalidate the bull case, but they raise the bar for what kind of deal (or split) is needed to justify today’s price.

What to Watch Next

For anyone following Warner Bros. Discovery Series A stock, the near‑term calendar is packed:

December 1, 2025: Deadline for improved second‑round bids from Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix. ^[60]
Subsequent weeks: Possible announcement of exclusive talks with a preferred bidder — or a pivot back toward the April 2026 split if offers disappoint. ^[61]

Until then, WBD’s Series A stock is likely to trade more on M&A headlines and rumor velocity than on quarterly metrics.

Final Note (Not Financial Advice!)

This article summarizes publicly available information about Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Series A stock as of November 29, 2025, and is intended for informational and news purposes only. It is not personalized financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

If you’re considering an investment in WBD (or any stock), it’s wise to:

Review the company’s official filings and earnings materials, ^[62]
Compare multiple analyst and valuation sources,
And consult a qualified financial adviser who understands your specific goals and risk tolerance.

The Battle for Warner Bros. Discovery: Bidding War Heats Up