Fed meeting jitters, a $72–$108 billion streaming war, and an $11 billion AI data deal put Nvidia, Tesla, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, SoFi, IBM and Confluent among the most active stocks on the US market today.
Quick Snapshot: What’s Driving Today’s Most Active US Stocks?
As Wall Street opens the second week of December, US indices are hovering just below record highs while traders brace for the Federal Reserve’s final policy decision of 2025. The S&P 500 is trading near 5,278, within touching distance of the 5,300 resistance zone, with the Nasdaq 100 also pushing toward fresh highs and the Dow around 39,400. [1]
Against that backdrop, trading screens are dominated by a handful of high-volume names:
- Nvidia (NVDA) – AI leader under pressure but still a top volume play
- Tesla (TSLA) – Hit by a high‑profile downgrade after a huge run in 2025
- Netflix (NFLX) – Volatile as Wall Street re‑prices its massive Warner Bros. deal
- Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) – Surges on a new hostile takeover bid
- SoFi Technologies (SOFI) – Sells off on a $1.5 billion share offering
- Confluent (CFLT) & IBM (IBM) – Hyper‑active after an $11 billion AI data acquisition
Multiple screeners and market‑mover dashboards from WallStreetZen, StockAnalysis, Nasdaq and TradingView show Nvidia, Netflix, SoFi and Warner Bros. Discovery among today’s US volume leaders, with Confluent and smaller high‑beta names such as Paranovus (PAVS) also crowding the top of “Most Active” lists. [2]
A TechStock² pre‑market report explicitly highlights Nvidia, Tesla, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and SoFi as “Most Active Stocks Today” for December 8, 2025, tying their heavy volume to AI optimism, media megadeals and fresh corporate actions. TechStock²
What “Most Active” Means – And Why It Matters Today
“Most active” lists are based on trading volume, not necessarily biggest price moves. Names show up when a lot of shares change hands — usually because new information hits the tape, like mergers, downgrades, capital raises or macro shifts. [3]
Today’s most active stocks share three big themes:
- AI and data infrastructure – Nvidia and IBM/Confluent
- Streaming and media consolidation – Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery
- Fintech funding and rate expectations – SoFi and, indirectly, Tesla’s auto demand
Let’s go through each of the headline movers.
Nvidia (NVDA): AI Workloads Keep Volume High as Shares Cool Below $183
Nvidia remains one of the most traded stocks in the US market, with several volume screeners ranking it near the top of today’s lists. WallStreetZen’s “Most Active Stocks Today” page shows over 140 million NVDA shares changing hands, with the stock around $182–183 and down roughly 0.5% intraday, still up massively over the past year. [4]
A separate “All US Exchanges Volume Leaders” screen likewise flags Nvidia as a top dollar‑volume name. [5]
Today’s Nvidia Headlines
- A MarketWatch analysis argues Nvidia could benefit from a shift toward new “reasoning” AI models that require more memory and more powerful accelerators, supporting long‑term demand for high‑end GPUs and networking gear. [6]
- TradersUnion reports Nvidia stock trading just under $183, slightly lower on the day but still above both its 50‑day and 200‑day averages, with CEO Jensen Huang reiterating his bullishness on AI infrastructure and dismissing “doomsday” fears around the technology. [7]
- A Motley Fool piece titled “Should You Buy Nvidia Stock Hand Over Fist Before the End of 2025?” notes that while year‑end seasonality can be favorable, Nvidia’s December track record is mixed, reinforcing the idea that investors should anchor on multi‑year AI fundamentals rather than short‑term timing. [8]
How the Market Is Framing NVDA
- Bull case: Nvidia remains the key supplier for data‑center AI hardware and is expanding into networking and software, which many analysts see as a structural growth story into 2026 and beyond. [9]
- Bear case: Competition from AMD, custom chips at hyperscalers, and the sheer size of Nvidia’s market cap fuel concerns about whether AI demand can keep justifying premium valuations. [10]
Why NVDA is so active today: Investors are rebalancing AI exposure ahead of the Fed meeting and after another barrage of AI‑related headlines (including a new CUDA release and executive comments from Huang), turning Nvidia into a high‑liquidity instrument for expressing views on the AI trade as a whole. [11]
Tesla (TSLA): Heavy Trading as Morgan Stanley Downgrades a 2025 High‑Flyer
Tesla is not only one of the market’s most watched tickers — today it’s also one of the most actively traded, thanks to a high‑profile Morgan Stanley downgrade and a flurry of fresh 2026 outlooks. A TechStock² preview and multiple news aggregators flag TSLA among today’s most discussed movers. TechStock²+2Public+2
The Big Catalyst: A Downgrade on Valuation
Several outlets report that Morgan Stanley’s new Tesla analyst cut the stock from “Overweight” to “Equal Weight” (Hold) while raising the price target to about $425, implying modest downside from where shares have recently traded (around the mid‑$450s). [12]
- TipRanks and Finbold note that Tesla was down more than 1% in pre‑market trading on the downgrade, with the new target framed as a valuation reset rather than a call on Tesla’s technology. [13]
- A long‑form forecast from 24/7 Wall St tracks bull, base and bear scenarios, pointing out that Tesla is up roughly 20% for the year but still more than 5% below its late‑2024 peak, with recent performance dampened by an AI‑driven tech selloff. [14]
Deeper Concerns: Growth vs. Expectations
An in‑depth feature on Tesla’s 2025 performance describes the year as “forgettable,” highlighting how revenue growth has flattened and even dipped slightly year‑over‑year, despite earlier expectations of a blockbuster period. [15]
At the same time, new commentary suggests that Trump‑backed “tiny car” initiatives and regulatory pushes for low‑cost vehicles could benefit Tesla and other EV players in the medium term, even as near‑term valuations get recalibrated. [16]
Why TSLA is so active today: Tesla sits at the crossroads of EV demand, AI optionality and valuation risk. The Morgan Stanley downgrade forced many momentum traders and funds to adjust positions, driving large volumes as bulls and bears re‑price what a reasonable 2026 outlook looks like.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD): Volume Explosion on Paramount’s $108 Billion Hostile Bid
If you’re looking for the single most dramatic corporate story on the tape today, it’s hard to beat Warner Bros. Discovery.
Multiple “Most Active” lists put WBD near the top, with tens of millions of shares traded and volume several times its recent average. WallStreetZen and StockAnalysis both show WBD among the day’s top volume leaders, with the stock trading roughly in the high‑$20s and up mid‑single‑digits to high‑single‑digits percentage. [17]
From Netflix Deal to Paramount Counterattack
Just days ago, Netflix stunned Wall Street by agreeing to acquire Warner Bros.’ studios and streaming assets in a transaction with a $72 billion equity value and around $82–83 billion enterprise value, priced at about $27.75 per WBD share in a mix of cash and stock. [18]
Today, things escalated dramatically:
- Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has launched an all‑cash tender offer for all of WBD at $30 per share, valuing the company at roughly $108.4 billion. [19]
- Paramount emphasizes that its offer represents a 139% premium to WBD’s “undisturbed” price back in September and about $18 billion more cash than the Netflix proposal, while avoiding the complex stock component and regulatory tangle of the earlier deal. [20]
- The Hollywood Reporter and WSJ both report that Warner Bros. Discovery stock “jumped” on the Paramount bid, as the market prices in the chance of a bidding war and higher eventual takeover price. [21]
Investor Read‑Through
- For WBD holders: The stock now trades between Paramount’s $30 offer and the prior Netflix deal price, implying investors see upside optionality but real deal risk, especially given antitrust concerns and political noise around media concentration. [22]
- For the sector: Analysts argue this is a once‑in‑a‑decade reshaping of Hollywood, with streaming giants, traditional studios and private capital all vying to control premium IP libraries. ETFs focused on media and communications are already highlighting potential knock‑on impacts. [23]
Why WBD is so active today: Two mega‑cap suitors and a three‑way bidding war narrative have turned Warner Bros. Discovery into ground zero for merger arbitrage, options speculation and high‑frequency trading, making it one of the true volume monsters of the session.
Netflix (NFLX): “Very Risky” Megadeal Drives Heavy Trading and Downgrades
Netflix is on virtually every “Most Active” and “Trending Stocks” list today, with daily volume far above normal and the stock under pressure. WallStreetZen data show NFLX trading around the high‑$90s, down roughly 3% today after a 2.9% drop on Friday, with Friday’s volume exceeding 130 million shares — more than double typical levels.
The Deal: Buying Warner Bros. Discovery’s Core Assets
Across Reuters, Netflix’s own IR site and multiple research platforms, the picture is clear:
- Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and HBO/streaming assets in a deal with approximately $72 billion equity value and $82.7 billion enterprise value, with closing targeted for late 2026.
- The acquisition is widely described as a “lowest‑probability outcome” that surprised even bullish analysts, who had put a very small probability on Netflix doing such a massive studio acquisition.
Today’s Analyst Reaction: Targets Slashed
Several research houses moved quickly this morning:
- Rosenblatt and Pivotal Research both downgraded Netflix from Buy to Neutral, cutting price targets to about $105 from the $150–$160 range, citing deal risk, higher leverage and regulatory headwinds.
- An Investing.com note highlights that Netflix now trades near the new targets (around $100), with valuation screens flashing “overvalued” relative to fair‑value models given the new debt load and integration risk.
Meanwhile, a wave of commentary from Morningstar, Zacks and others suggests:
- WBD shareholders are big near‑term winners from the deal price, while Netflix shareholders face years of execution risk.
- Some strategists see the deal as ultimately bullish if Netflix can turn Warner’s IP into a global streaming “tollbooth”, but stress that any regulatory block or earnings disappointment could hit the stock hard.
Why NFLX is so active today: With multiple downgrades, a transformational acquisition, and a possible bidding war around its target, Netflix has become a real‑time referendum on whether streaming can still justify blockbuster M&A at this scale.
SoFi Technologies (SOFI): High Volume Sell‑Off After $1.5 Billion Equity Raise
Fintech favorite SoFi Technologies is another clear standout on today’s most‑active screens. WallStreetZen’s list shows SOFI trading near $27.78, down about 6%, with volume of roughly 138 million shares — more than double its normal daily activity.
The Trigger: A Big New Share Offering
A widely‑circulated note from 24/7 Wall St and follow‑up coverage on MarketBeat and GuruFocus explain today’s pressure:
- SoFi announced a $1.5 billion common stock offering, arranged with Goldman Sachs and other underwriters, sending the stock down 6–7% as investors digested the dilution.
- Despite today’s drop, SoFi is still up around 70–80% year‑to‑date, powered by strong member growth, deposit inflows and profitability milestones (Q3 net revenue near $962 million and net income around $139 million).
What the Forecasts Say
- StockAnalysis aggregates 15 analyst ratings on SoFi, with a consensus “Hold” and an average 12‑month price target near $24.7, implying low‑double‑digit downside from recent levels. Targets range from $12 to $37, underscoring the spread between bulls and bears.
- A recent Seeking Alpha article frames SoFi as “still very early in a multi‑year growth story,” arguing that its integrated financial “super‑app” plus bank charter could justify premium multiples if execution stays strong.
Why SOFI is so active today: The trade‑off between growth funding (via equity) and shareholder dilution is front and center. Some investors are using the pullback to re‑enter a high‑growth fintech they missed earlier in 2025; others are taking profit after a huge run.
Confluent (CFLT) & IBM (IBM): $11 Billion AI Data Deal Lights Up the Tape
On the enterprise‑software side, Confluent and IBM are both seeing intense trading after announcing one of the year’s biggest AI‑infrastructure deals.
StockAnalysis’s “Most Active” screener lists Confluent among the top US volume leaders, with around 40–41 million shares traded, the stock near $30 and up close to 29% on the day.
Deal Terms
- IBM and Confluent announced a definitive agreement under which IBM will acquire all of Confluent’s common shares for $31 in cash, representing an enterprise value of about $11 billion.
- Reuters notes that the price reflects roughly a 34% premium to Confluent’s last close, and that the stock had already rallied on reports of a potential sale earlier this autumn.
Strategic Angle: AI Data Plumbing
IBM is pitching the acquisition as a way to create a “smart data platform” for enterprise generative AI, letting customers move, process and govern real‑time data streams feeding AI agents and applications.
Market commentary from Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s and others emphasizes:
- The deal fits IBM’s recent strategy of bolstering hybrid‑cloud and AI capabilities through acquisitions such as Red Hat and HashiCorp.
- Confluent’s technology, built around Apache Kafka‑style data streaming, is seen as critical “plumbing” for modern AI workloads, which increasingly require reliable, low‑latency access to event data.
IBM’s own stock is trading heavily as well, as investors weigh the near‑term cash outlay versus anticipated EBITDA and free‑cash‑flow accretion in the first two years after closing.
Why CFLT & IBM are so active today: The acquisition crystallizes M&A value for Confluent holders and gives IBM a clear narrative in the AI data‑infrastructure race, drawing in arbitrage funds, AI‑thematic investors and income‑oriented holders re‑evaluating IBM’s long‑term dividend story.
Three Big Themes Behind Today’s Most Active Stocks
1. AI Everywhere – From Chips to Data Streams
Between Nvidia’s still‑elevated multiples and IBM’s move for Confluent, today’s tape underscores that AI is no longer just about GPUs:
- Nvidia remains the benchmark for AI compute, with reports highlighting strong demand for its next‑gen chips even as competition intensifies.
- Confluent and IBM are making the case that AI’s real bottleneck is often getting the right data to the right model at the right time, not just buying more GPUs.
2. Streaming Consolidation & Regulatory Risk
Netflix’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery — and Paramount’s aggressive counter‑offer — highlight a wave of consolidation in streaming and premium content:
- WBD shareholders see immediate upside from multiple bidders, but the market is pricing in regulatory, political and financing risk.
- Netflix shareholders are being asked to underwrite a huge leverage‑and‑integration bet, hence the downgrades and elevated volatility.
3. Funding Costs and the Fed
SoFi’s equity raise and Tesla’s downgrade are happening as markets debate how far and how fast the Fed will cut rates in 2026:
- Market overview pieces describe US benchmarks grinding higher toward record levels while traders brace for potential rate‑cut guidance at this week’s meeting.
- High‑growth names like SoFi and Tesla are especially sensitive to the cost of capital and long‑duration earnings assumptions that central‑bank policy can re‑price quickly.
What Today’s Most Active Stocks Mean for Investors
A few practical takeaways from today’s high‑volume tape:
- High volume is a signal, not a recommendation. Most‑active lists highlight where the market’s attention — and often uncertainty — is largest. They are a starting point for research, not a buy or sell list.
- Event risk cuts both ways.
- WBD and CFLT holders are staring at takeover premiums, but deals can fail or get delayed.
- NFLX, TSLA and SOFI are digesting downgrades and dilution, which sometimes create buying opportunities — and sometimes mark the start of longer drawdowns.
- Macro still matters. With the Fed meeting looming and AI policy increasingly in the political spotlight, today’s most active stocks are also proxies for rates expectations and regulatory risk — not just company‑specific stories.
Final Word (and a Necessary Disclaimer)
Today’s US “most active” stocks — Nvidia, Tesla, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, SoFi, Confluent and IBM — are being driven by fresh, event‑driven news flows on December 8, 2025, from megadeals to downgrades and capital raises. For traders, they offer liquidity and volatility; for long‑term investors, they are prompts to revisit assumptions around AI, media and fintech over the next decade.
This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Always do your own due diligence or consult a licensed financial professional before making investment decisions.
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.tradingview.com, 3. www.wallstreetzen.com, 4. www.wallstreetzen.com, 5. www.barchart.com, 6. www.morningstar.com, 7. tradersunion.com, 8. www.fool.com, 9. www.marketwatch.com, 10. www.wsj.com, 11. insidehpc.com, 12. primaryignition.com, 13. www.tipranks.com, 14. 247wallst.com, 15. stocktwits.com, 16. www.tipranks.com, 17. stockanalysis.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. finance.yahoo.com, 20. www.prnewswire.com, 21. www.hollywoodreporter.com, 22. www.investopedia.com, 23. finviz.com
