New York, Jan 23, 2026, 12:51 PM ET — Regular session
- Netflix shares rose about 3% in midday trading, outperforming the broader market.
- The move comes as Netflix and Paramount Skydance jostle for Warner Bros Discovery assets, with deadlines approaching.
- Investors are watching the Feb. 20 tender-offer deadline and a Warner shareholder vote expected by April.
Netflix shares rose about 3% on Friday, recovering to $86.06 in midday trade as investors tracked fresh signals in the takeover fight for Warner Bros Discovery’s studios and streaming assets. The S&P 500 proxy SPY was up about 0.1% and the Nasdaq-100 tracker QQQ gained about 0.5%, while Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Skydance shares were little changed.
The stock has been swinging as Netflix tries to pull off a rare megadeal and fund it, with rivals and regulators in the frame. For investors, the question is less about this week’s bounce and more about how expensive — and how slow — the path to closing gets.
Netflix co-chief executive Greg Peters said Paramount’s rival offer “doesn’t pass the sniff test,” the Financial Times reported, adding he believed Netflix was on track to win Warner shareholder backing. Peters also told the newspaper only a “very small” number of Warner shares had been tendered in support of Paramount’s hostile bid. Reuters
Paramount Skydance on Thursday extended the deadline on its hostile tender offer — a bid that asks shareholders to sell their stock directly — to Feb. 20, buying time without raising its price. Only 6.8% of Warner’s outstanding shares had been tendered by the original deadline, Reuters reported. Bloomberg News also reported Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos plans to testify next month at a U.S. Senate committee hearing on the proposed deal.
Netflix revised its agreement this week into an all-cash offer for Warner’s studio and streaming assets priced at $27.75 per share, worth $82.7 billion, a filing showed, and said the shareholder vote was expected by April. “This new agreement only ramps up the pressure,” Alex Fitch, portfolio manager at Harris Oakmark, told Reuters, arguing the changes forced Paramount to move fast if it wanted to stay in the race. Reuters
Sarandos and Peters spent much of their post-results messaging defending the pivot, calling Warner a way to add a “mature” theatrical business and the HBO brand — a sharp shift for a company that long sold itself on building rather than buying. Peters said HBO is an “amazing brand,” while the company also flagged heavy scrutiny ahead from lawmakers and competition regulators. Reuters
The deal talk has overshadowed earnings. Netflix reported quarterly revenue of $12.1 billion and adjusted earnings of 56 cents per share, and said paid subscribers ended the quarter at 325 million, up from 300 million reported in late 2024, according to Reuters. It forecast 2026 revenue of $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion and said the outlook assumes advertising revenue doubles, with CFO Spencer Neumann telling investors ad revenue would reach about $3 billion. “Historically, Netflix has not shied away from doing what’s right for long-term growth even at the expense of near-term negative share price reaction,” Michael Ashley Schulman of Running Point Capital Advisors said. Reuters
But the risks are easy to sketch. Paramount could still raise its bid, forcing Netflix to decide whether to pay up or walk, while integration costs and a bigger debt load could pressure margins even if the deal clears regulators. A prolonged fight would also keep attention on Netflix’s decision to pause buybacks while it builds cash.
Traders now have a short calendar: Paramount’s tender-offer deadline on Feb. 20, then a Senate hearing next month that could sharpen the tone around antitrust and media consolidation.
Warner has said it expects a shareholder vote on the Netflix deal by April. Until that date firms up — and until investors see whether anyone blinks — Netflix’s share price is likely to keep taking its cue from the next filing, the next headline and the next tweak to the deal terms.
