New York, Jan 24, 2026, 10:57 EST — Market closed.
- Netflix shares rose 3.1% on Friday, finishing at $86.12 on the Nasdaq.
- Co-CEO Greg Peters called Paramount’s rival Warner bid “doesn’t pass the sniff test,” as the contest drags toward a Feb. 20 deadline.
- Traders now look to next week’s tech earnings and a Federal Reserve meeting for the market tone into Monday.
Netflix Inc shares ended Friday up 3.1% at $86.12, reversing earlier weakness and heading into the weekend with deal headlines back in focus. The stock was little changed in after-hours trading.
Investors are still trading Netflix (NFLX.O) as much on its Warner Bros Discovery pursuit as on streaming fundamentals. Co-chief executive Greg Peters said Paramount’s rival bid “doesn’t pass the sniff test,” the Financial Times reported, as Paramount presses a hostile offer partly financed with debt. Reuters
That matters now because Netflix is getting dragged into the same “show-me” market mood hitting big tech ahead of a heavy earnings week. “We’re feeling pretty good, but mindful we might have some significant twists and turns,” said Jason Blackwell, chief investment strategist at Focus Partners Wealth, pointing to a year likely to stay volatile. Reuters
Paramount Skydance extended the deadline on its hostile tender offer for Warner Bros Discovery to Feb. 20 after attracting only a small slice of shares, according to a regulatory update on Thursday. A tender offer is a bid made directly to shareholders to sell stock at a set price, rather than negotiating a friendly merger.
Netflix’s own transaction structure has also shifted. An SEC filing said the companies amended their deal so Warner shareholders would receive $27.75 per share in cash, after Warner first spins out its Global Linear Networks segment into a separate company and Netflix then acquires the retained streaming and studios business. The filing also said Netflix increased bridge term-loan commitments — short-term financing meant to be replaced later — to $42.2 billion, and laid out breakup fees including $5.8 billion payable by Netflix in certain regulatory-failure scenarios.
Some investors see the all-cash rewrite as a move to reduce uncertainty without ending the central risk: regulators. “A cash bid strips away uncertainty,” said Matt Britzman, a senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, while adding it “does nothing to ease regulatory scrutiny.” Reuters
Netflix’s last earnings report earlier in the week offered little relief from the deal debate. The company beat revenue expectations for the holiday quarter, said paid memberships reached 325 million, and forecast 2026 revenue of $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion, while warning the low end trailed analyst estimates.
Still, the near-term trade is binary. A higher or cleaner offer from Paramount could force Netflix to walk away, while a prolonged regulatory review could leave the stock sensitive to each new filing, court ruling or political shot across the bow.
For Monday’s session and the week ahead, traders will watch whether the broader tech tape holds up as megacaps report and the Fed meets. For Netflix, the next hard date on the calendar remains Feb. 20, when Paramount’s tender offer is due to expire.
