Netflix stock price holds near $88 as Sony film deal and Warner bid set up Tuesday earnings

Netflix, Inc. shares were little changed on Tuesday after Paramount Skydance sued Warner Bros Discovery and said it would nominate directors in a bid to block Warner’s planned deal with Netflix, Reuters reported. Paramount is pitching a $30-per-share all-cash tender offer — an offer to buy stock directly from shareholders — that expires on Jan. 21, versus Netflix’s $82.7 billion cash-and-stock agreement valued at $27.75 per share for Warner’s studios and streaming assets. Netflix was up 0.03% at $89.44 in late-morning trade, while Warner fell 0.3% and Paramount Skydance slipped 0.5%.

Paramount has urged U.S. lawmakers to take a hard look at Netflix’s proposed acquisition of key Warner Bros Discovery assets. In a written filing, the company labeled the deal “presumptively unlawful.” Paramount also dismissed claims that free video platforms can compete with paid streaming as “psychedelic antitrust,” arguing there’s “no ground in market or legal reality” for such comparisons.

Warner Bros Discovery said on Wednesday its board rejected Paramount Skydance’s revised $108.4 billion hostile bid and reaffirmed support for a competing deal with Netflix. It urged shareholders to ignore Paramount’s tender offer, a bid made directly to investors to buy their shares. Reuters

Paramount Skydance is running out of patience with Warner Bros Discovery’s repeated refusals to engage on its takeover approach, the New York Post reported late Saturday. New York Post