NEW YORK, January 4, 2026, 10:00 ET — Market closed
- Netflix shares fell 2.95% on Friday to close at $90.99; they were up slightly in after-hours trading.
- U.S. stocks ended mixed on the first trading day of 2026 as Treasury yields rose and growth shares lagged.
- Netflix is set to post fourth-quarter results and its business outlook on January 20, after the U.S. market close.
Netflix (NFLX) shares ended Friday down 2.95% at $90.99, extending a pullback that has left the stock nursing a steep decline since early December.
The move matters now because Netflix’s next major catalyst — fourth-quarter results and management’s 2026 outlook — is less than three weeks away, with investors looking for evidence that core streaming momentum can offset deal uncertainty.
It also comes as the market’s early-2026 tone has put pressure on growth stocks. Treasury yields moved higher on Friday as investors looked ahead to upcoming economic data, a backdrop that can weigh on high-multiple names.
The stock closed near the low of Friday’s range after opening above $94, according to historical pricing data. After-hours trading — transactions outside the regular 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET session — had shares at $91.10.
Netflix is down about 17% from its Dec. 2 close and roughly 9% from Dec. 5, levels that bracket the period when investors began pricing in its biggest strategic swing in years.
On Dec. 5, Netflix agreed to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s TV and film studios and streaming unit for $72 billion, a cash-and-stock deal that would hand it HBO Max and Warner’s film and TV library and is expected to draw antitrust scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe.
Netflix has said the transaction would close after Warner Bros Discovery completes a planned spinoff of its global networks unit, targeted for the third quarter of 2026, and outlined breakup fees if either side walks away. A breakup fee is a contract penalty paid if a deal collapses.
“I know some of you are surprised that we’re making this acquisition,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told investors when the deal was announced. Reuters
Some Wall Street analysts have argued the acquisition lengthens the period of uncertainty for shareholders and may deliver limited financial payoff relative to the risks, prompting more conservative valuation assumptions in models.
But the downside case remains clear: regulators could delay or block the Warner transaction, or the deal’s long timetable could keep the stock sensitive to shifting rates and risk appetite if investors demand quicker earnings visibility.
In the near term, traders will also watch whether Monday’s reopening brings a rebound in tech and growth shares after Friday’s mixed close, or extends the rotation that left the Nasdaq lagging.
The next hard catalyst is January 20, when Netflix plans to post results at about 4:01 p.m. ET and hold a live video interview at 4:45 p.m. ET. Investors will be listening for 2026 guidance, advertising progress, and any changes to deal timing and financing assumptions.
