NEW YORK, January 3, 2026, 07:37 ET — Market closed
- Netflix shares closed down about 3% on Friday at $90.99, underperforming a mixed U.S. session.
- Investors are positioning ahead of Netflix’s fourth-quarter results due January 20.
- The company’s agreed purchase of Warner Bros. assets remains a major overhang as regulatory review approaches.
Shares of Netflix, Inc. closed down about 3% at $90.99 on Friday, the first trading day of 2026, after swinging between $90.83 and $94.50 in heavy volume.
The pullback matters because Netflix’s next major catalyst is close: the company said it will publish fourth-quarter 2025 results and its business outlook on January 20, followed by a management interview after the market close.
Beyond earnings, investors continue to weigh Netflix’s December agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery under which Netflix would acquire Warner Bros., including film and TV studios and the HBO Max and HBO businesses, in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at about $82.7 billion in enterprise value — a measure that includes debt. “Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” co-CEO Ted Sarandos said when the deal was announced. Discovery
The broader backdrop was also unfriendly for growth stocks. The Nasdaq slipped 0.03% on Friday while the S&P 500 gained 0.19%, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ended around 4.19%, Reuters reported.
Netflix finished the session near the low end of its day’s range and was little changed in extended trading, which is trading outside regular U.S. market hours.
On the week — a holiday-shortened stretch that included the final sessions of 2025 and Friday’s open to 2026 — Netflix shares fell about 3.4% based on closing prices.
Deal mechanics remain central to the story. The Warner transaction is expected to close only after a planned separation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Global Networks business into a new company, a step the companies said is now expected in the third quarter of 2026.
That timetable pushes key uncertainty into the same window as Netflix’s 2026 guidance cycle, leaving traders focused on whether management can keep margin and cash-flow momentum while preparing for what would be a major integration.
The January 20 report is likely to be the next inflection point for NFLX. Investors will look for updated expectations around revenue growth, advertising momentum and content spending, along with any comments on deal planning and regulatory risk.
Before the next session, markets will also take cues from U.S. data that can move rate expectations, including the monthly jobs report due January 9 and the consumer price index due January 13, Reuters reported.
Those rates matter for high-multiple stocks — shares priced for strong growth far into the future — because higher bond yields can make those future earnings less valuable in today’s dollars.
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