New York, January 23, 2026, 10:37 EST — Regular session
- Netflix shares climbed in morning trading amid the ongoing Warner bidding battle.
- Paramount pushed its Warner tender offer deadline to Feb. 20; Sarandos is scheduled for a Senate hearing that same month
- Traders await a stronger bid and the timeline leading to a likely shareholder vote in April
Netflix (NFLX.O) jumped about 2% to $85.21 in early trading Friday. Co-CEO Greg Peters told the Financial Times that Paramount’s rival bid for Warner Bros Discovery “doesn’t pass the sniff test.” He noted only a “very small” number of Warner shares have been tendered so far into Paramount’s hostile $108 billion offer. Netflix, meanwhile, is proposing $82.7 billion in cash for Warner’s studio and streaming assets. Reuters
The stock is moving as if the deal itself is up for a vote. Investors are weighing the risks of a cash-heavy transaction alongside the political and regulatory scrutiny it invites.
The timeline is getting tighter. On Thursday, Paramount Skydance pushed back its hostile tender offer for all of Warner Bros Discovery to Feb. 20, after just 6.8% of Warner shares were tendered by the original deadline. Meanwhile, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is set to testify in February before a Senate committee reviewing Netflix’s proposed deal to buy Warner’s streaming and studio assets, Bloomberg News reported. Warner’s chief revenue and strategy officer, Bruce Campbell, is also slated to appear.
Warner’s board has approved Netflix’s $27.75-a-share cash offer for its streaming and studio units. Paramount has filed a lawsuit against Warner to push for negotiations and has threatened to seek new directors if shareholders turn down the Netflix deal.
Netflix’s co-CEOs spent the week defending their shift away from a “build, don’t buy” strategy after agreeing to buy Warner assets with cash. Since their initial offer on Dec. 5, the stock has dropped over 15%. The company halted share buybacks and secured a $59 billion bridge loan—short-term financing until longer-term funds are ready—then upped that by $8.2 billion. Peters described Warner’s theatrical business as “mature” and called HBO “an amazing brand,” while Sarandos labeled the deal “pro-consumer” and “pro-worker.” Reuters
Netflix posted holiday-quarter revenue of $12.1 billion and adjusted EPS of 56 cents on Tuesday, announcing its paid subscriber count has topped 325 million. The streamer guided for 2026 revenue between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion, with advertising sales expected to nearly double. CFO Spencer Neumann told investors ad revenue should hit about $3 billion. Michael Ashley Schulman, CIO at Running Point Capital Advisors, commented that Netflix tends to prioritize “what’s right for long-term growth,” even if the stock stumbles. Gabelli Funds portfolio manager John Belton noted that “investment cycles ebb and flow.” Reuters
The numbers could still shift. A stronger bid, stricter regulatory hurdles, or a more complicated debt arrangement at Warner might change what Netflix ends up paying — and the amount of leverage it needs to assume.
Competitive pressure shows no sign of letting up. Streamers keep betting big on live programming and sports to curb churn, and that spending tends to linger even as growth slows down.
Traders are focused on whether Paramount will improve its bid ahead of the Feb. 20 tender deadline. Attention also turns to how lawmakers will discuss the deal during the Senate hearing slated for February. Warner shareholders are expected to cast their votes on the rival offers by April.
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