Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Stock Today, November 20, 2025: Bid Deadline, Netflix Theater Promise, and Can the Rally Last?

Warner Bros. Discovery’s share price is catching its breath today after a huge multi‑month run, as Wall Street digests a high‑stakes bid deadline, fresh headlines about Netflix’s takeover plans, and lingering questions about whether the stock’s triple‑digit rally can continue.

By late Thursday trading, Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) was changing hands just under $23 per share, down roughly 1% on the day, after touching new 52‑week highs earlier this week. ^[1]

Below is a full rundown of everything that matters for WBD stock on November 20, 2025 – from today’s headlines to the takeover math and the latest on fundamentals and analyst sentiment.

WBD stock price today: Cooling after a blistering run

Latest quote (late session, Nov. 20, 2025): around $22.9 per share, down about $0.20 on the day (roughly ‑0.9%) as of the most recent trade. ^[2]
Intraday range: trading roughly between $22.8 and $23.9 today, with an opening print around $23.38. ^[3]
Volume: close to 40 million shares traded by late afternoon – in the ballpark of WBD’s heavy recent average volume in the mid‑30 million range. ^[4]
52‑week context: WBD hit a new 52‑week high around $23.2 earlier this week, and different data providers peg its 12‑month gain at well over 100%, ranging from roughly +120% to +145%. ^[5]

In other words: after a huge comeback from single‑digit levels last year, today’s modest pullback looks more like a pause than a trend by itself. The real story is in the takeover drama.

Bid deadline day: Paramount, Comcast and Netflix line up

Today, November 20, 2025, marks the deadline for first‑round, non‑binding offers to buy all or parts of Warner Bros. Discovery – a process that could reshape Hollywood. ^[6]

Who is bidding?

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, and Reuters, three big names are expected to submit proposals: ^[7]

Paramount Skydance – led by CEO David Ellison, backed by his father Larry Ellison; reportedly the only bidder trying to buy the entire company, including HBO, CNN and the cable networks. ^[8]
Comcast – owner of NBCUniversal – seen as especially interested in Warner Bros. studios and the Max / HBO streaming business, not the full cable bundle. ^[9]
Netflix – long wary of big acquisitions, but now looking at Warner’s studio and streaming assets as a way to super‑charge its content engine. ^[10]

Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has reportedly already rejected three offers from Paramount, including a largely cash bid of $23.50 per share, calling it too low. ^[11]

What price is the board looking for?

A Reuters report this week said the board wants Paramount to raise its offer to around $30 per share, valuing WBD at roughly $74 billion, versus about $58 billion implied by the earlier $23.50 bid. ^[12]

Yet a separate New York Post piece today, summarized by several financial news aggregators, suggests that initial bids submitted today are expected to come in below that $30 level, with sources saying a winning offer “less than $30 per share” is more realistic. ^[13]

That spread between:

the board’s desired price (~$30), and
today’s market price (~$23)

is at the heart of why WBD has rallied so hard — and why the stock is volatile as traders handicap how close any bidder will get to the board’s ask.

Warner Bros. Discovery is aiming to identify a preferred partner by year‑end, according to the L.A. Times, which would then set the stage for more detailed negotiations and months of regulatory review. ^[14]

Netflix promises to keep Warner Bros. movies in theaters

One of today’s biggest swing factors for WBD stock: Netflix’s theater pledge.

Bloomberg reporting, echoed by Reuters and other outlets, says Netflix has told Warner Bros. Discovery’s management it would continue releasing the studio’s films in theaters if its acquisition bid is successful, and would honor existing theatrical contracts. ^[15]

This directly addresses two key worries:

Talent and franchise value – Warner controls big‑screen franchises like Harry Potter, The Matrix, DC superheroes, and Dune. Filmmakers and theater chains have been nervous that a Netflix takeover might mean fewer theatrical runs and more straight‑to‑streaming releases. ^[16]
Regulatory optics – US lawmakers and regulators are already wary of media consolidation. A promise to preserve theatrical distribution, rather than collapsing everything into streaming, may help Netflix argue that a deal is pro‑consumer and pro‑competition, not simply a content land‑grab. ^[17]

Commentary on TipRanks notes that while honoring current contracts is reassuring, it doesn’t guarantee Netflix won’t change course once those deals expire – but it at least removes the immediate risk of an abrupt pivot away from theaters. ^[18]

For WBD shareholders, the takeaway is that Netflix is signaling seriousness about a bid and trying to make its offer more palatable to both investors and regulators.

Q3 2025 earnings: “Mixed” numbers behind the sale process

Today’s trading is also happening in the shadow of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q3 2025 results, released earlier this month, which many outlets have described as mixed:

Net loss: about $148 million for Q3, versus a $135 million profit a year earlier. ^[19]
Earnings per share:‑$0.06, compared with +$0.05 in the prior‑year quarter. ^[20]
Revenue: roughly $9.04–9.05 billion, down about 6% year‑on‑year and shy of Wall Street’s expectations near $9.18 billion. ^[21]
Ad downturn: advertising revenue fell around 16%, highlighting the ongoing pressure on linear TV networks. ^[22]

But underneath those disappointing headline numbers, management has been keen to point to several positives:

Box office dominance: WBD says it is the only studio to surpass $4 billion in global box office revenue in 2025, leading domestically and internationally. ^[23]
Streaming turnaround: In its streaming operations (Max / HBO Max and related services), WBD has added more than 30 million subscribers in three years, expects over 150 million subscribers by the end of next year, and projects more than $1.3 billion in streaming EBITDA this year – a dramatic swing from a $2.5 billion loss three years ago. ^[24]
Deleveraging: The company has reduced its net leverage ratio to about 3.3× EBITDA, including roughly $1 billion of debt repaid in Q3. ^[25]

This split picture – improving streaming and box office, but weak linear TV and lingering debt – is exactly why the sale process is so complicated. A buyer has to price the long‑term value of IP and streaming growth against the decline of the cable bundle and the cost of financing a large deal.

Strategic review, spinoff plans, and Zaslav’s contract

Today’s bid deadline is part of a broader strategic review Warner Bros. Discovery launched in October and expanded in November:

The company is considering a full sale, the sale of specific businesses, or going ahead with a plan to split into two companies:
- a Streaming & Studios entity (Warner Bros. film and TV, HBO, Max), and
- a separate Global Networks / cable unit (CNN, Discovery, HGTV, TNT, TBS and others). ^[26]
Reports indicate the spun‑off cable company would take on much of WBD’s ~$37 billion debt load, potentially making the studios and streaming unit more attractive to bidders like Netflix or Comcast. ^[27]

At the same time, WBD’s board amended CEO David Zaslav’s contract, allowing it to be extended through December 2030 if there is a “change in control” — though that clause excludes a sale of just the Discovery Global cable business. ^[28]

That move signals two things:

The board expects real M&A risk and complexity ahead, and wants continuity at the top through any transaction.
It also underscores that even in a breakup scenario, Zaslav is likely to remain central to whichever key piece of the company survives as the main public entity.

Options surge and analyst sentiment after a triple‑digit rally

Even before today’s news, WBD had become a traders’ stock.

Options activity spikes

A report this morning from American Market News noted that on Tuesday, investors bought about 135,000 call options on WBD – roughly 45% more than the stock’s average call volume, highlighting intense speculation around a potential deal. ^[29]

That surge in bullish options activity lines up with WBD’s huge share price move and makes the stock especially prone to sharp swings on headlines, like today’s bid‑deadline coverage and Netflix’s theater pledge.

What Wall Street thinks now

Across recent research:

MarketBeat data places WBD’s consensus 12‑month price target around $21.9 per share, slightly below where the stock trades today. ^[30]
TipRanks counts a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average target near $22.1, implying modest downside after a rally of about 125% over the last year. ^[31]
CFRA recently raised its price target to $24 while maintaining a Hold rating, suggesting that much of the takeover optimism is already in the price. ^[32]

Several valuation‑focused pieces – including work by Trefis and Forbes – argue that after a year‑to‑date run of roughly +120%, WBD now has “limited room for error”. If: ^[33]

linear TV declines faster than expected,
streaming margins stall, or
a deal falls apart or faces heavy regulatory resistance,

the stock could give back a meaningful chunk of its recent gains.

On the other hand, a credible cash‑heavy bid near the board’s $30‑per‑share wish would still represent a sizable premium from today’s ~$23 level.

Key Warner Bros. Discovery stock news specifically from November 20, 2025

Here are the main WBD‑related headlines dated today (20.11.2025) that investors are watching:

“Warner Bros. auction poised to recast Hollywood…” – Los Angeles Times
- Outlines how Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are all submitting bids by today’s deadline and notes that Warner’s board has already rejected multiple offers from Paramount at about $23.50 per share. The studio hopes competitive tension could push overall deal value above $60 billion. ^[34]
“Netflix’s Warner Bros bid will include theater releases” – Reuters / Bloomberg via multiple outlets
- Reports that Netflix has assured WBD management it will keep releasing films in theaters and honor current theatrical contracts if its acquisition is successful, easing concerns among filmmakers and theaters. ^[35]
“Suitors submit bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, with winning offer expected at less than $30 per share” – New York Post
- Citing unnamed sources, this piece – widely summarized on stock‑news platforms – says first‑round bids have been submitted and that insiders expect the winning offer to land below $30 per share, short of the board’s target but still significantly above today’s share price. ^[36]
“Warner Bros. Discovery Sees Unusually High Options Volume” – American Market News
- Highlights a 45% jump in call‑option volume versus normal trading days and recaps a wave of analyst upgrades that have pushed the average price target into the low‑$20s, alongside a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating. ^[37]
“Can Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Surge Hold?” – Forbes / Trefis
- A widely cited analysis questioning whether WBD’s triple‑digit rally is sustainable, emphasizing that the stock now trades near or above most Wall Street targets and that downside risk grows if a deal doesn’t materialize on favorable terms. ^[38]
Aggregated pieces on Q3 fallout and takeover chatter – Proactive, MarketBeat, MSN and others
- These summarise how mixed Q3 results, Senate scrutiny of any deal, and White House political cross‑currents all contribute to the sense that while upside from a sale is real, regulatory and execution risk remain high. ^[39]

Taken together, today’s news flow reinforces one idea: WBD is now trading first and foremost as a takeover story, not a pure fundamentals play.

What all of this means for WBD investors

For anyone watching or holding Warner Bros. Discovery stock today, here are the key implications of November 20’s developments:

Deal premium vs. board expectations
- The board is clearly anchored around ~$30 per share, but early reporting suggests bids may be somewhat lower. How narrow that gap is will likely drive the stock’s next big move. ^[40]
Who wins matters almost as much as the price
- A full‑company sale to Paramount Skydance could mean very different regulatory and strategic outcomes than a split sale to Comcast or Netflix focused on studios and streaming. Each path has different implications for WBD’s cable networks, debt load, and long‑term earnings power. ^[41]
Netflix is trying to de‑risk its bid narrative
- By promising to keep theatrical releases, Netflix is signaling that it wants to be seen as a good steward of Warner’s franchises, not a streaming‑only cost cutter. That may help its bid compete on more than just price. ^[42]
Fundamentals aren’t irrelevant – just overshadowed
- The Q3 loss, revenue decline and ad slump are a reminder that if a deal stalls or falls through, WBD will be judged again on its own earnings power. The positive streaming and box‑office trends help, but linear networks and debt remain real overhangs. ^[43]
Expect volatility
- With elevated options activity, a high beta, and a news cycle dominated by leaks and political scrutiny, WBD is likely to stay very jumpy around any rumor about bid size, regulators, or preferred buyers. ^[44]

Final word

As of November 20, 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery stock sits at the intersection of:

a transformative Hollywood auction,
a Netflix‑shaped wild card promising to protect theaters, and
fundamentals that look better than a year ago but still carry real risk.

For traders, that mix is a recipe for big, headline‑driven moves. For longer‑term investors, it’s a reminder that deal outcomes, regulatory responses, and the pace of the linear‑to‑streaming transition will matter at least as much as any single quarter’s earnings.

This overview is informational only and not investment advice. Anyone considering buying or selling WBD should review the company’s latest filings and news in full and, if needed, consult a qualified financial adviser.

Netflix Reportedly Weighing Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery