NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 12:21 ET — Regular session
- Warner Bros Discovery shares rose about 0.2% midday, trading near $29
- Investors remain focused on rival bids from Paramount Skydance and Netflix
- Paramount’s tender offer is set to run until Jan. 21, a key near-term trigger
Warner Bros Discovery shares edged higher on Monday, up about 0.2% at $28.86 by 12:21 p.m. ET, as trading stayed anchored around the prices implied by competing takeover proposals.
The stock has been effectively “deal-trading” as shareholders weigh a tender offer — a public bid that asks investors to sell their shares at a stated price — from Paramount Skydance against Warner’s agreed transaction with Netflix, ahead of a Jan. 21 deadline for investors to decide on Paramount’s offer. Reuters
That countdown matters now because the window for a higher bid or revised terms is narrowing, while the size of either transaction raises the risk of lengthy regulatory reviews that can tie up shareholder capital and increase uncertainty.
Warner traded between $28.71 and $29.10 in the session. Netflix shares were down about 0.7% and Paramount Skydance shares fell about 0.9%.
Paramount’s amended proposal kept its $30-per-share all-cash price but strengthened financing by adding a personal $40.4 billion guarantee from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and lifting its regulatory breakup fee — a payment if regulators block the deal — to $5.8 billion, Reuters reported.
Warner said on Dec. 22 it had received Paramount’s amended, unsolicited tender offer and that its board was not changing its recommendation in favor of the Netflix merger agreement, advising shareholders not to take action while the board reviewed the new bid.
Under the Netflix offer, Warner shareholders would receive $23.25 a share in cash and $4.50 in Netflix stock, plus additional value linked to Warner’s planned spinout of Discovery Global, Reuters reported.
Some investors have argued Paramount still needs to do more to prevail. “The changes in Paramount’s new offer were necessary, but not sufficient,” Harris Oakmark portfolio manager Alex Fitch told Reuters in an email. Reuters
At Monday’s price, Warner traded about $1.14 below Paramount’s $30 cash bid — roughly a 4% discount. Traders often call that gap the deal spread, and it can reflect both the chance of a sweeter offer and the risk of delay or failure.
Warner also sat above the $27.75 cash-and-stock headline value in Netflix’s proposal, a sign investors are assigning value to the Discovery Global spin-off component and to the possibility bidders adjust terms as the deadline approaches.
Investors are watching for any updated recommendation from Warner’s board on Paramount’s amended tender offer, as well as further deal paperwork tied to the Netflix agreement and required regulatory steps.
A confirmed date for Warner’s next earnings report was not listed on Nasdaq’s earnings page, while Wall Street calendars estimate results in late February — leaving deal headlines and filings as the primary near-term drivers for the stock.
