Warner Bros Discovery Stock Soars: Here’s Why It Exploded Higher Today

Warner Bros Discovery shares just ripped through the roof—and the timing couldn't be more ironic.

Streaming Wars Turn Profitable

Max subscriptions surged. Ad revenue smashed expectations. Suddenly, old media looks… innovative?

Content Is (Still) King

House of the Dragon’s second season broke records. Barbie residuals kicked in. Even linear TV saw an unexpected bump.

Wall Street’s Whiplash Moment

Analysts scrambled to upgrade price targets. Shorts got torched. Turns out, sometimes fundamentals actually matter—who knew?

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, crypto traders are still waiting for their 'fundamental catalyst.'

Hollywood megadeal in the works?

That afternoon, The Wall Street Journal published a story stating thatis making preparations to submit a majority cash bid for Warner. This effort is apparently backed by the family of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, which includesco-founder and executive chairman Larry Ellison and film producer Megan Ellison. It wasn't immediately clear which family members might be involved in the bid.

Image source: Getty Images.

The Journal, citing unnamed "people familiar with the situation," wrote that Paramount Skydance's play will be for the entirety of the sprawling Warner.

The business newspaper added that in preparing a bid, Paramount Skydance hopes to get the jump on big tech and entertainment conglomerates that might want to lay their hands on Warner assets.

If successful, a combination of Paramount Skydance and Warner WOULD be earth-shaking for the entertainment industry. Combined, the two own a dizzying number of familiar entertainment properties, including cable/streaming channel HBO, superhero franchise base DC Studios, and Nickelodeon Movies.

The Journal did not speculate as to how much Paramount Skydance plans to offer for Warner; however, the amount must be substantial. The latter company's market cap stood at over $40 billion after the run-up in the stock following the article's publication.

Neither Paramount Skydance nor Warner has yet officially commented on the report.

Stay tuned for more!

Given David Ellison's successful entry into Paramount Skydance last month, plus the considerable financial firepower he and his team can marshal, I'd say the Journal's report has a lot of credibility. I'd be cautious in approaching Warner's stock now, however, as we have no indication of what the price tag might be.