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Max Knoblauch12/3/25

Netflix sinks on report that buying Warner Bros. wouldn’t drastically boost its market share since most subscribers already have HBO Max

Investors appear to have a bit more faith in Netflix’s ability to win the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery — they’re just not sure if they like the idea.

Netflix shares fell 6% on Wednesday morning following a Reuters report citing sources familiar with acquisition discussions. According to the report, Netflix (which is said to be targeting WBD’s streaming assets and studio business, but not its networks) would bundle Netflix and HBO Max, reducing costs for consumers. Sources noted that most Netflix subscribers already subscribe to HBO Max, so the merger isn’t expected to dramatically boost the streamer’s market share.

If you’re lowering costs for customers and not getting many more of them, it’s not clear how such an acquisition would add much value.

The other two primary bidders in the WBD auction, Paramount Skydance and Comcast, have also reportedly freshened up their pitches. Paramount is said to have upped its offer with help from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, while Comcast wants to combine the TV and film departments of NBCUniversal with HBO and Warner — marrying Peacock with HBO Max.

Analysts believe the bidding war could propel Warner Bros. Discovery’s value to around $70 billion, significantly above its valuation before the acquisition talks began.

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Max Knoblauch5m

United Airlines rallies after Q4 earnings and Q1 profit guidance top estimates

Shares of United Airlines are rising after the bell on Tuesday, following the release of the carrier’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report.

United posted adjusted earnings per share of $3.10 in Q4, above the $2.92 per share expected by Wall Street analysts polled by Bloomberg. Sales of $15.4 billion were roughly in line with the consensus estimate.

The airline also:

Forecast full-year earnings per share between $12 and $14, bracketing Wall Street’s call for $13.04. For Q1, management sees EPS between $1 and $1.50, the midpoint of which is above the $1.16 expected by Wall Street.
Booked $13.93 billion in passenger revenue on the quarter, up nearly 5% year-over-year.

Traders will soon have three times as many opportunities to punt short-term options on the biggest US stocks

And that means three times the opportunities for gamma/pin risk in the largest US stocks (and the biggest bitcoin ETF).

Craps, Roulette and Sports Betting Debuts at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood

President Trump Delivers An Announcement From The Oval Office

Pharma largely unfazed as Greenland tariffs roil markets

Drugmakers, which have spent the past six months reaching tariff deals with Trump, seem to expect some immunity from a new batch of tariffs on European countries.

J. Edward Moreno3h

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POET Technologies nears multiyear high on strong call demand after flagship product wins award

POET Technologies is surging on heavy volumes and high call demand after announcing that it won a Product Innovation Award at China’s Infostone awards.

The honor went to the optical communications company’s flagship product, the Teralight, which uses light to move data between chips.

“Unveiled less than a year ago at the 2025 OFC Conference, POET Teralight has driven commercial interest in the Company because of its highly integrated design and complete optical system-on-chip architecture that simplifies module development,” per the press release.

This award may be the latest excuse to buy the stock, which is up over 40% year to date.

Call activity is elevated, with nearly 37,000 having changed hands as of 10:55 a.m. ET, well above the 20-day average of 28,030 for a full session. Shares are approaching their multi-year high of $9.41.

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Matt Phillips6h

Intel bucks market slump after Wall Street upgrades

While the market slid early Tuesday, Intel soared as the American chipmaker received a pair of upgrades:

HSBC analysts lifted their rating on the stock to “hold” — essentially “neutral” — from “reduce,” Wall Street-speak for “sell.” The analysts nearly doubled their price target for the shares to $50 from $26. (That’s essentially where the stock is currently trading.)
Seaport Global also boosted its rating to “buy” from “neutral,” with a $65 price target.

Improving demand for CPUs — Intel’s bread-and-butter processors — is behind HSBC’s newfound enthusiasm for the shares. Analysts at the bank wrote:

“We had been cautious on Intel mainly given overall uncertainty on customer pipeline and execution headwinds in their foundry business while the core business was also lacking visibility on growth drivers. However, we now turn more positive as we expect the traditional servers (DCAI) to get back on a growth trajectory. We expect there is an overwhelmingly increasing demand for server CPUs driven by rising agentic AI... While the stock has moved up 19% YTD (vs S&P 500 up 1%), we believe there is further [data center and AI group] upside still not fully priced in. Hence, we upgrade Intel from Reduce to Hold.”

HSBC seems to be slightly understating the extent of the gains for the stock so far in 2026, as its share price has risen nearly 30% since the end of last year. But the gains are even more impressive if you date them to the partial nationalization of the ailing American chip giant, which was announced on August 22. Almost a month later, Nvidia announced a strategic partnership with the company, giving it a massive shot in the arm. Since then the stock is up more than 90%.

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