New York, Feb 14, 2026, 10:39 EST — Market closed
- Netflix shares ended Friday higher, with traders still fixated on a contested Warner Bros deal.
- Paramount hired a former U.S. antitrust official for a senior public policy role as the bidding fight drags on.
- A holiday Monday leaves the next stock-market read-through for Tuesday’s reopen.
Netflix shares closed up on Friday, but the stock heads into a long weekend with takeover politics back on the tape after Paramount Skydance hired a former Trump administration lawyer, Rene Augustine, as senior vice president of global public policy. Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim said in a memo that Augustine will “develop strategic policies” and build relationships important to Paramount’s objectives; she starts on Feb. 17. The hire lands as Paramount and Netflix spar over Warner Bros Discovery, with Paramount dangling a “ticking fee” (extra cash each quarter a deal is delayed) and offering to cover a $2.8 billion breakup fee — a termination payment if Warner walks from Netflix — while Netflix has put a $27.75-per-share all-cash offer on the table for Warner assets. (Reuters)
That matters now because U.S. markets are shut on Monday for Presidents’ Day, stretching the time for deal headlines — and any regulatory noise — to circulate before trading resumes on Tuesday. (New York Stock Exchange)
Netflix shares finished at $76.87 on Friday, up about 1.3% on the day.
Deal positioning around Warner is also pulling in event-driven money. Activist investor Sachem Head more than doubled its Warner stake to nearly 8 million shares by the end of the fourth quarter, a filing showed, adding another layer of shareholder pressure as Paramount keeps pushing its rival bid. (Reuters)
Macro isn’t staying out of the frame. U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in January, a report on Friday showed, even as some services inflation stayed firm — a mix that has traders debating how quickly the Federal Reserve can cut rates and what that means for growth stocks and financing costs. (Reuters)
For Netflix, lower yields can help sentiment at the margin, but the stock has been trading like a deal proxy at times. The questions are the same, just louder: can the Warner process clear regulators, and at what cost?
Paramount’s policy hire reads as a sign it expects a long, bruising review. Netflix investors, meanwhile, are left to handicap whether the all-cash structure is a strength or just a bigger bet.
But a lot can go sideways. A drawn-out antitrust review could freeze timelines, push up costs, or force concessions that change the math; a hotter contest could also push prices higher and thin the margin for error, especially if markets turn risk-off.
When trading reopens on Tuesday, Feb. 17, investors will be watching for fresh filings or public steps that signal escalation — especially anything that points to a board fight at Warner, or shifts the odds of which bidder, if any, can actually close.
