Warner Bros. Discovery stock has been on a roll, surging as investors try to figure out whether Netflix or Paramount Skydance will win the bidding war for the entertainment and media company.
Shares in Warner Discovery climbed over 4% to $29.47 by shortly after the market opened on Wednesday, after jumping 3.8% in the previous session. The S&P 500 was off 0.2%.
The stock has surged 167% in 2025 on excitement about a potential takeover deal—putting it on pace for its best year on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Paramount shares have been swinging, while Netflix is down 13% over the past six days—its worst six-day stretch since July 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
After multiple plot twists since Friday, it’s still unclear how the fight to own the HBO Max owner will play out, but Paramount is probably the front-runner. It went direct to investors on Monday by making a $30 a share tender offer for all of Warner Discovery. Netflix’s cash and stock bid offer, for Warner’s studios and streaming businesses, is valued at $27.75 a share.
“The total value offered to shareholders is very similar,” Morningstar analyst Matthew Dolgin wrote in a research note. “However, the certainty of $30 in cash plus the respective odds of merger approval could tip shareholders toward Paramount.”
Dolgin added that in his view, Paramount now “has at least a 50/50 chance of acquiring all of Warner.”
The early signs suggest major shareholders will also back Paramount’s bid. Media investor Mario Gabelli said on Tuesday that it was “highly likely” that he would tender his clients’ Warner Discovery shares to Paramount, in an interview with Bloomberg.
Warner shareholders have until Jan. 8 to decide whether to accept Paramount’s tender offer, unless the deadline is extended.
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