Jason Bazinet: Last News

Old habits die hard. So Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav just sat down with Paramount Global chief executive Bob Bakish to talk about merging, and the media business yet again confronted the possibility of a spasm of mega-deals reshaping the landscape.

The days of Warner Bros. Discovery cutting content for tax purposes are over, according to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.

Tech stocks and the beleaguered Nasdaq jumped today in a rally led by streamers Spotify, Netflix and Roku. All have seen their shares pummeled, with Netflix in particular being hit by disappointing subscriber numbers last quarter and Spotify embroiled in a Joe Rogan controversy.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix and Spotify shares both popped Monday after Citi analysts upgraded both stocks to buy ratings, saying the market is undervaluing their longer-term upside.Shares of both companies climbed in early trading Monday, with Netflix up more than 6% and Spotify up more than 5%.In the previous 30 days, Netflix shares had slumped 32% and Spotify dropped 26% on investor concerns over slowing streaming subscriber growth. The selloff “suggests prevailing equity values don’t assume material sub growth or improving subscriber economics beyond 2023,” the Citi team led by Jason Bazinet wrote in a research note in upgrading the stocks from “neutral” to “buy.”“While Netflix and Spotify may see more modest sub growth, we see other top-line vectors,” the analysts wrote.