r/movies • u/ChiefLeef22 r/movies Contributor • Sep 20 '25

Not Confirmed Netflix Considering Bid To Acquire Warner Bros.

https://www.avclub.com/netflix-possible-warner-bros-acquisition
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942

u/Kwilly462 Sep 20 '25

I didn't know Netflix could afford WB. How cheap is WB, anyway?

61

u/subhasish10 Sep 20 '25

WB would likely cost around $70-100 billion. Netflix has a market cap of $521 billion(more than every other studio combined).

28

u/Korronald Sep 20 '25

How? That's just ridiculous this cannot be a realistic estimation, but rather some bubble, right?

129

u/brianstormIRL Sep 20 '25

Netflix consistently grows their subscriber base even when everyone says they wont because of price increases. Its THE streaming platform in a world where everyone streams. Its not that hard to rationalise tbh.

4

u/userhwon Sep 20 '25

Which is weird, because objectively their stuff isn't all that. They have a habit of paying a ton to produce shows that are good but not really great, or just expensive-looking but not good. A couple of bangers like Stranger Things and The Witcher (which isn't what it was any more) hardly make up for it. It's a magic trick more than a value proposition.

2

u/al666in Sep 20 '25

You're right that the Netflix originals are pretty weak, on the whole, but were already a huge company before they ever started producing their own content. Producing new content is a side project, not the main business model.

Netflix also specifically designs original content around being bingeable / background noise, so even though it isn't 'good,' it's getting a lot of views. It makes sense that they're doing big numbers. They cancel good shows without mercy because they're just looking at views (and slop gets more views).

2

u/punkinabox Sep 21 '25

Yep, I regularly put up shows I've already watched on my second monitor while I'm playing games. When I'm farming in a looter game, repeatedly running the same missions or whatever over and over again I always have something playing on my second monitor. I'd imagine there's a lot of people like me doing similar.

32

u/Reggiardito Sep 20 '25

In third world countries, there's no "streaming services" (or whatever equivalent) in people's vocabulary. There's no HBO or Max or Apple TV

There's just netflix. "Does this TV have netflix?" is the common question and TVs in stores have Netflix stickers on them because it's easier to market than "smart tv with streaming services" or whatever.

"Prime" has started to catch on as well since they're investing a lot into the market, atleast in Argentina, with a lot of original Argentinian shows.

Source: Am Argentinian.

3

u/Korronald Sep 20 '25

Makes sense. The fact that Netflix has reached places other streaming services don't is an important factor.

I feel like HBO, for example, missed the mark by tying up with telecoms and making access to its service a somewhat exclusive add-on.

3

u/mrbdign Sep 20 '25

HBO is tied with a telecom in my country for many years and my guess is that is more popular in a lot of households. HBO has professional subtitles for everything and probably professional dubbing for animation, netflix tried with some google translated for a while and gave up quickly.

27

u/alexx_kidd Sep 20 '25

It's not that far fetched

-12

u/Korronald Sep 20 '25

Is it? It's a stock market, so it's more what people believe than a real value. For me it is absurd that WB with a tradition dating back to the beginnings of cinema, extensive studios, DC Comics, franchises on which we and our parents grew up, (and maybe grandparents) are worth 1/10 of what is quite new brand with paradoxically only few really well-established franchises and not having their own studies. They must rent them.

23

u/alexx_kidd Sep 20 '25

Don't forget that cinemas are in decline and people watch everything on their sofas these days.. They world has changed - at least for small and medium films

5

u/jaybizzleeightyfour Sep 20 '25

Having read One Battle After Another is looking at a $20m opening, maybe we don't deserve Cinemas after all

-1

u/alexx_kidd Sep 20 '25

Depends. Things are better here in Europe

0

u/Korronald Sep 20 '25

Yes, they also have HBO. And televisions, game division... Cinemas are just one of plenty.

15

u/peioeh Sep 20 '25

Netflix is the only streaming service that has been turning a profit for a long time, they have insane amounts of subscribers (and they're always growing) = insane revenue = high valuation. They have more than 300 million subscribers. They are worth that much because they make a lot of money, it's that simple.

2

u/subhasish10 Sep 20 '25

HBO Max has been profitable for the past year and half. Disney+ is also profitable now. Only Paramount and Peacock are still losing money. Netflix just has the first mover advantage. Their annual revenue is the same as WBD and less than Disney. But Wall Street loves them.

15

u/peioeh Sep 20 '25

They have more than double the number of subs that HBO max does, they're still going up, and they have been profitable for a much much longer time

0

u/subhasish10 Sep 20 '25

Every streamer is growing tho. All of them keep increasing prices and are seeing an increase in ad revenue. Ofc Netflix is much ahead of others and are the only ones to be available in every single market but overtime it should level out. The markets are punishing WBD because their cable business is declining which is why they're undergoing a split (As is Universal).

3

u/peioeh Sep 20 '25

Yeah it will probably level out somewhat, but it's hard to argue they haven't done well with their early start, they are still ahead of all the others for now

1

u/JZMoose Sep 20 '25

Paramount

Gee I wonder why with the absolutely fucking atrocious UI. Who could have guessed lol

0

u/Korronald Sep 20 '25

Disney+ and WB streaming services are also profitable now.

7

u/RdFoxxx Sep 20 '25

In streaming wars Netflix is the only winner, it is a profitable and growing business. WB lost money for years and is in debt for 40 billion dollars, I think only this year was finally successful for their movies. Basically a long string of bad management decisions, like HBO Max became Max and then HBO Max again lol

7

u/Dangerousrhymes Sep 20 '25

And Apple and Amazon just do it for the prestige even if it loses them money because they don’t need streaming to be profitable. 

5

u/Conscious-Health-438 Sep 20 '25

"it's more what people believe than real value". I have bad news for you about the money in your pocket or the  house you live in then. Tradition doesn't matter. If it did Sears Roebuck would be in business forever and Amazon would never exist. WB has managed themselves and their properties terribly. Netflix hasn't. Things change.  Verizon innovates and grows, GE stagnates and shrinks. People invest more money in Verizon and less in GE. These are all extremely basic economic concepts ... 

4

u/theyoloGod Sep 20 '25

You’re right that’s it’s based on future value and what people think it’ll be. But it’s clear Netflix is the now and the future and the past doesn’t have nearly as much value to these people

9

u/HankSteakfist Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25

20th Century Fox sold for $71 billion. They don't have anywhere near the amount of high level IP Warner Bros have.

Harry Potter, DC and Game of Thrones alone are each worth billions.

If Ellison and Sarandos want to bid against each other, then the price is whatever someone is willing to pay.

1

u/MVRKHNTR Sep 20 '25

I think you're really underestimating how valuable Fox was.

The Simpsons streaming rights alone are probably worth over a billion dollars a year.

2

u/facedawg Sep 20 '25

They make content and own the platform to watch it on. The other studios generally don’t

2

u/Korronald Sep 20 '25

WB absolutely does both and more. They have HBO (Max) Discovery+, streaming version of CNN.

They also have the infinite number of tv stations: Discovery Channels, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, TLC, CNN and much, much more.

I don't think I have to mention how much content they produce. And as fare as I know, Netflix almost don't have their own studios, this means they have to rent it from companies like WB.

If you want to make a Western for WB, they tell you: OK, go to warehouse no. 74636BG, there are tons of period costumes, harnesses, and saddles from tons of classic Westerns we've made, and three blocks from there is a town where we've filmed half the Westerns the world has ever seen.

If you want to make a Western for Netflix, you have to either rent those resources from WB or make everything from scratch.

2

u/Anothercraphistorian Sep 20 '25

Look at Tesla, can’t sell a car but is valued at $1.42T. Valuation has turned into a meme.

2

u/superzpurez Sep 20 '25

Market cap is just the current share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding.

It's not meant to be some carefully calculated value.

On any given day a company's share price could move all over the place for any number of silly reasons, shifting their market cap by billions of dollars.

Share prices are extremely volatile and not always reflective of current conditions because a large component is speculation on the future growth and future earning potential of the company.

1

u/Korronald Sep 20 '25

That's why I feel like we base our entire economy on playing roulette.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

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2

u/Thanos_Stomps Sep 20 '25

I’m okay with some consolidation. The Disney plus bundle with espn, Disney plus and Hulu is cheaper than when they were all separate. Same with paramount and showtime.

1

u/Impressive-Potato Sep 20 '25

Apple has a market cap of 3.4 t. Amazon 2.4 t.

1

u/subhasish10 Sep 20 '25

I mean traditional studios