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Jefferies Reaffirms Buy as Netflix Presses Forward With $72 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery Deal

Analysts highlight a sizable debt load and a shift into theatrical distribution as the key tests for the transaction.

Overview

  • Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on Netflix with a $134 price target, citing the proposed purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming assets.
  • Netflix’s co-CEOs told employees on Dec. 15 that the acquisition plan remains unchanged.
  • The reported deal is valued at roughly $72 billion in equity (about $82.7 billion enterprise value) and is expected to add nearly $11 billion of debt, with a targeted closing window of 12 to 18 months.
  • Paramount Skydance has made a separate $108.4 billion hostile bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a competing path for the assets.
  • Netflix says it will release Warner Bros. films in theaters after closing, requiring it to build theatrical marketing and global distribution capabilities.