Business
Heard on the Street Recap: Streaming Wars Go Nuclear
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming business for $83 billion, including debt, in a mammoth deal that is set to reshape the entertainment and media industry. Entertainment companies are seeking ways to add new subscribers and boost revenue with price increases. Netflix stock fell 2.9%. Warner Bros. shares rallied 6.3%. Stock in Paramount Skydance, a rival suitor, sank nearly 10%.
Stock indexes ended slightly higher, with the Nasdaq composite up 0.3%. The S&P 500 and the Dow each rose about 0.2%. All three major U.S. benchmarks were up on the week.
The Federal Reserve got one last inflation reading to consider before next week’s rate decision. A delayed readout of the Fed’s preferred gauge, PCE, showed price pressures accelerating slightly in September. The personal-consumption expenditures index rose 2.8% from a year earlier, in line with consensus expectations. This follows recent data which pointed to a very weak U.S. labor market, even as potential concerns about inflation remain.
