Street View: Netflix chases franchise glory, but Wall Street wants spoiler alert

Netflix NFLX.O beat Wall Street's revenue and earnings estimates for its holiday quarter on Tuesday

Results came hours after it amended its $82.7 billion merger agreement with Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O, in a bid to fend off a hostile bid for WBD from Paramount Skydance PSKY.O

NFLX falls nearly 6% to $82.28 premarket

PASS THE POPCORN, DRAMA ISN’T OVER

MoffettNathanson says it continues to believe that acquiring these assets will help Netflix strengthen its leading industry position by leveraging its large global subscriber base and capital and technology advantages, creating a unique and accretive opportunity

Pivotal Research ("hold", PT: $95) says it doesn’t believe the bidding war for this asset is over; high price highlights Netflix management’s concern that short‑form entertainment is becoming a growing challenge

Canaccord Genuity ("buy", PT: $125) says NFLX ad business is growing strongly due to programmatic integrations, with priorities ahead including expanding access to its first‑party data and building more interactive ad formats

Morningstar (fair value: $79) says Netflix needs its international markets to grow at a high‑teens pace to sustain mid‑teens annual revenue growth, but recent results don’t show that level of momentum