During a three-hour hearing before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros Discovery CRO Bruce Campbell defended their $82.7 billion all-cash transaction. Eight senators from both parties probed potential consumer price increases, content reduction and job losses. Chair Mike Lee warned the merger could “further entrench Netflix’s dominance” by eliminating HBO Max as a rival, while Democratic Senator Cory Booker raised concerns over the fairness of the Department of Justice review. Sarandos pledged to maintain Warner Bros studio operations “largely as they are today,” projected “more content for less,” and cited projected synergies that could boost Netflix’s 2026 free cash flow by an estimated $3.5 billion annually.

Netflix shares have slid over 40% from summer highs to trade below $80, despite reporting 16% revenue growth to $45 billion and adding 20 million net new subscribers in 2025 for a total of 325 million. Fourth-quarter adjusted operating margin expanded to 25.8% from 24.3% a year earlier, but investors remain cautious as forward price-to-earnings sits near 26x. Analyst Daniel Sparks of Meridian Research argues this multiple offers insufficient cushion given intensifying competition from Big Tech platforms. Insider sales have accelerated, with directors offloading nearly 1 million shares valued at roughly $94 million over the past quarter, reducing their combined stake to 1.37%.

More than 200 German voice actors represented by the VDS association have initiated a grassroots boycott of Netflix, objecting to a contract clause granting the company rights to use performers’ recordings for artificial intelligence model training without additional compensation. The initiative follows similar protests at other streaming services and threatens to disrupt dubbing schedules for upcoming German-language releases. VDS spokesperson Markus Keller stated that unless Netflix revises its terms to include fair remuneration for AI usage, local content localization could face significant delays, potentially affecting subscriber growth in Europe’s second-largest streaming market.