CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Modestly Higher, Netflix Emerges As Warner Brothers Discovery Buyer, Deal May Not Get Government Approval 12/5/25

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

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I'm Jessica Eddinger. CNBC. We've got modest gains for Wall Street this afternoon. The Dow up 40 points. The S&P 500 index up four points. The NASDAQ up 26 points. Shares of Nvidia are lower. They're down 8 tenths of 1%. Investors think the Fed will cut interest rates at next week's meeting, but will it matter? Here's CNBC Senior Economics reporter Steve Leesman. data from the Bank of America, which looks at paychecks that are in the customer's accounts. You can see their weakness in the payroll numbers. You've got high, but looks like, stabilizing inflation data and contemporary data on the job market showing weakness. Will the Fed, will the cuts help the job market now? Probably not. I think a lot of it is linked to the tariffs and the complexity of the tariffs, as well as the level of the tariffs. I think those are hurting small business.

and that's where we're seeing the weakness in the job market. Mixed consumer sentiment numbers today from the University of Michigan following the reopening of the government after the shutdown. Netflix emerges as the high bidder for Warner Brothers Discovery. It would get the movie studio and streaming business and spin off Discovery, which is a bunch of cable channels. Here's Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos on a call today. I know some of you're surprised that we're making this acquisition,

and I certainly understand why. Over the years, we have been known to be builders, not buyers. We already have incredible shows and movies and a great business model. And it's working for talent, it's working for consumers, and it's working for shareholders. But this is a rare opportunity that's going to help us achieve our mission to entertain the world and to bring people together through great stories. And here's a take from Lightshed's Rich Greenfield on CNBC. If you think about Netflix, the engagement has stagnated a bit.

you know, and I think one of big investors' biggest concerns has been, why is engagement not growing faster? YouTube has been the one that has just literally been exploding, taking share. Netflix is looking at this going, there is so much under-exploited IP in this company. How do they use Warner Brothers to re-accelerate the overall engagement growth and time spent? There is just so much stuff. Now, a Netflix purchase of Warner Brothers would need government approval. Netflix is not favorably viewed within this administration. I'm now being told by a senior administration official,

the first blush reaction that we are getting is heavy skepticism. So how does that materialize? I think in the Department of Justice antitrust process. But I think if President Trump wants to flex here, and he often does, there are a whole host of other elements of executive power that he could bring to bear in a way that we just typically wouldn't see in a normal administration, to put quote marks around the word normal there. That's CNBC's Aiman Javvers at the White House.

New in theaters for the weekend, Universal's Five Nights at Freddy's 2. Sony's Merrily We Roll Along, IFC's 100 Nights of Hero, and Lionsgate's four and a half hour kill Bill the whole bloody affair. Universal is a sister company to CNBC. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC.