The Rundown - Netflix Goes All-In on Podcasts, Instacart Probed by FTC for AI Pricing Tool

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

Market update for Thursday December 18, 2025Follow us on Instagram (@TheRundownDaily) for bonus content and instant reactions.In today’s episode we discuss:Oracle’s data center financing concernsA cooler-than-expected CPI reportNetflix’s push into podcasts as YouTube lands the OscarsActivist investor Elliott’s $1B stake in LululemonMicron surging on strong memory demand Instacart drops on FTC scrutiny over dynamic pricingNetflix bringing FIFA video game and big-money trivia

Public.com presents the rundown. Your daily market update in under 10 minutes. My name is Zadadmani, and today is Thursday, December 18th. In today's episode, we'll recap the surprising inflation report. We'll also dig into Netflix's strategy to take on YouTube and why the FTC is investigating Instacart for dynamic pricing. Then stick around to the end of the show to find out why the next FIFA video game will be on Netflix.

We got a great show for you today. Let's go. Well, it's been a rough week for the stock market. The S&P 500 dropped for the fourth straight day yesterday, losing 1.2%. While the NASDAQ was down 1.8%. AI-related names were once again the worst performing part of the market. Oracle's down more than 5% after bad news around AI Data Center financing. Blue Owl Capital is no longer providing the financing for,

one of Oracle's major data center projects in Michigan. The project itself isn't dead. Blackstone is reportedly stepping in. But at this point, any hint of trouble in AI infrastructure is enough to spook investors. That news caused other AI-related names like Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD, Google, and more to drop between 4 to 5% on Wednesday. So we continue to see a softening in the AI named as we head into the end of the year. And some analysts expect the rotation out of Big Tech to continue into 2026. Now, we did get some big macroeconomic news this. morning the November CPI report just dropped and wow did it come in way lower than expected the headline CPI came in at 2.7% year over year while core CPI was 2.6%. That's the lowest level since

early 2021. Honestly it's a shocker because economists were expecting numbers to be around the 3% range. So according to this latest data inflation is easing and this might give the Fed more cover to cut interest rates in early 2026 so they can help prop up the weakening job market. Now, we are going to be getting another inflation report in January before the January Fed meeting. So we'll see what that report says. But yeah, a lot of interesting developments as we head into 2026. As always, we're going to stay on top of it for you guys.

So make sure you are subscribed to the podcast and tuning in every day to stay in the loop. Let's run through some headlines. Starting with Netflix. Netflix is going all in. on video podcasts and trying to compete with YouTube. Netflix just announced they signed an exclusive deal with Barstool Sports and IHeart Media to be the exclusive platforms to show the video versions of some of their biggest podcast starting in 26.

Netflix also signed a similar deal with the Ringer a few weeks ago. Now, the audio versions of these podcasts will still be everywhere, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, you name it. But the video feed will only be available on Netflix to Netflix subscribers, so that means they won't be on YouTube anymore. It's an interesting strategy by Netflix. I think a lot of people listen to podcasts in the background on YouTube while working or studying, and Netflix is hoping to capture that passive watching audience.

Plus, I bet signing these deals with these podcasters is way cheaper than creating a scripted TV show that takes years and millions of dollars to develop. Overall, Netflix has more than 30 video podcasts lined up for next year, and I bet they get even more. If Netflix wants to add a daily finance podcast to their rotation, I can think of one that might be. be interested in signing a deal. But you know, it's clear that Netflix sees YouTube as their main competitor and not the other streaming services. And it makes sense because according to data, YouTube accounts for 13% of all U.S. television viewing. That's more than other streaming platforms, including Netflix, which sits around 8%. So Netflix is trying to be more like YouTube. But at the same time, YouTube is trying to be more like Netflix. The Academy Awards just

announced that the Oscars will stream on YouTube exclusively starting. in 2029. That's a pretty big get by YouTube. I think this could increase their credibility and gain a foothold in traditional Hollywood. Maybe TV studios will start making shows exclusively for YouTube premium audiences. I don't know. We'll have to see. But I see the streaming wars as a two-platform race at this point. It's YouTube and Netflix. And right now, I think YouTube is in the lead. Let's shift gears and talk about Lulu Lemon. The activist investor, Elliott Management, has built a $1 billion dollar stake in Lulu Lemon, instantly making them one of the company's largest shareholders. And Elliot is already pushing for change. According to the Wall Street Journal,

Elliot wants Lulu Lemon to hire Jane Nielsen, a former top executive at Ralph Lauren, as the company's next CEO. Now, this comes just one week after Lulu Lemon announced that long-time CEO Calvin McDonald would step down after seven years on the job. Lulu's stock has been struggling lately. It's down more than 60% from its peak. And with a market cap of around $25 billion, Elliot's $1 billion stake represents around 4% of the company, which is enough to have real influence. And investors seem to like this pressure. Shares of Lulu Lemon are up more than 7% this morning on this news. Let's talk about some stocks making moves today. Micron's shares are soaring this morning after the memory chipmaker dropped an outlook

that absolutely blew past Wall Street expectations. Now, there is a big surge in demand right now for memory thanks to AI. All the AI data centers being built don't just need AI chips, but they also need high performance and high capacity memory and storage as well. Micron says the demand for memory is outpacing supply across the entire industry, which is pushing up prices, and Micron doesn't see that changing anytime soon. For the current quarter, Micron is expecting $18.7 billion in revenue, which is more than $4 billion above what Wall Street was expecting.

The company also says they plan to ramp up shipments of their two core products, which is DRAM and NAN memory by about 20% in 2026. But even with that increase in production, Micron says that demand will still exceed supply. The CEO said that Micron is in the best competitive position in the company's history and called Micron one of the biggest enablers of the AI boom. So those words had investors hyped, micron stock is up more than 13% in pre-market trading

and up more than 150% for the year. Now, on the flip side, Instacart stock is taking a hit this. morning after reports that the FTC is investigating Instacart's AI-driven pricing tool. This investigation is being triggered after a study last week found that different shoppers on Instacart were sometimes shown different prices for the same groceries at the same time. The study found that on average, there was a 7% difference in the total cost for the same groceries, and in some cases the price difference was as high as 20%, which would result in over $1,000 in extra annual costs for consumers.

So this obviously raised some eyebrows, especially with grocery inflation already being a huge pain point for consumers, and the FTC is now investigating the situation. You know, Instacart does have a tool called Eversight that they bought back in 2022 that uses AI to help retailers set prices, but Instacard says that they aren't the ones setting the prices. Ultimately, the retailers control the price, and these retailers are, you know, doing A-B-Testing to maximize revenue. Instacard can call it A-B-Testing. Some people might call it dynamic pricing, where a different shift.

shoppers pay a different price based on the data of that shopper, the traffic of the store, and other stuff. I think we're going to hear the word dynamic pricing a lot more moving forward. We'll see what the FTC does when it comes to this case, but investors are getting spooked. Instacart stock is down more than 6% this morning in reaction to this report. Let's wrap the show with a fun fact. You'll soon be able to play the FIFA video game on Netflix in 2026, right in time for the FIFA World Cup. This is part of Netflix's strategy to lean more into gaming. Now, this isn't going to be like the ultra-realistic EA sports FIFA that we're used to.

This is more of a casual pick-up and play version designed for everyone. But you'll be able to play it right on your TV using your phone as a controller with just a Netflix subscription. Netflix is ultimately competing for people's attention. Their goal is to keep people on their platform as long as possible, and they're hoping that games could be a way to do that. But I feel like Netflix has done a pretty bad job, even in forming. their users that they even have games. According to some estimates, less than 2% of Netflix subscribers have even played a game on there. I've been a lot of Netflix subscribers don't even know that Netflix games even exist. Personally, I've never played a game on Netflix. I'll probably

check out the FIFA game. But if you have already played a game on there, let me know in the comments on what the experience was like. Also, I think Netflix heard our criticism from last week about their HQ trivia rip-off. If you missed it, Netflix has a daily live trivia show now called Best Guest Live that airs Monday through Friday. And I like that. I like that. the idea when they revealed it last week, but I thought that their $15,000 a night prize was pretty weak, given that this is Netflix, they just spent $72 billion to buy Warner Brothers Discovery. Well, they're fixing that, at least temporarily. Netflix is bumping the price pool to $1 million total for next week with a $500,000 jackpot on Friday, December 26th.

This is probably a temporary move, but hey, if they see a bump in numbers, maybe they'll make it permanent. I think I'm going to tune in next week to try to win some money. Well, all right, guys, that's the rundown for today. Hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. If you did, and you have like five extra seconds, consider giving us a five-star rating on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast. And if you are listening on Spotify,

don't forget to vote in today's Spotify poll. Leave us a comment on Spotify. All that engagement really does help us out, and it helps other people find the show. Thank you guys so much for listening, watching, and commenting. Shout out. to Mike and Connor for all the work behind the scenes. And we'll see you guys back here tomorrow.

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