The Rundown - SpaceX Interviewing Banks for IPO, Netflix Defends WBD Deal

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Market update for December 16, 2025Follow us on Instagram (@TheRundownDaily) for bonus content and instant reactions.Check out our weekend episodes:Deep Dive: Oracle’s Big Gamble on AIInterview: Space Reporter Eric Berger about SpaceX IPO In today’s episode:Investors rotate out of big tech and into small capsNetflix lays out its case for acquiring Warner Bros amid antitrust scrutinySpaceX begins interviewing banks for a possible IPO in 2026Micron jumps after Mizuho raises its price target to $300iRobot files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyA look at the $4.5T merger-and-acquisition boom in 2025

Public.com presents the rundown. Your daily market update in under 10 minutes. My name is Zadadmani, and today is Monday, December 15th. In today's episode, we'll preview this upcoming week, including some important government data and some earnings. We'll also tell you what Netflix executives are saying about the Warner's deal and what steps SpaceX is taking to move closer to an IPO. Then stick around to the end of the show to find out why 2020.

was a big year for M&A. We got a great show for you today. Let's go. Stocks are coming off a down week, and it all really fell apart on Friday. After hitting record highs on Thursday, the S&P fell more than 1% on Friday, finishing the week down 0.6%.

The NASDAQ took an even bigger hit last week, losing more than 1.6% dragged down by the sell-off in big tech stocks. But it wasn't all bad, though, especially if you're an investor in small-cap stocks. The Russell 2000 actually rallied 1.2% last week. And it's now up 5% over the past month, even as the S&P and NASDAQ are both in the red over that same stretch. I keep talking about the rotation out-of-tech stocks and into other sectors like small-caps,

and last week was a great example of that. Now, the rate cut by the Fed last week is also helping this. Investors are jumping into small caps and smaller companies tend to benefit the most from lower borrowing rates. At the same time, investors continue to grow nervous about the air. AI trade, especially as these big tech companies take on more debt. Oracle and Broadcom both saw big selloffs last week after they reported earnings. We actually did a deep dive episode on Oracle's big gamble on their AI investments this past weekend,

so go check that out if you missed it. Now, we're getting ready to close out the years. There's only two weeks left in 2025, only 12 trading days counting this one. And usually it's a pretty quiet period for the markets. The December Fed meeting is usually the last big macro event before everyone mentally checks out for the holidays. But that's not the case this year. This week, we're actually getting some important economic data.

We're getting the November jobs report on Tuesday, followed by the CPI inflation report on Thursday. And these numbers matter more than usual because we never got the October's data due to the government shutdown. So this will be the most up-to-date snapshot we've had on the economy in a while. On top of that, we got some interesting earnings on deck, including Nike, FedEx, and Micron. So there's plenty for investors to react to this week. So we're not mentally checking out just yet. So make sure you guys 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 executives are going on

a charm offensive to push through their $72 billion acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. In a letter to employees, Netflix co-CEO's CEOs Ted Sarandis and Greg Peters tried to calm Hollywood's biggest fears of layoffs and the death of movie theaters. The two CEOs said that Netflix would continue releasing Warner Brothers films in theaters, pushing back on concerns that everything would be just dumped straight onto their streaming platform. Ted Sarandas even acknowledged that theatricals haven't been Netflix's focus in the past, but he did say that will change if this deal goes through. The execs also promised that no studio closures would happen and that there would be no overlapping

operations. In fact, they promised to bolster Warner Brothers studio operations. I think these executives are trying to send a signal that if they take over Warner Brothers, there's not going to be a mass layoff that a lot of people are concerned about. And I think they're hoping that that gives their offer a leg up over Paramount, which came out with a hostile offer to take over WBD valued at $108 billion. Some analysts believe that Paramount buying WBD will lead to much more layoffs because they don't have the same financial position and business that Netflix does.

But even if Paramount's hostile bid fails, Netflix still might have trouble getting this deal approved with regulators, with politicians already expressing some concerns of a monopoly. So I feel like we're going to be talking about this story for the next year or so, probably even longer. For people working in Hollywood, though, this is a pretty concerning time right now. Hollywood has been in a recession for a while as people watch less highly produced content on TV and movies and spend more time watching content on TikTok and YouTube. In fact, Netflix even says that their biggest competition isn't other streaming companies, but in fact, YouTube. That's one case they're going to be making to regulators in hopes of getting this deal approved.

But the fear for people working in Hollywood right now is that if WBD gets bought, either by Netflix or Paramount, it's going to lead to more consolidation and layoffs. The Netflix executives are trying to make the case that they won't do mass layoffs, but I'm not sure how many people actually believe. leave them. Let's shift gears and talk about SpaceX. You know, last week we talked about how SpaceX was planning to IPO in the second half of 2026. Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, SpaceX is planning to interview investment banks this week to advise them on an IPO. Pretty much every investment bank wants a piece of this IPO. It's expected to be the biggest IPO of all time. The Elon Musk led space company recently bought shares from employees valuing the company at $800 billion, making them the most valuable.

private company in the world. And some estimate that the company could IPO at a $1.5 trillion valuation. Now, it's not a guarantee they move forward with the IPO. SpaceX's CFO told staff that if the company executes well and the markets cooperate, then they could IPO, but he also cautioned that nothing is locked in yet. So we'll see what ends up happening. I do think this is going to be the biggest IPO of all time because it's space, which is a very sexy industry, and then you got the Elon factor. You put that together and yeah, there's going to be a lot of demand. If you want to learn more about why SpaceX is playing the IPO now, check out my weekend conversation with Eric Berger. He's a space reporter.

He's written a couple of great books about SpaceX. And he explained in the conversation why AI data centers in space could be the reason for SpaceX's IPO. It was a great conversation that episode was posted on Sunday. So go check that out if you missed it. Let's talk about some stocks making moves today. Micron shares are moving higher after Mizzuho securities upgraded the stock. to a buy rating and slapped a $300 price target. That's one of the most bullish calls on Wall Street right now.

See, Micron makes memory and storage products like DRAM, NAND, and SSDs. And right now, there is a huge demand for these products along with tight supply, especially for memory, which is pushing up prices, and it could lead to higher margins for Micron. Also, the AI boom is creating a massive need for storage as well as AI starts creating more data. That's going to need to be stored somewhere. So as a result, micron stock is up more than 2% this morning.

up more than 180% for the year. Now, on the flip side, iRobot shares are getting crushed this morning after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Roomba makers says it will go private after being acquired by its primary manufacturer, Pasea Robotics, and a deal that wipes out most of the company's equity value. You know, the Roomba was innovative when it first came out, but lately they've been under intense pressure from cheaper robotic vacuum makers coming out of China, which has forced the company to slash prices and its crushed your profitability. You add in all the new tariffs this year and the business just couldn't make the math work anymore. What's wild here is that Amazon actually agreed to buy the Rumba maker two years ago for $1.4 billion, but then they backed out

after they faced regulatory scrutiny from the EU and the FTC. And now IRobot is filing for bankruptcy. So that's the downside of too much regulatory scrutiny. Shares of IRobot are down more than 67% this morning on the bankruptcy news. Let's wrap the show with the fun fact. Over four $4.5 trillion in deals were announced in 2025, according to Bloomberg, which is up 40% from last year and the second highest ever, only trailing the $5.3 trillion worth of deals in 2021. Now, there was some monster deals announced this year. Obviously, the Netflix buying Warner Brothers Discovery for $72 billion as the latest, but that's not even the biggest one this year.

The railroad giant Union Pacific announced that they were buying their rival Northfolk Southern for $85 billion over the summer. On top of that, the video game. giant EA was bought by private equity for $55 billion a few months ago. Kimberly Clark announced that they were buying Kenview for $49 billion. So there was some massive mega deals this year, and this is likely because of a friendlier regulatory environment. Executives at these companies don't think the Trump administration will try to block

these mega mergers. So it's possible that we're going to see more and more mega deals announced over the next couple of years as corporations try to consolidate while Trump is still president. 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. As you guys can probably tell, I'm back in Houston in my normal recording environment. It's always fun to go up to New York

to hang out with Mike and Connor and the rest of the public team. but it's also great to be back home as well. I know I mentioned it earlier in the show, but definitely go check out our deep dive that we did on Oracle. That was posted on Saturday. And then we did an awesome interview with space reporter Eric Berger about SpaceX. That was posted on Sunday.

Thank you guys again 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. Rosen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like, Ojo Time. Let's play. Feel the fun with Play-Ojo, the online casino with all the latest slot and live casino games.

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