WSJ What’s News - Warner Bros. Discovery Is Exploring a Sale

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

P.M. Edition for Oct. 21. Warner Bros. Discovery said it’s considering a sale of some or all of its media assets. WSJ media and entertainment reporter Joe Flint discusses what’s driving this moment of consolidation in the entertainment industry. Plus, General Motors reported better-than-expected third-quarter results, sending its stock soaring. And amid a glut of unaffordable housing, a growing number of renters nationwide are applying with fraudulent paperwork. We hear from WSJ real estate reporter Deborah Acosta about what happens to fraudsters and what the trend means for renters and landlords. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Amex Platinum, you have access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. So your experience before takeoff is a taste of what's to come. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. GM's stock soars after the automaker reports better than expected earnings for the third quarter. Plus, why Warner Brothers Discovery is exploring a sale. There is so much uncertainty about where the audience is going and how best to capture that audience and advertisers and the people who run these big companies naturally feel that they need to be bigger to compete. And what's behind a surge in renters turning to fraud to apply for luxury apartments.

It's Tuesday, October 21st. I'm Alex O'Sullough for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories. that moved the world today. General Motors shares soared after its latest quarterly results. The automaker's third quarter was surprisingly strong, even with the pain of tariffs, a slowing electric vehicle market, and supply crunches.

GM said it is making faster than expected progress, reducing a multi-billion-dollar tariff bill. Speaking on this morning's earnings call, GM CEO Mary Barra said the company is also moving quickly to downsize its money-loose. using electric vehicle business. By acting swiftly and decisively to address overcapacity, we expect to reduce EV losses in 2026 and beyond, making us much better positioned as demand stabilizes.

Net income plunged by more than half in the quarter, but an adjusted income figure exceeded Wall Street's estimates, and the automaker raised its guidance. Investors hope GM can benefit from selling more SUVs and trucks that run on gas, now that the Trump administration has eased regulations. shares jumped nearly 15% and closed at a record high. And reporting after the bell, Netflix said its revenue and profit rose in the third quarter, as it grew subscribers, increased ad revenue, and benefited from higher prices. Netflix said it recorded its best-ever quarter for ad sales.

The company's quarterly revenue rose 17% to $11.5 billion from a year ago. That was just below its own forecast for the period. For more on Netflix earnings, go to W. World prices fell more than 5% in their biggest single-day drop since 2013, a day after, notching new record highs. Silver prices also slid. A solid start to third-quarter earnings helped lift some company shares. You already heard about GM, and Coca-Cola and manufacturer 3M also rose today after their results. Meanwhile, the stock of entertainment giant Warner Brothers Discovery popped 11%. More on that in a bit.

Stocks overall were mixed, with the Dow ending about half a percent higher, the S&P 500 unchanged, and the NASDAQ slightly lower. Warner Brothers Discovery said it is exploring a potential sale for all or part of the company, setting into motion a deal process that could reshape the future of the entertainment industry. Warner is the company behind movies like Superman. You'd let me interview you as Superman. Sure. The Harry Potter franchise.

I'm a lot. A wizard and a thumping good a night wager. As well as cable networks, HBO, CNN, and HGTV. This home is shaped like a pyramid. Yes. Warner said it's got an interest from, quote, multiple parties. WSJ Media and Entertainment reporter Joe Flint joins me now with more. Joe, what can you tell us about this interest in Warner Brothers' Discovery's assets?

The Wall Street Journal's previously reported, Paramount has made offers for Warner Brothers Discovery, and they have now made two offers, both of which have been rebuffed. Warner Brothers Discovery issued a statement this morning, saying they have received interest from multiple suitors for some or all of the company. They're not disclosing who the suitors are. There's a round up the usual suspects list going around the industry. The others are very likely more interested in the Warner Brothers Studio, Library, and HBO-Max streaming service.

So Warner had previously announced that it was planning to split itself up. So given this announcement today, what happens with some of those plans? The chairman of the company issued a statement this morning saying the split is still the preferred option of the company. Now, this can be also seen as a bit of a negotiating ploy, but for now, they said they're going to explore these other options, keep marching forward with the split, with an idea of completing it in the middle of 2026 at the latest. It seems like this is part of a bigger consolidation push within the entertainment industry. What's driving that? Fear. Fear is partially driving the consolidation. There is so much uncertainty about where the audience is going and how best to capture that audience and advertisers and the people who run these big companies naturally feel that they need to be bigger to compete.

Well, Paramount has not commented specifically about Warner Brothers or any potential acquisitions. David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, did say the other week at an industry conference that any deals they did would be more about, increasing their content, increasing their market share. The more toys you have, the more you can bring people into your store. That's basically the thinking. That was WSJ reporter, Joe Flint. Thank you, Joe. Oh, thank you. Coming up, why a surge and fraudulent rental applications is bad news for everyone. That's after the break. As an ensemble Cado Cephora of the FACET that I just deniches, who energize at times?

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other, part of Vite. Procurring you, Corma Stonar and Mini, regrouped for a better quality of price. OnLing on We're exclusively reporting that activist investor Jonna Partners is teaming up with NFL Star and Taylor Swift fiancé Travis Kelsey to push for changes at Six Flags.

The hedge fund said today that it, along with Kelsey and other investors, have a combined stake of about 9% in Six Flags stock. Jonna wants Six Flags to improve its marketing and customer experience and sees opportunities to change Six Flags leadership and a value. a potential sale. Six Flags shares have dropped more than 50% this year, with bad weather and fewer visits to the theme parks taking a toll on the company. Activist investors often enlist celebrities to bring awareness to campaigns, and John A Managing Partner Scott Ostfeld said at a conference today that Kelsey could help boost the Six Flags brand. Kelsey, whose romance with Swift

raised his profile, has described himself as a theme park superfan, who grew up going to parks. And Unilever said today that the planned spinoff of its ice cream business is on ice. It blamed the listing delay of the Ben & Jerry's division on the U.S. government shutdown. Unilever said that the Securities and Exchange Commission was unable to declare the spinoff's registration statement effective, a needed step before trading can begin on the New York Stock Exchange. Unilever said it still aimed to complete the spinoff of its ice cream business this year and was considering a workaround to be able to list its shares. The rent's just too high for a lot of people.

So in some cities, renters are turning to fraud. They're fudging financial information on their applications, like lying about their income. There's even a market in fake rental application packages, which can include doctored employment letters and financial documents. The surge in renter application fraud, especially in new luxury buildings, is causing plenty of headaches for both landlords and tenants. Deborah Acosta covers real estate for the journal and is here to. to tell us more. Deborah, you write that Atlanta is the epicenter of the surge of fraudulent renter applications. Why is that? Atlanta has a situation in which they've had a ton of these brand new luxury buildings hit the market in the past few years. There's all these rental units

available on the market. There's not really enough people who can afford to live in them. I spoke with someone who helps these landlords combat the fraud, and he said that when there's a brand new building that's empty and leasing up 100%, that really attracts a lot of fraudsters because they see that there's going to be a ton of new people coming in, and that's where they can kind of squeeze themselves in, likely without getting noticed. The other thing that's happening is the advent of AI has made it a lot easier for people to forge these applications. And three, during the pandemic, a lot of individuals were getting these stimulus checks. that allowed them to afford these apartments.

But then as that money ran out, suddenly they found themselves in a situation where they were living beyond their means. Is this type of fraud also happening in other cities? What's fascinating is that it's not just Atlanta. It's really spread across the country in Miami, in Washington, D.C., and in Houston, and in other parts of the country. Is fudging your application really a crime? So if you use a false social security number, to hide your credit history, that is fraud. Yes. Is anybody going to go after you criminally for doing that? That's an open question. I spoke with someone at the Department of Justice who said,

you know, this is kind of small potatoes for us. This is not the kind of thing we're really going after. And then the landlords are overwhelmed just with the eviction process. They're not going after these people criminally. We spoke to many different landlords and none of them said that they were going after these people. How does this situation end? Do people, end up having to leave because they just can't pay? People might be able to get away with this for a few months, but ultimately they're going to get evicted. What developers are doing now, what landlords are doing, is employing these new services to help them combat the fraud. And so that gives them a full picture of how many people are actually applying fraudulently to the

apartment. What is the impact on the broader housing market? Do other people get affected to? It ultimately raises rents for everyone because you're raising rents thinking that there's all this demand for your apartments at a particular price when in reality so much of it is actually fraudulent. The reality is so many people cannot even afford the original rent to begin with. That was WSJ reporter, Deborah Acosta. The White House confirmed today that there are no immediate plans for a summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war,

as the Trump administration has concluded that Russia is unlikely to sign a peace deal in the near future. Just days ago, Trump said he would be meeting soon with Putin in Budapest. And finally, applications to U.S. business schools dropped 1% this year. The U.S. business schools diverged from broader trends, as applications to business schools worldwide actually grew 7%. The Graduate Management Admission Council, a nonprofit, that tracks application trends surveyed more than 300 business schools across 41 countries. This year's report is a significant about-face from last year for U.S. business schools when

applications surged. In 2025, worries about visas kept international students closer to home, and many young American professionals seem like they're sticking with their jobs rather than going back to school. But most of this year's drop in interest happened outside the top 30 to 50 U.S. programs. applications for full-time MBAs rose at schools like the University of Chicago and New York University. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienn-May and Zoe Colkin with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex Oslo for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning.

Thanks for listening. Thank you.