Netflix Is Weighing Up a Warner Bros. Bid, Report Says. Get Ready for a Bidding War.

Netflix stock is up 22% this year, putting the streamer on the brink of a half-trillion-dollar valuation. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Key Points

• Netflix is considering a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studios business, retaining Moelis & Co. as a financial advisor, according to Reuters.
• A potential acquisition would grant Netflix control over HBO Max and intellectual property including DC Comics and Harry Potter.
• Warner Bros. has previously rejected three offers from Paramount Skydance, with the last offer at $23.50 per share.

Netflix may be about to add Harry Potter and Batman to the vast library of characters it controls. The video streamer is weighing up making a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studios business, according to a report.

Both media stocks were rising in early trading. Netflix shares climbed 2% to $1,112. Warner Bros. rose 2.3% to $22.13, lifting the entertainment company’s market capitalization to just under $55 billion. The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher, boosted by solid quarterly earnings from Apple and Amazon.

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Netflix is retaining the investment bank Moelis & Co. as a financial advisor as it actively considers a Warner Bros. bid, and has been granted access to key financial information, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. Moelis declined to comment. Netflix and Warner Bros. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Barron’s.

The deal would give Netflix control over the rival HBO Max streaming service, as well as intellectual property like DC Comics and Harry Potter. That would feed the tech giant’s flywheel model, a self-sustaining cycle of growth in which more subscribers means more money to spend on content, which in turn attracts even more users.

The news could kickstart a bidding war. Warner Bros’ has already rejected three offers from Paramount Skydance, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, citing people familiar with the matter. Its last offer was for $23.50 a share, the people said, which is still way below the $40 a share level that Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav is reportedly aiming for.

Netflix announced a 10-for-1 stock split late Thursday, which it said would help reset shares to a range that would make it easier for employees taking part in an options program to buy in. The stock has climbed 22% this year, although third-quarter earnings took some of the shine off a bigger rally, as a continuing dispute with Brazilian tax authorities led to the company missing Wall Street’s profit target.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com