MoffetNathanson's Robert Fishman joins 'Fast Money' to talk the latest chapter of the Paramount-Netflix bidding war for Warner Brother. Earlier today, Paramount crashed the Netflix-Warner Brothers deal with a hostile $163 billion deal.

Hollywood

Paramount's hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has sparked significant investor interest and a likely bidding war, according to industry analyst Robert Fishman of Moffett Nathanson. Fishman notes that the unsolicited bid has unlocked previously undervalued assets at WBD, with investors now weighing the strategic merits of a merger with Paramount versus other suitors such as Netflix and PeaceGuide.

Fishman suggests that Netflix could benefit if it withdraws from the bidding, as its standalone growth prospects remain strong. He also anticipates continued consolidation in the streaming industry, with companies seeking greater scale to compete with major digital players. The outcome of the current bidding process is expected to influence further industry moves and valuations.

Stock moves signal Paramount investors prefer WBD combo

For more on Paramount's hostile bid for WBD, Moffett Nathanson's Robert Fishman joins us now. Robert, great to have you with us. Which bid is superior in your view if you're a WBD shareholder? You guys just went through a lot of the different dynamics that investors are now having to weigh after the hostile bid today. I would say clearly if you subscribe to the view that global networks have less value, then the Paramount bid on the face of it today is superior. The question that Netflix and investors really need to address right now is what is the true upside potential of owning this asset in terms of all of the better monetization that Netflix is talking about that they can get out of these assets versus where Paramount Skydance is ultimately looking to take these assets. So to some degree, from the Netflix standpoint and Netflix investors, you have to understand where the companies want to go with this and how much they're willing to dive in to that bidding war that you guys just went through. So to get at Tim's question in terms of the valuation of WBD, is it that WBD should have never traded as low as it did and that what we're talking about now in terms of the offers being made, that is really a reflection, a better reflection of the true value of WBD assets? I mean, where are we on the valuation of this of this property and why Netflix needs to chase after this? Yeah, so we fortunately upgraded Warner Brothers Discovery at the beginning of the year because of this underlying thesis that we had that the assets and the content and the quality of the content and assets and the premium nature of both really were undervalued. And all it does take to what we've just kind of lived through is that one first bid to really unlock the value. So clearly, investors before this were not giving the company full credit or really much credit for the strategy that they were going on. But as soon as you saw there was this interest in terms of this bid that PeaceGuide brought to the table unsolicited, that's how the value completely got unlocked here. So we're now at the point where there is this essentially bidding war that that's about to take place and how that plays out remains to be seen. But as you mentioned before, PeaceGuide, David Ellison has announced that this is not his last and final offer. So we have to see if Netflix and how the different shareholders respond to today's events. So, Robert, Tim brought it up. Can Netflix be a winner here if they lose the bidding war? If forget about bidding war, if they just take themselves out of the bidding war, does the stock become a winner? We think the stock would definitely rebound, as you mentioned. And so, again, we've been positive on Netflix since this year as well because of the clear path that they have in terms of monetizing their existing engagement and the potential of growing that engagement through different ways. But ultimately, I think what this raises is concern for the Netflix investor base. Is this a signal of more defensive nature given the bid and whether or not how aggressive they want to be here? But ultimately, we think that the path as a standalone company is a meaningful growth opportunity ahead and at these levels, you know, not properly reflected. So, Robert, then it brings us back to, again, this intrinsic value dynamic that I'm talking about. It seems like one plus one equals three in this environment where these two assets strategically, this makes more sense by adding them in. But I want to get back to the rest of the sector that may or may not be trading on this news. And again, assets that may or may not be fully appreciated either by the market or by other players who now have to move after this deal gets done to one of these two people. Are the assets in the industry that much more valuable? And there are other assets out there that at least could be combined and bolted on. So it comes down to who ultimately perseveres here, if PeaceGuy does not end up with these assets, clearly we believe that they do need additional scale in terms of accelerating their own streaming strategy and getting to the global reach that they're looking for. So, you know, we've talked about before, would they be interested in looking at the NBC Universal assets? That's an open question. But I do think we've heard today from Comcast and from others, everyone wants to go at it on their own if they don't persevere. But ultimately, we think that consolidation will continue within the industry in order to help fight that DTC's overall streaming fight against some of the larger digital players. And I think that's what we've heard today from Comcast and from others, everyone wants to go at it on their own if they don't persevere here, clearly we believe that they do need additional scale in terms of accelerating their own streaming strategy and getting to the global reach that they're looking for. So, you know, we've heard today from Comcast and from others, everyone wants to go at it on their own if they don't persevere here, clearly we think that consolidation will continue within the industry in order to fight that DTC's overall streaming fight against some of the larger digital players.

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