By Nate Wolf
Movie theater stocks, including AMC Entertainment Holdings and Cinemark Holdings, took a hit Friday from Netflix's $83 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming business.
Cinemark dropped 5.2%, IMAX was down 3.4%, and Marcus fell 3.3%. AMC fell 2.4%.
The deal would give Netflix the rights to franchises like the DC comics, "Harry Potter," and "Game of Thrones." It could also tilt film even more toward streaming, an analyst pointed out Wednesday, before the deal was announced.
More Warner Bros. content could be pushed onto Netflix's streaming platform, cutting the number of wide releases and, in turn, hurting theaters, said Mike Hickey of Benchmark Equity Research in a note.
When major studios consolidate, they tend to put out fewer movies from major franchises like Harry Potter, Hickey added.
Cinemark declined to comment. AMC and Marcus didn't immediate respond to Barron's request for comment.
But movie theaters may only suffer the impact of fewer or shorter releases later on since Warner Bros.' theatrical release slate has been negotiated through 2029, analysts at Wedbush Securities said in a note Friday.
Netflix would have to honor those contracts with the theater chains -- and it has said it would.
Theater chains have already worked closely with Netflix.
In October, for instance, the streaming service confirmed the screening of the "Stranger Things" series finale at more than 500 theaters nationwide. Cinemark and AMC have locations hosting the Dec. 31 event. AMC had a similar partnership with Netflix for showings of the movie "KPop Demon Hunters" on Halloween weekend.
"I am highly confident that there is more to come with our two companies working cooperatively together," AMC CEO Adam Aron told investors on the company's November earnings call. "Stay tuned."
IMAX may benefit if Netflix decides to shorten theatrical release windows. The company, which produces a high-resolution movie format for mammoth screens and uses an intense sound system, usually screens major titles over one to three weeks, the Wedbush analysts said.
On Friday, IMAX responded to Barron's by pointing to comments that CEO Rich Gelfond made to investors the day before.
On Thursday, Gelfond touted the company's relationship with Netflix. IMAX, he said, has gone out of its way to work with the streamer. Netflix's "Narnia" film, for instance, will come out exclusively at IMAX theaters for four weeks next year.
Gelfond also expressed skepticism that antitrust regulators would allow the merger to go through without theatrical releases being part of any deal.
Within the streaming sector itself, investors have also expressed concerns about Roku, whose platform distributes services like Netflix and Warner Bros.' HBO Max. The main worry is that HBO Max could shut down, reducing the number of platforms hosted on Roku.
Still, Roku stock jumped 2.7%.
"We do not anticipate any winner shutting down HBO Max in the near term, opting instead for a secondary service with bundling options," wrote the Wedbush team.
A financially healthier studio, the firm added, may also spend more on advertising on Roku's platform.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 05, 2025 11:19 ET (16:19 GMT)
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