Paramount and Netflix Battle For WBD, Trump's Green Light to Nvidia, Altman on AI Fears 12/9/25

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David Faber (0:57)

Market insight and analysis. You're listening to the opening bell of CNBC Squawk on the Street.

SPEAKER_4 (1:02)

Good Tuesday morning.

Carl Quintanilla (1:03)

Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with Jim Cramer, David Faber at Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. Future is pretty steady. The Fed meeting begins today, of course. Got a healthy diet of commentary from some consumer names like Depot, Walmart, Pepsi and others. We'll get jolts in about an hour, 10 years back to 414 Our roadmap begins with this drama in the battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, as Paramount does go hostile with its latest bid. And Netflix's Ted Serrano says he's super confident about his offer.

David Faber (1:31)

Plus Home Depot shares under pressure this morning. The retailer cut its outlook as consumers continue to pull back on spending. And President Trump giving the green light to Nvidia to sell its chips to China. The H200 will discuss what it means for the company and, of course, the broader AI ecosystem. We're going to start with Paramount. Of course, Paramount Skydance's $30 all-cash offer. It's a tender for Warner Bros. You heard about it 24 hours ago right here, of course, countering that deal that Netflix already has to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming assets. Different than Paramount's offer, which is for the entire company. Yesterday at a UBS conference right here in New York, Netflix's co-CEO Ted Serrano expressed optimism about his company's offer.

Ted Sarandos (2:20)

We have a deal done and we are incredibly happy with the deal. We think it's great for our shareholders. We think it's great for consumers. We think it's a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry. We're super confident we're going to get it across the line and finish.

David Faber (2:35)

Well, of course, that will be the key, whether they can get it across the line, so to speak, or what exactly even that line represents. Guys, in the next few weeks, first of all, just in terms of how this fight is going to play out, I guess the next important moment will be when we get this filing from Warner Brothers that responds to what we got yesterday from Paramount. It's called a 14-D9, and it will give their representations as to why they chose Netflix, as to why they didn't go with what seemingly was an equal, if not higher bid, if you listen to Paramount, with a lot less antitrust risk. I got a lot of reporting around that at this point, no answers, of course, but sort of I'm hearing from both sides to a certain extent in terms of their thinking, Jim. But that's the next thing, and then this thing is going to play out. What we'll also figure prominently, one would anticipate, is what does Netflix's stock do? Does it keep going down? Does that in some way put pressure on the company or not? Do they feel that pressure? Is there any chance that an activist gets in the stock and starts saying, what are you guys doing? So these are some of the things prior to when we get to the shareholder vote, if we actually ever do, which is yet to even be scheduled.

Jim Cramer (3:47)

Right, well, Ted Cerenos is a man of his word. He rarely talks unless he just knows what he's talking about. One of the things I love about the guy, he's sharp, he's tough, okay? So if he's saying it's better, then it's better. This guy could say, you know what, maybe this is too high, whatever. He is a very lovable sharebase. This sharebase has been there through thick and thin. The idea that they are not going to like what he does ultimately, the fellow travelers of Sarandos just doesn't seem possible. This is a huge winning stock. If they want it, I think they're going to get it, period.