CNBC Daily Open: Netflix holds its own even as other media companies rethink their strategy

Published

3 days ago

October 22, 2025

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Cast and filmmakers hop on the KPop Demon Hunters-Sing Along Experience at Paris Theater on August 23, 2025 in New York City, U.S.

Roy Rochlin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Netflix’s business leaders and investors probably aren’t enjoying a soda pop after the release of its third-quarter results. While the company’s revenue met expectations — though not beating them as it did the first and second quarters — earnings were taken down by a tax dispute with Brazilian authorities. Shares of Netflix fell around 6% in extended trading Tuesday stateside.

But it doesn’t look like any other media company will dethrone Netflix as the king of streaming in the near term. Warner Bros. Discovery said Tuesday it’s open to a sale — and Netflix is reportedly an interested buyer — even as Warner Bros. is going ahead with its split into two companies in the meantime. Elsewhere, Comcast’s NBCUniversal is currently spinning off its cable networks, which includes CNBC. Those moves suggest that legacy media is still finding its footing amid the era of streaming inaugurated by Netflix.

While there are many factors contributing to Netflix’s golden status, its shows are likely the main protagonists. “KPop Demon Hunters,” released in June, was a smash hit. It’s now the company’s most-watched film, hitting 325 million views and surely played a huge role in Netflix’s best ad sales quarter ever in the third quarter. Even as the streaming giant’s earnings stumbled during that period, Netflix is still showing other media companies how it’s done.

— CNBC’s Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

India is close to a trade deal with U.S., local media reports. As part of the agreement, the White House could slash tariffs on New Delhi to 15%-16% from the current 50%, according to Indian media outlet Mint on Wednesday. India could also reduce oil purchases from Russia.

Netflix’s third-quarter earnings fell short of expectations. The miss was because of an ongoing dispute with Brazilian tax authorities, the company said. Revenue for the period was in line with estimates. Netflix added it is going “all in” on artificial intelligence.

Japan’s exports return to growth in September. However, the 4.2% year-on-year increase, which snapped four months of declines, was below the 4.6% rise expected by a Reuters poll of economists. Shipments to Asia climbed 9.2% from a year earlier, while those to the U.S. fell 13.3%.

U.S. stocks trade mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record Tuesday stateside. The S&P 500, however, was flat and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.16%. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday. South Korea’s Kospi led gains, rising around 1%.

[PRO] ‘Buyback aristocrats’ are outperforming the market. The term refers to companies that have reduced their share counts across a certain period of time — a portfolio of them has outperformed the equal-weight S&P 500 since 2012, according to Goldman Sachs.

And finally…

A large computerised display of the British FTSE 100 index.

Shaun Curry | Afp | Getty Images

Curtain falls on the era of big UK conglomerates

Unlike in the United States, conglomerates — giant companies owning numerous businesses across different sectors — have more or less died out in Britain. This was reinforced when last Friday Smiths Group, the FTSE-100 engineering company, announced a major disposal as it sheds its conglomerate status.

The Smiths break-up marks the end of an era in which conglomerates dominated the ranks of Britain’s biggest companies. Yet traces of the old U.K. conglomerates are everywhere.

— Ian King

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.

Technology

More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says

Published

6 hours ago

October 24, 2025

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More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says

“Supply constrained,” are the two of the most important words CNBC’s Jim Cramer said he’s heard so far during earnings season and explained why this dynamic is favorable for companies.

“When you’re supplied constrained, you have the ability to raise prices, and that’s the holy grail in any industry,” he said.

Intel‘s strong earnings results were in part because of more demand than supply, Cramer suggested. He noted that the company’s CFO, David Zinsner, said the semiconductor maker is supply constrained for a number of products, and that “industry supply has tightened materially.”

Along with Intel, other tech names that are also supply constrained and performing well on the market include Micron, AMD and Nvidia, Cramer continued.

These companies don’t have enough product in part because the storage needs of artificial intelligence are incredible high, Cramer said. He added that he thinks demand has overwhelmed supply because semiconductor capital equipment companies didn’t manufacture enough of their own machines as they simply didn’t anticipate such a volume of orders.

Outside of tech, Cramer said he thinks airplane maker Boeing and energy company GE Vernova are also supply constrained, adding that he thinks the former will say it’s short on most of its planes when it reports earnings next week. GE Vernova is supply constrained with its power equipment, like turbines that burn natural gas, he continued, which is the primary energy source for the ever-growing crop of data centers.

GE Vernova and Boeing are also set to be winners because they make big-ticket items that other countries can buy from the U.S. to help close the trade deficit, Cramer added.

“In the end, we have more demand than supply in a host of industries and that’s the ticket for good stock performance,” he said. “I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

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Technology

3 takeaways from Intel earnings: Cash flow, foundry progress and hardware surprise

Published

11 hours ago

October 24, 2025

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3 takeaways from Intel earnings: Cash flow, foundry progress and hardware surprise

Wall Street remains skeptical on Intel despite its return to profitability

Intel snapped a losing streak of six straight quarterly losses and returned to profitability in the third quarter.

In its first earnings report since the Trump administration acquired a 10% stake in the company, the U.S. chipmaker posted strong revenue, noting robust demand for chips that it expects to continue into 2026.

Client computing revenue, which includes chips for PCs and laptops, grew 5% year over year, benefiting from PC market stabilization and artificial intelligence PC prospects.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a call with analysts Thursday that artificial intelligence “is a strong foundation for sustainable long-term growth as we execute.”

The chip strength and demand were bright spots, but there were areas of concern as well, with the company’s foundry business still needing a big break.

Here are three takeaways from the chipmaker’s Q3 report:

Cash flow

“We significantly improved our cash position and liquidity in Q3, a key focus for me since becoming CEO in March,” Tan said on a call with analysts Thursday.

Intel landed an $8.9 billion investment from the U.S. government in August, along with $2 billion from Softbank, but has not yet received the $5 billion tied to a deal with Nvidia. The company expects that deal to close by the end of Q4.

With all of those transactions completed, plus the Altera sale, Intel will have $35 billion in cash on hand, CFO David Zinser told CNBC.

The U.S. government is the company’s biggest shareholder, and Intel stock is up more than 50% since Aug. 22, when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the deal.

“Like any shareholder, we have to keep in touch with them,” Zinser said of the U.S. stake. “We don’t tell them how the numbers are going before the quarter. We generally talk to them like Fidelity,” another Intel shareholder.

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

Intel 3-month stock chart.

Foundry

The firm’s foundry remains a work in progress.

Revenue fell 2% over the year before, and it has yet to land a major customer.

Intel now has two fabs running 18A nodes, which are designed for AI and high-performance computing applications.

“We are making steady progress on Intel 18A,” Tan said of its latest chip technology. “We are on track to bring Panther Lake to market this year.”

Zinser said the more advanced 14A nodes won’t be put in supply until the company has “real firm demand.”

Old stuff still selling

Zinser said the company’s older chipmaking processes, or nodes, have continued to do well, “and that was probably the part that was more unexpected.”

Zinser said the chipmaker met some of the central processing unit (CPU) demand with inventory on hand, but they will be behind in Q1, “probably Q2 and maybe in Q3.”

The supply crunch has been with older Intel 10 and 7 manufacturing technologies.

Many customers are opting for less advanced hardware to refresh their operating systems, demonstrating enterprises aren’t waiting for cutting-edge chips when proven technology gets the job done.