Well here’s a hot little rumor. Netflix stock has surged today on news that it may be acquired by Amazon.
The stock is currently up over 7% in trading today, at an 11-week high. Sources seem pretty thin, based seemingly on stock analysis from places like WhatsTrading.com. And neither company is commenting. But the idea is a hot one.
Both Amazon and Netflix are in the midst of a full-on push to get digital video content into the living room. Amazon via its On Demand service, and Netflix through its streaming service. The two are battling the likes of Apple (with the Apple TV) and to some extent Microsoft (though Netflix also works on the Xbox 360 — and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is actually on Microsoft’s board).
But combined, the two would offer a very formidable combination. The reason is that while Netflix mostly offers older titles through its streaming service, Amazon offers all the new movies. Netflix of course sends out new movies via DVD by mail, but that service will one day go away in favor of streaming or downloading.
Again, who knows if this is in anyway true, but the stock fluctuations don’t lie, something is up with Netflix right now. From Bloomberg:
Trading of call options, which give the right to buy the shares, surged to 11,477 contracts, more than triple the four- week average and five times the volume for puts, which give the right to sell.
[thanks Andrew]