Streaming Wars Continue as Paramount Takes Final Swing

The unavoidable noise surrounding Netflix's (NFLX) expansive, $72 billion buyout of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is shaking up Wall Street today. Onlookers continue to grow skeptical of what an acquisition of this scale would mean for the former's power over the industry, including one particular rival.

Challenging Netflix's offer, Paramount Skydance Corp (NASDAQ:PSKY) submitted a hostile bid valued at $108.4 billion today, or $30 per share, $18 billion more in cash than its competitor. In response, PSKY is up 8% to trade at $14.44 at last glance, attempting to work its way off Friday's steep losses.

Options have been flying off the shelves today amid the buzz. PSKY has seen 34, 000 calls traded, triple the average pace, and more than six times the number of puts. Most popular is the February 17 call, where new positions are being sold to open.

Analysts have yet to chime, but upgrades could be on the way. Heading into today, 23 of 24 covering brokerages called the stock a "hold" or worse. Should this bearish sentiment begin to unwind, PSKY could charge higher still.

The equity remains on the short sale restricted (SSR) list, though it looks like shorts have been building of late. Short interest increased 13.8% in the most recent reporting period, accounting for 5.2% of the stock's available float. With 53.46 million shares sold short, it would take short sellers over six days to buy back these bearish bets.