Last week, rumors surfaced that Disney was considering purchasing Twitter. Now this week, it is again rumored that Disney or Apple are considering the purchase of Netflix.
According to R.W. Baird financial analyst William Power, Netflix has become a heated target of takeover rumors as of late, saying that “whether Disney, Apple or someone else, Netflix could become a target.”
Disney currently holds 30% in streaming company Hulu thanks to a joint venture with other media companies such as Fox, Time Warner, and others.
“What Disney has to think about is what is its place in a post cord-cutting world,” said institutional investment Monness Crespi Hardt & Co.’s James Cakmak regarding reports that Disney would buy Twitter. “They are investing in technology for distribution — and this would give them the platform to reach audiences around the world.”
Netflix generated $7 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year. Disney created $52 billion in revenue over the same time period, with Apple pulling down around $234 billion.
Since news of a potential suitor for Netflix broke, the stock price for the company is up 3.5%. With little else tangible to go on but rumors by analysts of a buyout investigation, it remains possible that the report is an attempt at stock manipulation by Wall Street analysts.
Even though Apple’s video intentions remain unclear, the company could make a play for the company because of its exclusive content as well as its customer base to help expand its iTunes TV, Movie, and other video offerings.
However, in an interview back in July of 2016, Apple’s senior VP of Internet Software Eddy Cue stated that the company wasn’t interested in becoming a Netflix competitor.
“We’re not in the business of trying to create TV shows, we’re not trying to compete with Netflix or compete with Comcast.”
In the same interview, Cue said that Apple was more interested in building the platform for delivering content more than anything else.
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