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Public.com presents the rundown. Your daily market update in under 10 minutes. My name is A. And today is Wednesday, December 17th. In today's episode, we'll explain why oil prices are at four year lows. We'll also tell you why the Warner Brothers board is rejecting Paramount's takeover bid. Then stick around to the end of the show to find out what Waymo is valued at and why. I think they could IPO in the near future. We got a great show for you today. Let's go. Stocks are coming off a wild day of trading on Tuesday. The S P 500 was down nearly 1% in the morning, but then rallied in the afternoon to finish down just 0.2%. The NASDAQ was actually able to squeeze out a 0.3% gain and snapped a three day losing streak thanks to a bounce back in tech stocks. Six of these seven Magnificent Seven stocks were in the green yesterday, led by Tesla which was up 3% and hit all time highs the first time this year. Your Tesla stock has been on an absolute heater in the past month jumping nearly 20% which is a bit shocking to me given that Tesla has been struggling with sales. Clearly investors are more focused and excited about the progress the company is making when it comes to their robo taxis. Meanwhile, the energy sector got absolutely crushed yesterday. It was by far the worst performing sector and it was pushed down by the sell off in oil which has fallen below 55 a barrel. That's the lowest level in four years. Now this year oil prices have fallen more than 20% because of oversupply and weak demand from countries like China. So that's been bad for investors in companies like Exxon and Chevron, but it's been great for our wallets when filling up the gas tank. Now oil prices are up 2% this morning after President Trump ordered a total blockade of oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela which could result in a prolonged disruption of supply. Venezuela is one of the largest producers of oil in the world, so. So we'll have to see how that plays out. Now speaking of rising prices, remember we are getting the November CPI report tomorrow morning. That'll be the most up to date data that we have on inflation. Economists are predicting a 3.1% year over year increase. So we'll see what the numbers come in at. We'll break it all down on tomorrow's episode. So make sure you guys are subscribed to the podcast and tuning in every day to stay in the loop. Let's run through some headlines starting with Warner Brothers discovery. Warners has officially rejected Paramount's hostile takeover bid. The board is telling shareholders to stick with the Netflix deal instead. Now a quick recap on the situation here. A couple weeks ago, Netflix agreed to buy Warner's film and TV studios along with HBO and HBO Max and all the IP for $27.75 a share, worth about $72 billion total. Paramount though when directly to WBD shareholders with a 3 $30 a share offer for the entire company including the cable channels. And on paper the Paramount bid does look better. But the Warner's board says they aren't sure that Paramount can actually pay for this deal. Now Paramount is owned by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, who's the founder of Oracle. He's the fifth richest man in the world. Larry is supposedly backstopping this deal, but Warner says the commitment from Larry is coming from a opaque and revocable trust, which, which basically means they don't think the money is locked in. On top of that, some outside investors that Paramount had lined up, like Jared Kushner's affinity partners, have backed out. Jared Kushner is President Trump's son in law, so the fact that he's backing out is very interesting here. So that's why the Warner's board is recommending that shareholders accept the Netflix deal, since Netflix is a $400 billion company and actually has the money to move forward with the acquisition. The story is far from over though. Paramount is making the case that their deal will actually get regulatory approval because again, Larry Ellison is boys with Trump. Netflix deal will likely face greater resistance. Plus Paramount is also hinted that they could potentially increase their bid to higher than $30 a share, which could get WBD shareholders to pick them over the Netflix deal. But I mean with the way that Oracle stock is tanking right now, dropping Larry Ellison's net worth, I'd be kind of surprised that Larry would want to commit even more money to this. But I guess we'll see what happens. Right now though, I do think that Netflix is more likely to win the deal. Let's shift gears and talk about OpenAI. According to reporting from the Information, OpenAI is in talks to raise at least billion from Amazon at a valuation north of $500 billion, making Amazon the latest big tech company investing in OpenAI. Now as part of this deal, OpenAI would buy and use Amazon's Trainium AI chips, giving Amazon a major customer for its in house Nvidia competitor. So this looks like another one of those circular financing AI deals where Amazon gives OpenAI a ton of money. And then OpenAI turns around and uses that money to buy Amazon's chips and cloud services. But the thing is, OpenAI needs as much money as possible. OpenAI has told investors it expects to burn more than $100 billion over the next four years to buy things like servers, chips, talents. But everyone keeps asking the same question here. Where is all this money coming from? How is OpenAI going to pay for all of this? Because OpenAI's revenues is around 15 to 20 billion dollars in annual run rate. OpenAI can't pay for all this with just revenue. So for now, they're burning through investor money, including all the big tech companies that have invested in them. OpenAI has already raised more than 45 billion DOL, including a $13 billion investment for Microsoft, which owns 27% of OpenAI. On top of that, Nvidia has floated the idea of investing up to $100 billion, starting with a $10 billion tranche tied to construction milestones, though that deal isn't finalized just yet. But now there is this Amazon deal. And honestly, it's a smart move by OpenAI because they're trying to tie themselves to every big tech company. So these big tech companies are now incentivized to see OpenAI win. And for Amazon, this deal makes a ton of sense. It helps push their own AI chips into real use instead of letting NVID dominate everything. And who knows, this might set the table for OpenAI and Amazon to integrate commerce and shopping features down the line. By the way, Amazon is also an early backer of Anthropic, which made the Claude chatbot. They've invested $8 billion into anthropic so far. In fact, a ton of other big tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Nvidia have also invested in Anthropic. So honestly, these big tech companies are going to end up winning either way. Let's talk about some stocks making moves today. Shares of DBV Technologies are soaring this morning after the company positive phase 3 trial results for its peanut allergy treatment in young children. This, via skin treatment, is a non invasive skin patch. It's not a pill or an injection, which could be a big deal for kids and parents dealing with severe peanut allergies. My 2 year old son has a peanut allergy, so this patch would be a game changer for us. DBV says that it's now on track to submit a biologics license application to the FDA in the first half of 2026, which is the final step needed before the drug can be approved and sold in the US So investors are banking on the upside here. DBV stock is up nearly 40% in pre market trading. Now on the flip side, Lennar's stock is sliding after the home builder missed earnings estimates and delivered weaker than expected guidance due to the slowdown in the housing market. Lennar said that buyers are still holding back even as mortgage rates have eased slightly because home prices remain too high. Now, in order to move inventory, the company has been offering more incentives and cutting prices and that's starting to hurt their margins. Gross margins on home sales came in at 6:17, which is below the expectation of 17.5%. And the company warned that margins could fall even further to 15 to 16% in the current quarter. So you add all that up and Lennar stock is down 4% this morning in pre market trading. Now, we've heard from a couple of home builders this earning season and overall it has not been a great signal for the broader housing market, especially as affordability continues to weigh on demand. Let's wrap the show with a fun fact. Waymo is now being valued at around $100 billion. According to reports from the Information and Bloomberg, Waymo is in talks to raise more than $15 billion from outside investors at a 100 billion dollar valuation, making the self driving company more valuable than Ford and GM combined. Waymo last raised money in October of 2024 at a $45 billion valuation. So their valuation has more than doubled in a year. And honestly, it's easy to see why, because Waymo has made a ton of progress in the last year. You know, Waymo is really the only company right now running fully driverless rides with no safety drivers across multiple US cities. On top of that, Waymo is actually making money now. Roughly $350 million in annual revenue. And that number is expected to grow as the company expands into more cities in 2026, including Miami, Dallas, Philly, Houston and more. In fact, Waymo expects to hit 1 million rides per week by late 2026, which is pretty wild. I think with all this momentum that Waymo has right now, they could potentially IPO in the next year or two. That's just my speculation, by the way. No one is reporting this, but I think it could happen. It makes a ton of sense. You know. Right now Waymo is owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, and Alphabet is spending a lot of money on AI data centers. So Alphabet might decide to take Waymo public so they can raise even more money to fuel Waymo's expansion instead of funding it with their own balance sheet. Let me know in the comments of what you guys think. I do think the demand for a Waymo IPO would be absolutely, absolutely crazy. Well, all right, guys, that's the rundown for today. Hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. If you did and you have like five extra seconds, consider giving us a five star rating on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast. If you are listening on Spotify, don't forget to vote in today's Spotify poll. Leave us a comment on Spotify. All that engagement really does help us out and it helps other people find the show. Thank you guys so much for listening, watching and commenting. Shout out to Mike and Connor for all the work behind the scenes and we'll see you guys back here tomorrow.
Episode Title: WBD Rejects Paramount Bid, Amazon in Talks to Invest $10B in OpenAI
Host: Zaid Admani
Podcast by: Public.com
In this brisk financial news roundup, Zaid Admani breaks down the biggest stock market moves and headlines shaping the business landscape—focusing on why oil prices have hit a four-year low, Warner Bros. Discovery’s rejection of Paramount’s takeover bid, Amazon’s rumored $10 billion investment in OpenAI, and an update on Waymo’s soaring valuation. All topics are delivered with the host’s trademark concise, candid, and investor-minded style.
S&P 500:
NASDAQ:
Magnificent Seven:
“Tesla stock has been on an absolute heater in the past month jumping nearly 20% which is a bit shocking... given that Tesla has been struggling with sales. Clearly investors are more focused and excited about the progress the company is making when it comes to their robo taxis.” — Zaid Admani
Energy Sector & Oil Prices:
“Venezuela is one of the largest producers of oil in the world, so we’ll have to see how that plays out.” — Zaid Admani
Upcoming Data – CPI Report:
“On paper the Paramount bid does look better. But the Warner’s board says they aren’t sure that Paramount can actually pay for this deal.” — Zaid Admani
“With the way that Oracle stock is tanking right now, dropping Larry Ellison’s net worth, I’d be kind of surprised that Larry would want to commit even more money to this.” — Zaid Admani
“This looks like another one of those circular financing AI deals where Amazon gives OpenAI a ton of money. And then OpenAI turns around and uses that money to buy Amazon’s chips and cloud services.” — Zaid Admani
“Honestly, these big tech companies are going to end up winning either way.” — Zaid Admani
“My 2 year old son has a peanut allergy, so this patch would be a game changer for us.” — Zaid Admani
“I think with all this momentum that Waymo has right now, they could potentially IPO in the next year or two. That’s just my speculation, by the way. No one is reporting this, but I think it could happen. It makes a ton of sense, you know.” — Zaid Admani
On Tesla’s Rally:
“Clearly investors are more focused and excited about the progress the company is making when it comes to their robo taxis.” — Zaid Admani [01:23]
On Paramount’s Bid:
“Paramount is owned by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, who’s the founder of Oracle. He’s the fifth richest man in the world. Larry is supposedly backstopping this deal, but Warner says the commitment... is coming from an opaque and revocable trust, which basically means they don’t think the money is locked in.” — Zaid Admani [04:50]
On Big Tech and AI:
“OpenAI needs as much money as possible. OpenAI has told investors it expects to burn more than $100 billion over the next four years.” — Zaid Admani [09:05]
On Waymo’s Growth:
“Waymo expects to hit 1 million rides per week by late 2026, which is pretty wild.” — Zaid Admani [13:31]
| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|---------------------------------------------| | 00:00–01:36 | Market Recap | | 02:10–03:05 | Oil Prices & Energy Sector | | 03:10–03:34 | Inflation/Upcoming CPI Data | | 03:40–07:35 | WBD Rejects Paramount Bid/Deal Analysis | | 07:40–10:32 | Amazon & OpenAI Investment Discussion | | 10:35–12:05 | Stock Movers: DBV Technologies, Lennar | | 12:38–15:03 | Waymo’s Valuation & IPO Speculation |
Listeners get a well-rounded and timely insight into major moves in streaming, tech, AI, and housing—all tied back to their investment implications. Zaid makes complex stories approachable while flagging emerging trends and speculation, especially around Waymo’s IPO and the increasing entanglement of Big Tech in the AI arms race.