5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday

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Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.

Breaking news this morning: Netflix announced that an agreement had been reached for the purchase. Warner Brothers Discovery We are ending the sale of our movie and streaming assets, ending the sales process that was the talk of tinsel town.

Here are the details:

The deal will see Netflix acquire WBD’s movie studio and HBO Max streaming service. Discovery will continue to be spun out of its television network business, which includes brands such as TNT and CNN. Netflix will pay $27.75 per WBD share in the cash-and-stock deal, representing a total enterprise value of more than $82 billion. The streaming giant’s acquisition is expected to be completed after its separation from Discovery, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2026.paramount skydance Parent company of NBCUniversal comcast CNBC reported yesterday that Paramount’s lawyers sent a letter to WBD CEO David Zaslav questioning the “fairness and appropriateness” of the sale process.

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

meta platform It rebounded more than 3% yesterday, pushing Facebook’s parent company into positive territory this week. Rising stock prices helped S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite It will take profit in Thursday’s session. Follow live market updates here.

Meta’s rise comes after Bloomberg reported that CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to cut jobs at the company’s Metaverse division. Executives are considering cutting the department’s budget by up to 30%, which could include job losses and impact Meta’s virtual reality division, the report said. Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist at Hightower Advisors, told CNBC that the move would make sense for Zuckerberg.

ulta beauty It doesn’t seem to be experiencing the slowdown that other consumer brands are reporting. The company’s third quarter beat Wall Street expectations on both fronts, and shares rose more than 6% in extended trading.

Ulta said it expects higher-than-historic same-store sales growth and raised its full-year profit and sales outlook for the second consecutive quarter. As CNBC’s Melissa Repko points out, Ulta is benefiting from continued interest in beauty products even as consumers cut back on other spending.

Congressional watchdogs announced yesterday that the Comptroller’s Office is investigating Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pruitt.

Senate Democrats last month asked GAO to investigate Pulte, asking the agency to determine whether Pulte and FHFA officials “misused federal authority and resources” to prosecute mortgage fraud against President Donald Trump’s opponents. Pruitt has referred criminal charges to the Justice Department, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, and Rep. Eric Swalwell.

A GAO spokesperson said the organization was not prepared to provide a timeline for the process. An FHFA spokesperson declined CNBC’s request for comment.

tesla It has been ranked in Consumer Reports’ ranking of car brands to watch, which was released yesterday. The electric car maker ranks 10th in 2026, up from 18th last year.

Jake Fischer, Consumer Reports’ senior director of automotive testing, told CNBC’s Michael Weiland that Tesla’s rise has been driven by improved reliability. Notably, Tesla’s Cybertruck was the brand’s only model with a below-average score.

In 2026, Subaru will be at the top, followed by BMW and Porsche. See the complete list here.

Here are some articles I recommend making time for this weekend.

—CNBC’s Julia Boorstin, Lillian Rizzo, Alex Sherman, David Faber, Sara Salinas, Sarah Whitten, Melissa Repko, Chris Eudaily, Dan Mangan and Michael Wayland contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.