Last Monday, the shares of Netflix closed higher at 4.14 percent in U.S. trade after rumors of Disney's interest in acquiring the streaming company. William Power, Baird analyst, said "whether Disney, Apple or someone else, Netflix could become a target." in the "recent M&A rumors"
However, a spokesperson from Netflix said the company will not comment on the rumors and will not announce anything as the company is still in its period of blackout ahead of its October 17 earnings. Disney was not able to comment either regarding the rumor.
Tony Wible, Drexel Hamilton Analyst, was reported saying the sudden rise of Netflix shares could be due to rumors of Disney's plan to acquire the company. However, it looks like Netflix "hasn't shown it wants to be acquired." Meanwhile, Disney has already shown their interest in streaming. Just last August, it invested in BAM Tech, a streaming video company, and DisneyLife, where people can stream movies and TV shows of Disney, amounting to $1 billion.
Netflix Inc. is a multinational entertainment company in America that was founded in 1997 by Marc Randolph and Reed Hasting. It started as a DVD by mail business and expanded to streaming media in 2007. In 2010, the company started to distribute internationally. Soon after, the company offered "Netflix Originals" which includes "Stranger Things", "House of Cards", "Orange is the New Black", "Bloodline", "The Square" animated sitcoms like "BoJack Horseman", "F is for Family" and three Marvel series titled "Daredevil", "Jessica Jones" and "Luke Cage".
This year, Netflix is reported to release a total of 126 original films and series, which exceeds the number of releases by any cable channel or network. As of July 2016, the company is reported to have more than 83 million subscribers (paid subscription) and more than half of it is in the U.S.
