🥵 Hot movie summer

Shares for the film production company Lionsgate soared on Tuesday following rumors of a potential buyout. According to a person familiar with the possible merger and acquisitions deal, streaming giant Netflix is one of the companies that may be interested in buying Lionsgate Studios, per reporting by Semafor.

• With the box office running only slightly behind where it was in the high-water mark year of 2019, there’s been renewed interest in stocks that have been exposed to movie distribution and production. 

• All eyes have been on the attempted acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount, which follows Paramount’s own acquisition by David Ellison backed by his Oracle-owning father, Larry Ellision. 

• Meanwhile, IMAX stock closed at a record high yesterday thanks in part to blockbuster numbers coming out of early screening sales for Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” 

• Many exhibitor and studio stocks were dead money during and immediately following the pandemic, buoyed if at all by the direct-to-consumer streaming businesses that occasionally offered investors glimmers of interest. 

Neither Lionsgate nor Netflix confirmed the news, but nevertheless the stock climbed, closing up 14%.

The Takeaway

Netflix closed lower on news that Fox will acquire Roku in an approximately $22 billion deal after it was also rumored that the streaming company was interested in that acquisition. “Netflix did not make a bid for Roku,” a spokesperson told Semafor. This comes after Netflix withdrew its buyout bid for Warner Bros. earlier this year.

Lionsgate’s shares are up 77% since January. Lionsgate owns massive franchises like “John Wick” and “The Hunger Games.” The film company has a market cap of approximately $4.7 billion, making it roughly 5x smaller than Roku and 13x smaller than Warner Bros.

Want the inside look on the stats, data, and insights going on in sports? Looking for the numbers behind the biggest stories in the World Cup? Interested in prediction markets and how to make money there? Check out Snacks’ newsletter Scoreboard. 

For instance, in yesterday’s Scoreboard, we dove into how arguably the greatest duo in their sport’s history is coming back for another go-around. On Tuesday, it was reported that Serena Williams and her sister, Venus, had received a wild-card entry for the women’s doubles tournament at Wimbledon, meaning the iconic pair will play together at the iconic tournament for the first time in four years.

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Bitcoin is stuck in a tug-of-war as a potential peace deal provides macro tailwinds, but institutional demand has quietly deteriorated: June has already seen significant ETF outflows that could outpace May’s. Without fresh buying pressure to match the macro relief, analysts say bitcoin’s upside may be limited.

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• 🇵🇹 Portugal vs. 🇨🇩 DR Congo: Portugal is No. 5 on the FIFA rankings and enters into this tournament a heavy hitter, while the Democratic Republic of Congo is mounting a return to the World Cup after 52 years absent. Prediction markets* give Portugal a 77% chance of winning.   

• 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan vs. 🇨🇴 Colombia: Colombia is a familiar contender in this tournament, while Uzbekistan is a first-timer. The market’s giving a significant 72% edge to Colombia.

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England vs. 🇭🇷 Croatia: This one is the match to watch, with No. 4-ranked England taking on No. 11-ranked Croatia in a rematch of one of the best games in recent memory: the 2018 semifinals in Moscow, where Croatia sent England home. England’s got a 57% chance of winning, while Croatia has 18%.  

• 🇬🇭 Ghana vs. 🇵🇦 Panama: One of the closer matchups of the day, Ghana’s 44% chance and Panama’s 29% chance of winning make this a late-night thriller. 

*Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.

• Premarket earnings: CarMax and Jabil 

• FOMC rate decision and press conference