Geetha Ranganathan

three times.

But that shouldn't be a problem.

We do kind of anticipate them deleveraging pretty quickly, just given that they're going to be generating something like about $9 billion of free cash flow this year and something like maybe about $13 to $16 billion in 2026, 2027.

So financing really doesn't look like much of a problem at all, Ed.

what therefore is the problem if there is one is it regulators is it paramount skydance fighting back what do you think all of the above regulators definitely so just you know from first glance you have the number one streaming service in the world combining with the number three streaming service which is hbo max and that just gives them a unmatched scale you know we're looking at 450 million global streamers

Obviously, that is going to raise a lot of regulatory concern.

But I think Netflix can fight back by saying, you know, it really depends on how you define the market.

Is it just are we just looking at Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime?

Or should we be looking at Netflix versus YouTube versus Reels versus TikTok?

you know versus facebook so how do you define the market and if you look at it from a much broader perspective then the netflix and hbo max combination i mean it's less than 10 of total u.s viewing time so maybe it shouldn't really you know uh generate too much of regulatory backlash so again it all comes down to how the antitrust authorities are going to view this transaction

Yeah, I think after, you know, Caroline, you come off of fiscal 2025 delivering 19% EPS growth.

You know, you obviously have some very solid momentum in the business.

Yes, granted, fiscal, you know, first quarter of 2026 looks a little light.

They're dealing with a lot of different cost issues, whether it's on the studio side in terms of launch costs for customers.

you know cruises so there's a little bit of all of that that they have to contend with but i think you know the the street was really expecting i think something much more specific and much more concrete uh something better than just double digit eps growth for 2026 especially when they have the benefit of a lot of different catalysts that come in fiscal 2026.

I think a little bit, Ed.

I mean, we know that the Disney succession issue has really been bungled so many times right now.

This has been an ongoing question for them for almost a decade, I would say.

It seems like things are moving in the right direction.

It's kind of turning into, I think, a two-horse race between Dana Walden, who heads the creative division at Disney, as well as Josh DeMauro, who heads the parks.