Third Point’s Dan Loeb opened a brand new stake of 20,000,000 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD | WBD Price Prediction), valued at $533,200,000, according to the fund’s Q2 2026 13F disclosure. It was the single largest new position Loeb established in the quarter, built from zero. Two other prominent managers joined him. In the same three-month window, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital and George Soros’s Soros Fund Management were also buyers of Warner Bros. Discovery. Positions are dated as of June 30, 2026 and were filed August 13-14, 2026.
That’s an unusual alignment. Activist, value, and macro schools rarely converge on the same media stock in the same quarter. Warner Bros Discovery is far from a widely held Magnificent 7 stock. Let’s see why some of the biggest names in investing are all piling in.
What Each Manager Did
Dan Loeb / Third Point. New position: 20,000,000 shares valued at $533,200,000. Built from zero and Loeb’s largest new bet of the quarter.
David Einhorn / Greenlight Capital. New position: 2,246,180 shares valued at $59,883,158. Also built from zero.
George Soros / Soros Fund Management. Added 396,080 shares to reach 1,488,690 shares, valued $39,688,475.
13F filings disclose long US-listed equity positions only and never state rationale. They’re a snapshot of what funds held on June 30th, so positions could have moved since then.
What’s Actually Happening at WBD
WBD sits at the center of the biggest corporate reshuffling in media. The board initiated a review of strategic alternatives and later agreed to a sale to Paramount Skydance. Management said on the Q2 call, “We remain confident that our agreed upon sale to Paramount Skydance will be completed.” The closing is on hold until the earlier of five days after legal proceedings complete or June 1, 2027. A December 2025 Netflix(Nasdaq: NFLX) bid was terminated, with a $2.80 billion Netflix termination fee paid in Q1 2026.
The operating picture is mixed but improving where it counts. Q2 2026 streaming revenue crossed $3 billion for the first time, with Adjusted EBITDA of $512 million and a margin near 17%. GAAP EPS came in at $0.06 versus a consensus of -$0.10. Revenue of $8.72 billion missed by 5.39%, dragged by a 39% ex-FX drop in Studios and NBA-rights loss. Net leverage sits at 3.4x with $29.7 billion net debt. Market cap is roughly $70.17 billion.
The forward slate is loaded: Harry Potter series premiering on HBO Max Christmas Day 2026, plus 2027 tentpoles including a new Batman, Man of Tomorrow, and Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Management is targeting 150 million streaming subscribers by year-end 2026 and a long-term 20%+ streaming Adjusted EBITDA margin.
The Bull Case and the Risks
The setup offers multiple structural paths: deal close at a premium, standalone separation, or continued streaming inflection. Shares are up 137.61% over the past year, though still down 2.88% year-to-date at $27.99. The analyst target sits at $29.82.
Then there are the risks. Merger completion is uncertain into mid-2027, domestic linear pay TV subs are declining 10%, and separation costs run roughly $350 million quarterly. Gross debt is $33.1 billion.
The Take
Three elite managers buying the same media name in one quarter is a signal worth studying, not a trade to copy blindly. Remember what a 13F is: a 45-day-old snapshot of long US equity positions. Prices have moved since June 30, and none of these managers has explained why they bought. The filings show conviction. The thesis is up to the investor to build.
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