Netflix just dodged a regulatory bullet, and now it’s probably going to make you pay for it. Literally.
Citi Research analyst Jason Bazinet says Netflix (NFLX) is well-positioned to hike subscription prices by Q4 2026, now that the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) merger has officially fallen apart. The deal’s collapse removed the one thing that was keeping Netflix on its best behavior: the threat of antitrust scrutiny. With regulators no longer breathing down its neck, Netflix has a clear runway to squeeze more revenue out of its 300+ million subscribers.
Current pricing sits at $7.99 for the ad-supported tier and $24.99 for the premium plan. If Citi’s right, both numbers are going higher. And honestly? Netflix can probably get away with it. The company has spent years building a content moat so deep that most subscribers grumble about price hikes but never actually cancel. It’s the gym membership of streaming — everyone complains, nobody leaves.
The WBD angle is worth understanding. When Netflix was circling a potential deal with Warner Bros., the combined entity would have been a streaming behemoth that invited serious regulatory pushback. Raising prices during that dance would have been bad optics — like asking for a raise while your boss is deciding whether to restructure the whole department. Now that the deal is dead (Warner deemed Paramount’s bid superior), Netflix is free to do what Netflix does best: raise prices and dare you to cancel.
For investors, this is actually bullish. Price increases flow almost directly to the bottom line since the content costs are already baked in. Netflix’s advertising tier is also gaining traction, giving them a two-pronged revenue growth engine. Citi’s thesis is simple: with the regulatory overhang gone and subscriber retention holding strong, Netflix has the pricing power to push ARPU (average revenue per user) meaningfully higher.
The stock has held up relatively well in a brutal 2026 tape, and a price hike announcement could be the next catalyst. If you’re already long Netflix, this is the kind of development that reinforces the thesis. If you’re not, the question isn’t whether Netflix will raise prices — it’s how much, and when.
