Netflix Shares Spike Following Takeover Report

Shares of Netflix, Inc. NFLX are trading 3.5 percent higher Friday after Benzinga Pro reported in its Market-Moving Exclusive newsfeed that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA may be making a bid for the company.

Shares climbed as high as $97.17 following the report, a 4 percent gain.

According to the story, Alibaba has been trying to build a service similar to Netflix in China via Tmall Box Office. In June 2015 Liu Chunning, President of Alibaba’s Digital Entertainment unit said, "Our mission, the mission of all of Alibaba, is to redefine home entertainment."

Attempts for comment from both companies were not returned. An analyst at Detweiler Fenton told Benzinga Pro, "Alibaba could easily absorb Netflix" and Alibaba will likely experience "very low organic growth in the US."

Despite today’s gain, shares of Netflix are down 2.71 percent over the past month. Shares sold off approximately 15 percent following the company’s late-July earnings report and have been slowly climbing higher since then. The 52-week high is $133.27.

Shares traded recently at $97.03, up 3.8 percent Friday.