In 2024, progress in streaming profitability and renewed deal discussions have helped the stocks of some Hollywood conglomerates. In 2025, mega-deals came to fruition, but questions about the sustainability of streaming’s profit gains, pressure on cable networks, which were once the industry’s huge profit engine, and the rise of AI have sparked concerns among investors.
The U.S. stock market rose in 2025, with the broader S&P 500 stock index up 17.5% for the year, up from 5,881.63 at the end of 2024, but stocks in media, entertainment and related sectors provided a mixed picture.
So, what are the prospects for 2026? “Long term, we see generative AI as the most important force in reshaping the entertainment ecosystem,” Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne said in his preliminary report for the new year. “It is both a catalyst for faster product innovation and margin expansion, and a real source of uncertainty for management teams facing potential impacts on audience behavior, monetization of intellectual property and competitive intensity.”
But he also sees two other key trends beyond AI’s “looming impact on investor sentiment and, ultimately, earnings growth.” These include “continued repair of the streaming market, including through industry consolidation,” and “robust growth in advertising revenue and consumer spending on premium entertainment experiences.”
That said, how did 2025 pan out for media, entertainment and related stocks? Fox Corp., Imax, Roku and Spotify were among the best performers over the past year, while Netflix shares rose only slightly for a change as investors tried to parse out what the move into more traditional Hollywood operations via the Warner Bros. buyout would mean. would mean for the company, its activities and its actions.
Netflix, currently in the spotlight with its deal for Warner Bros. from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), rose 5.7% from $89.13 at the close of 2024, after closing Dec. 29 at $94.15.
Among the Hollywood giants, WBD shares, which closed at $28.79 on Monday, surged 172% by the end of 2025, up from $10.57 by the close of 2024. That was fueled by talk of a deal and followed by an actual deal. By comparison, Paramount Skydance, with its hostile, competing bid for WBD, has seen its stock rise just over 29% so far in 2025 after closing at $13.50 on Dec. 29. And Walt Disney, whose stock closed at $114.19 on Monday, is expected to finish the year close to where it started, up just 2.25% from $110.43 at the 2024 close.
Indeed, Fox Corp. has its stock, which closed at $73.81 on Monday, and is expected to end 2025 at a 52-week high and up 47.3% year-to-date, up from $48.58 as it closed 2024. In contrast, Comcast, before the spinoff of its Versant cable network business, saw its shares close Dec. 29 at $29.87, down about 20% from a value of $37.53 at the close of 2024. And Sony Corp. has seen its own stock price over a year as its shares, which closed at $25.70 on Monday, have seen a 21% rise since 2025 opening at $21.26.
Among smaller entertainment companies, AMC Networks, in its third year under Kristin Dolan’s leadership, ended the year where it began, closing at $9.83 on Dec. 29, down just under 1% from the 2025 open at $9.95. And after a corporate split, Lionsgate Studios stock, which closed Monday at $9.43, is up about 24% year-to-date, up from $7.60 at the close of 2024, while Starz Entertainment shares soared just over 42% to close at $11.86 on Dec. 29, after launching as a standalone stock at $8.00 in early May.
Meanwhile, TKO Group, owner of the UFC and WWE, closed Monday at $216.11, up 52% from the 2025 open of $142.25. Among movie stocks, which remain a topic of debate after a recent report from management consulting firm Bain & Co. suggested ways to attract audiences to movie theaters, Imax Corp. is just off its 52-week high for its stock after closing Dec. 29 at $37.45, and has rallied just over 46% year-to-date after the company’s 2024 stock closed at $25.60.
Cinemark Holdings shares have had a rollercoaster ride in 2025, as they closed at $23.11 on Monday, down about 25.4% from $30.98 at the end of 2024. And AMC Entertainment Holdings, parent company of AMC Theaters, has seen its shares, which closed Dec. 29 at $1.63, plunge 59% in value since the start of year, compared to $3.98 at the end of the year. 2024.
And a related stock, Sphere Entertainment, drew praise in 2025 by showing The Wizard of OzThe attractive unit economics of . The company’s stock, which closed at $93.19 on Monday, was rewarded with a 131% rise from $40.32 at the end of 2024.
Elsewhere, music and audio entertainment stocks danced to different beats in 2025. Shares of Warner Music Group, after closing at $30.22 on Dec. 29, are down 2.5% year-to-date after opening 2025 at $31.17. And Amsterdam-listed Universal Music Group shares also followed a downward trajectory, closing Monday at 22.06 euros ($25.97), down 9.3% from the year after 2025 opened at 24.32 euros.
That’s a rise for streaming giant Spotify in 2025, after its stock closed at $581.19 on Monday, up 27% from $447.38 at the end of 2024. Meanwhile, iHeartMedia’s stock ended Dec. 29 at $4.22, up 109% year-to-date after opening in 2025 at $2.02. And satellite radio giant SiriusXM, which struck a new three-year deal with Howard Stern at the end of the year, saw its stock price fall just under 11% so far in 2025 after closing Monday at $20.33.
Among gaming stocks, Electronic Arts, which is expected to go private in a mega-deal, has seen a 40% year-to-date rise in its shares, which closed Monday at $204.27. This performance was reflected at Take-Two Interactive Software, where its stock closed December 29 at $255.70, up 39% year to date.
Among other media and entertainment stocks, Roku stock, which closed Monday at $111.24, is up just under 50% year to date, while YouTube owner Alphabet, one of the big winners in terms of growth and positive headlines in 2025, has seen a steady rise as its stock opened the year at $190.65 and closed Monday at $313.56.
