Stock market today: Dow pops, S&P 500 and Nasdaq waver as Fed rate cut bets surge

Paramount Skydance Corporation PSKY (PSKY) surged as much as 60% on Wednesday as traders piled into the newly merged media powerhouse — less than a week after the two companies officially tied the knot.

In the few days since its merger, CEO David Ellison has wasted no time capturing investor attention, most notably by striking a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal to make Paramount Skydance the exclusive US home for all UFC events.

The deal, announced on Monday, marks a major payday for TKO Group Holdings (TKO), the UFC’s parent company, far surpassing its previous agreement with Disney’s (DIS) ESPN, which was worth roughly $550 million annually.

“With lower leverage following the Paramount/Skydance transactions and Ellison-backed $1.5B primary issuance, PSKY is immediately making use of the improved balance sheet,” Ric Prentiss, analyst at Raymond James, wrote in reaction to the report.

“This deal is a significant move in and of itself for Paramount+, as the consistent live event schedule should help the service drive greater scale of subscribers and less churn, albeit coming with very substantial annual cost,” the analyst added.