AT&T’s WarnerMedia division launches its HBO Max streaming service on Wednesday, taking on Netflix, Disney and Amazon at a time when coronavirus lockdowns have boosted demand for streaming even as rising unemployment has cut disposable incomes. HBO Max launches to a captive audience stuck at home without access to theater, live music, shopping excursions or live or televised sporting events. If HBO Max does not resume production by this fall, the service could start to see a shortage of original content as early as January, according to a source familiar with the company.

While Netflix's comedy 'works to get boots (back) on the moon, this cosmic concoction will launch your dreams into orbit,' says Ben & Jerry's.

Shares of Netflix Inc. pulled an intraday U-turn to close higher Wednesday, snapping the longest-losing streak in nearly 10 months, and bucking the launch of the rival HBO Max service and the recent rotation away from COVID-19 beneficiaries.

Such is the new world of tech conferences in the age of COVID-19. They’ve gone all-digital, like Build and GTC Digital, and may never be the same. Absent a vaccine, the days of thousands of people herded into hotel ballrooms and convention centers like cattle, sharing cabs and eating in cramped quarters, are gone.

AT&T officially entered the streaming wars on Wednesday with the launch of its HBO Max streaming service. CFRA Research Senior Analyst Tuna Amobi joins Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita to discuss how he anticipates the platform to size up to the competition.

Corporate earnings for the current second quarter are likely some of the most unpredictable ones in recent history, thanks to the coronavirus-induced disruptions. But there are exceptions, and they might offer a good buying opportunity.

Looking into the current session, Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is trading at $406.29, after a 2% decrease. Over the past month, the stock decreased by 1.36%, but over the past year, it actually went up by 15.47%. With questionable short-term performance like this, and great long-term performance, long-term shareholders might want to start looking into the company's price-to-earnings ratio.Assuming that all other factors are held constant, this could present itself as an opportunity for shareholders trying to capitalize on the higher share price. The stock is currently down from its 52 week high by 11.48%.The P/E ratio measures the current share price to the company's EPS. It is used by long-term investors to analyze the company's current performance against its past earnings, historical data and aggregate market data for the industry or the indices, such as S&P 500. A higher P/E indicates that investors expect the company to perform better in the future, and the stock is probably overvalued, but not necessarily. It also shows that investors are willing to pay a higher share price currently, because they expect the company to perform better in the upcoming quarters. This leads investors to also remain optimistic about rising dividends in the future.Depending on the particular phase of a business cycle, some industries will perform better than others.Netflix has a better P/E ratio of 83.96 than the aggregate P/E ratio of 29.11 of the entertainment industry. Ideally, one might believe that Netflix might perform better in the future than its industry group, but it's probable that the stock is overvalued.There are many limitations to P/E ratio. It is sometimes difficult to determine the nature of the earnings makeup of a company. Shareholders might not get what they're looking for, from trailing earnings.See more from Benzinga * Stocks That Hit 52-Week Highs On Tuesday * Stocks That Hit 52-Week Highs On Thursday * Stocks That Hit 52-Week Highs On Thursday(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Apple Inc has secured a deal for Hollywood veteran Martin Scorsese's next film, "Killers of the Flower Moon," U.S. media reported on Wednesday, citing sources. "Killers of the Flower Moon" will star Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. It is the second major film that Apple has acquired after "Greyhound," starring Tom Hanks, last year.

While value and small caps are starting to recover, the stay-at-home stocks are starting to lose steam. One strategist is concerned.

Partner Communications , Israel's second-largest mobile phone operator, reported a 400% jump in quarterly profit, and said it did not expect the coronavirus to have a "significant harmful" effect on its second quarter results. Partner said on Wednesday it earned 10 million shekels ($2.8 million) in the first quarter, up from 2 million a year earlier. Revenue was up 2% to 807 million shekels.

AT&T's (NYSE: T) "skinny bundle" live TV streaming service has had a bit of a rough time in recent years. AT&T blamed lapsing promotional subscriptions for the sudden crash, an explanation that turned out to be both true and incomplete: AT&T did indeed lose a lot of promo subscriptions, but part of the problem was that such subscriptions were -- allegedly, at least -- created fraudulently in the first place and assigned to unknowing customers. Now, as first reported by Cord Cutters News, AT&T TV Now is back in action on Roku.

Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi discuss the launch of HBO Max with Ark Invest analyst Nick Grous.

If you want to learn about what it takes to succeed as a retailer, there's no better company to study than Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST). Costco is also beloved by bargain shoppers for its low prices. The profits Costco makes from selling membership plans allow it to sell its wares only slightly above cost.

HBO’s new streaming service, “HBO Max,” launched on Wednesday – joining the already-crowded streaming industry with the likes of Netflix, Disney, and Amazon. It has 10,000 hours of content and six original titles including this one, a romantic comedy starring Anna Kendrick. For HBO, which is owned by AT&T’s WarnerMedia division, the timing of the launch is critical. Streaming services have a captive audience right now, stuck at home without access to a theater, live music or televised sporting events. That situation helped Netflix add nearly 16 million new paying customers in the first three months of the year, more than double what it expected to attract. But with film and TV productions halted across the globe, HBO has postponed dozens of releases - most notably a “Friends” reunion special that it had originally planned for its launch. And if production doesn't resume by this fall, HBO Max could start to see a shortage of original content as early as January, according to a source familiar with the company. It has a $15 a month pricetag, a bit high compared to competitors, which may discourage some, as rising unemployment has cut disposable incomes. Still, WarnerMedia hopes to hit about 80 million subscribers by 2025.

If you’re attempting to day trade stocks, steer clear of these 7 rookie blunders, writes Michael Sincere.

If you're like me, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is a go-to choice when there's time to kill. Netflix was the best performing stock of the 2010s, ending the 10-year period on December 31st, 2019 up 41-fold. Netflix has committed to spend $150 million supporting the industry.

HBO Max isn’t just about recruiting streaming TV subscribers. It’s also a major part of parent AT&T’s strategy to boost customer loyalty across its business.

The latest streaming service in the fray offers ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Joker,’ ‘Friends’ and ‘The Sopranos.’

Dow Jones futures rose and Nasdaq futures fell as coronavirus stock market rally sector rotation continues. China OK'd a national security law for Hong Kong.

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) shares have held their own despite the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to strong subscriber additions facilitated by the lockdowns in force globally. Netflix Shares Peak, Pause The streaming giant is among the best-performing S&P 500 stocks year-to-date, having gained about 42% through May 19, when it hit a record high of $458.97.The momentum en route the record high had to do with the strong quarterly results reported by the company, driven by a surge in paid net subscriber additions to 7.5 million. The strong numbers, incidentally, left Wall Street wondering about the sustainability of Netflix's growth. Since the May 19 peak, Netflix shares have given back some of their gains. A six-session losing streak that started May 18 has led to a 9.7% pullback in the stock through Tuesday.Netflix shares were trading 0.31% higher at $416.07 at the time of publication Wednesday.The peak-to-trough decline has been around 12%.The stock violated a near-term support around $439 during the current downturn and is now precariously perched around another support area.Source: TradingviewIf the weakness continues, the stock is in the danger of a further pullback below the $380-$381 area, which it touched in a few instances earlier this year.Netflix stock experienced weakness in March along with the broader market and hit a low of $290.25 March 17, before rebounding much faster than the broader market.See also: Why Growth In Latin America Matters For Netflix Netflix Fundamentals Intact The strong sign-ups for Netflix in March point to strong subscriber additions in the second quarter, as the company recognizes users as paid subscribers only after the trial period ends, BofA Securities analyst Nat Schindler said in a May 13 note.The analyst also pointed to a decline in Netflix's churn rate in April.Netflix sign-ups grew by factors of 1.9 in March and 1.6 in April vs. February, Schindler said in another note, citing ANTENNA, a data measurement firm focused on media subscription purchase behavior. The company seems to be getting a lift from both winbacks and direct subscribers as well as from free trial growth, he said. The churn rate among subscribers who also subscribe to Walt Disney Co's (NYSE: DIS) Disney+ improved from 5% in the fourth quarter of 2019 to a more normal 3% in March and April, Schindler said.Netflix recently announced it would cancel unused subscriptions. BofA sees this as signaling upside to second-quarter guidance and saving dry power for the second-half."While there are significant uncertainties ahead in a recession and exiting shelter-in-place, we see Netflix's structural growth and OTT dominance intact," Schindler said.Buying The Dip In Netflix? Jefferies analyst Alex Giaimo, who recently initiated Netflix shares with a Buy rating and $520 price target, premised his bullish stance on a vastly underappreciated addressable market that provides significant runway for continued double-digit subscriber growth.The analyst is also optimistic on margins improving, with a path to sustainable positive free cash flow.Jefferies warned of near-term choppiness, but advised buying dips and owning shares.The recent weakness has rendered the relatively high valuation now fairly attractive, Giaimo said.Photo courtesy of Netflix. Latest Ratings for NFLX DateFirmActionFromTo May 2020CitigroupMaintainsNeutral May 2020JefferiesInitiates Coverage OnBuy Apr 2020SunTrust Robinson HumphreyMaintainsBuy View More Analyst Ratings for NFLX View the Latest Analyst RatingsSee more from Benzinga * Netflix Analyst Braces For Big Q1 Beat As Pandemic Accelerates Migration To Streaming Services(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.