New Delhi, Feb. 27 -- The winner in the battle for Warner Bros. Discovery was the loser.

In a mild surprise, Netflix dropped out of the bidding late Thursday after Warner Bros. deemed superior the recent offer from Paramount Skydance.

Wall Street is thrilled and relieved about Netflix's financial discipline, with Netflix stock up 10% in after-hours trading to $93.39, after rising 2% in regular trading Thursday. The stock now has gained about 20% so far this week.

Barron's argued in an article late last week that Wall Street would reward the losing bidder. "Netflix stock could get a nice bump if it's topped by Paramount since Wall Street wishes it would give up its pursuit and focus on its dominant global streaming platform," Barron's w...