Good morning, CFOs. Companies are using AI to scope out and integrate acquisitions; Netflix becomes one of the first big companies to disclose where it pays taxes; and ADM settles accounting fraud claims.

Companies are increasingly using AI to cut back on some of the headaches and time-intensive tasks involved in M&A.

Forty-five percent of companies relied on AI last year in their M&A processes, resulting in time and cost savings, according to a report published Tuesday from consulting firm Bain. That’s up from 21% in 2024. The survey data included more than 300 M&A executives globally from companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue.

Examples of how companies are using AI include combining datasets and identifying cost savings; creating integration playbooks for areas including IT; drafting employee and customer communications; and searching for a wider range of potential M&A targets.

Why it matters: M&A announcements make headlines, but much of the work for companies comes after the transactions close. Bain’s report suggests that companies are finding ways to streamline time-intensive tasks and free up resources.

The big picture: Bankers are expecting a wave of M&A in 2026, following a strong year for large transactions. The total value of M&A deals globally rose 40% in 2025 from a year earlier, to $4.9 trillion, according to Bain.

Major deals included Netflix’s $72 billion offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which prompted Paramount Skydance to launch a $77.9 billion hostile takeover bid. Videogame maker Electronic Arts said it would go private in a $55 billion transaction.

📆 Earnings

• AT&T
• General Dynamics
• IBM
• Lam Research
• Meta Platforms
• Microsoft
• ServiceNow
• Southwest Airlines
• Starbucks
• Tesla

📈 Economic Indicators

• The Federal Open Market Committee announces its monetary-policy decision.

Netflix paid $1.12 billion in income taxes to the U.S. government in 2025, information that companies haven’t typically disclosed—until now.

The streaming giant became one of the first large public companies to file an annual report that complied with a new accounting rule requiring more detail about corporate tax payments. The disclosure showed that most of Netflix’s cash income-tax payments are in the U.S., where the bulk of its corporate activity is located, and that it made significant payments to Brazil and South Korea.

• Archer Daniels Midland agreed to pay $40 million to settle regulatory claims that it defrauded investors by artificially boosting profits at its nutrition business.
• SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to the Japanese conglomerate’s already-large stake in the startup.

📰 Other headlines

• Health Insurers in Shock After Medicare Holds Line on 2027 Payments
• Meta Enters Up to $6 Billion Data-Center Fiber-Optic Cable Deal With Corning
• Wells Fargo Cuts Proxy Adviser Ties in Latest Blow to Industry
• UPS to Cut 30,000 Jobs This Year
• Amazon to Lay Off Around 16,000 Corporate Employees

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