Good morning, CFOs. Where will Warner Bros. Discovery land?; inflation takes the spotlight for the Fed; podcast: how the AI boom is creating a blind spot in big tech accounting.

The next week may determine where Warner Bros. Discovery finds a home. In the latest plot twist in a high-stakes media battle, Warner Discovery says it will restart deal talks with Paramount, setting the stage for a potential bidding war with its preferred suitor Netflix.

The move comes after Paramount last week sweetened its all-cash $77.9 billion hostile offer for all of Warner Discovery, including its cable channels CNN and TNT, Joe Flint writes. Warner’s board also set a seven-day window for Paramount to make its “best and final” offer.

What’s the potential offer? Warner said Paramount has indicated it would be willing to up its offer to $31 per Warner share from $30 if Warner would agree to engage in negotiations. In its latest offer, Paramount also said it would pay the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner would owe Netflix if that deal collapsed. Paramount also said it would add a “ticking fee” of 25 cents a share, which it would pay to Warner shareholders for each quarter its deal hasn’t closed, starting in January 2027.

In other media news, comedian Stephen Colbert lashed out at the FCC and his own network during his show Monday night after CBS scrapped an interview he had planned with Texas State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat who is running for Senate.

📆 Earnings: American Water Works, Analog Devices, Booking Holdings, Carvana, CF Industries, Charles River Laboratories International, CRH, DoorDash, eBay, Edison International, Garmin, Global Payments, Host Hotels & Resorts, Insulet, Invitation Homes, Molson Coors Beverage, Moody’s, Nordson, Occidental Petroleum, Omnicom Group, Texas Pacific Land and Verisk Analytics

📈 Economic Indicators

The Census Bureau releases the durable goods report for December.

The Census Bureau reports new residential construction data for both November and December.

The Federal Open Market Committee releases the minutes from its late January monetary-policy meeting.

A pair of Fed officials made it clear that inflation remains a concern; Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said several more rate cuts are possible if inflation returns to the Fed’s 2% target. 

Latest data: Consumer prices rose 2.4% in January from a year earlier, cooler than December’s 2.7% increase. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy added a surprising 130,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.3%. “We saw some progress, but we saw some warning, I want to get some more information,” Goolsbee said in an interview on CNBC Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve governor Michael Barr weighed in too. Barr said he wants to see evidence that goods price inflation is sustainably retreating before considering additional rate cuts.

Key quote: Barr said the job market might be “especially vulnerable to negative shocks,” given low levels of job creation and a low firing rate. For now, there seems to be a tentative balance in labor supply and demand, but it is a delicate balance, Barr said while speaking at the New York Association for Business Economics.

The impact of technology and AI on companies has long been discussed in corporate boardrooms. In the latest Tech News Briefing podcast, two of my colleagues had a fascinating discussion on how AI is now hitting tech company earnings, accounting and the jobs market.

Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered AI and cofounder of Workhelix, recently spoke with the WSJ Leadership Institute's Wendy Bounds at the WSJ Technology Council Summit, where they discussed AI's influence on the labor market.

Meanwhile, WSJ columnist Jonathan Weil says the AI boom is making it more challenging to analyze tech companies’ earnings due to unclear depreciation expenses. Listen to the podcast here:

• 🎧 Podcast: AI Boom Creates Blind Spot in Big Tech Accounting

📰 Other headlines

• Bayer Proposes New $7 Billion Plan to Settle Roundup Litigation
• Starboard Dials Up Pressure on Tripadvisor With Push for Board Shake-Up
• Lenders to Commercial Real Estate Owners: Pay Up Now
• Resilient U.S. Oil Production Is a Boon to Trump. How Long Will It Last?
• ‘Woke’ AI Feud Escalates Between Pentagon and Anthropic
• Land Grab for Data Centers Is One More Obstacle to Much-Needed Housing
• The Fossil Fuel Tycoon Teaming Up With the Rockefellers to Fight Energy Poverty
• Billionaires’ Low Taxes Are Becoming a Problem for the Economy

📈 Earnings wrapup

• InterContinental Hotels Group Posts Higher Revenue Despite Tough U.S. Market
• Medtronic Profit Falls Despite Higher Revenue
• BHP Targets $10 Billion in Asset Sales to Help Fund Copper Expansion
• Glencore’s Earnings Fall Despite Second-Half Recovery
• Enbridge, TC Energy Investing in Projects to Tap Rising Energy Demand
• Palo Alto Networks Lifts Revenue Outlook as Second-Quarter Profit Jumps
• Naturgy Profit Rises on Higher Energy Demand, Pricing
• BAE Systems Posts Sales Record as Europe Rearms

For more earnings coverage, click here.

This March 23–24, financial leaders will gather in Palo Alto for The WSJ CFO Council Summit to examine how CFOs are navigating market volatility, evolving trade and regulatory policy and the growing impact of AI on the future of the enterprise. Join the CFO Council and be part of the conversations shaping the future of finance and corporate leadership.

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The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.