Analysts see M&A momentum building in 2026 | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

What’s next after Netflix? Stay tuned.

The world’s largest streaming service made big news recently with its $83 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery.

Paramount promptly cranked up the drama by making a hostile bid for the outfit that gave us Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and a ton of other entertaining stuff.

The deal highlights the strong rebound in M&A activity in 2025, particularly in the second half.

During the first nine months of this year, the number of megadeals—those valued at $10 billion or more—reached 27, up from 21 over the first nine months of 2024, the Boston Consulting Group said in an October report.

“The global M&A market continues to demonstrate resilience, steadily recovering despite ongoing challenges,” the firm said. “While headwinds such as geopolitical tensions and changing tariff policies have caused some dealmakers to pause, many others have pressed forward strategically.”

North America has been the most active region for acquisitions in terms of value, while the technology sector has led among industries.

In addition to Netflix (NFLX), Union Pacific (UNP) is acquiring Norfolk Southern (NSC) in a deal valued at $85 billion, and Alphabet (GOOGL) is buying cloud security startup Wiz in a $32 billion transaction.

Analysts believe that all this deal-making momentum will carry into the New Year.

Netflix agreed to acquire Warner Bros Discovery.

Image source&colon; Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images

M&A to accelerate in 2026

The US deal market is headed into strategic acceleration in 2026, led by high-value, transformative transactions, according to the EY-Parthenon October 2025 Deal Barometer.

“Dealmakers are leaning into transformative growth strategies, supported by resilient balance sheets and improving financing conditions,” Mitch Berlin, EY Americas Vice Chair, EY-Parthenon, said in a statement. “The winning CEOs are no longer waiting for global stability.”

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“They are moving with confidence to acquire capabilities, specifically AI and next-generation technology, that are rewiring their businesses for resilience and driving portfolio transformation,” Berlin said.

The Deal Barometer projected that the number of corporate M&A deals will increase 3% in 2026, following an anticipated 10% advance this year.

“This steady expansion reflects a constructive environment for strategic deals, supported by resilient corporate balance sheets, and easing financial conditions,” EY said.

Meanwhile, Deloitte’s 2026 M&A trends survey found a tale of two markets, with the U.S. mergers and acquisitions market making a dramatic turn in the third quarter of this year, “with a rapid and marked increase in the value of announced transactions.”

While the aggregate value of deals in the US increased significantly in the third quarter, the firm said, the total number of US M&A transactions has remained relatively flat during most of 2025.

“These two factors may combine to present an opportunity for increased value realization, especially with midmarket and smaller deals,” Deloitte said.

Companies using AI for M&A

The firm also found that artificial intelligence is making its presence felt in the M&A sphere.

GenAI, which creates new, original content by learning patterns from vast datasets, is being rapidly adopted, the firm said, “with the potential to fundamentally transform the M&A process.”

Deloitte said the speed of adoption differs across the various stages of the M&A life cycle and sometimes varies between corporate and private equity participants.

“Despite GenAI’s growing popularity, many users remain cautious, citing a range of risks that may be limiting broader or deeper implementation,” the firm said.

Eighty-six percent of organizations responding to a Deloitte survey reported having integrated GenAI into their M&A workflows, with 65% of them doing so within the past year.

“Many leaders are prioritizing robust governance and risk management frameworks, and we see a clear trend toward piloting GenAI in targeted M&A use cases before scaling more broadly,” the firm said.

David Dean, managing director of M&A consulting at insurance advisory and brokerage WTW said “AI has rapidly emerged as a game changer in the fast-paced M&A world.”

“Corporates are applying AI to accelerate and enhance dealmaking – from scouting high-potential targets and conducting deeper due diligence to streamlining integration,” he said in a statement.

Dean added that the M&A outlook is optimistic, with forecasts indicating increased activity driven by larger deals focused on scale, innovation, and market expansion.

“While volatility remains a persistent challenge and CEOs should be prepared to plan longer timelines, history shows that periods of turbulence can offer the greatest potential to create value,” he said.