⚡ MARKET RECAP → US stocks gained on Wednesday, as tech built on its AI-disruption recovery rally that started earlier in the week.

📱 SAMSUNG’S S26 LAUNCH AMID CHIP CRUNCH → Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series launches with elevated prices in key markets amid a memory chip supply crunch driven by AI-infrastructure demand, combining flagship hardware, deeper AI features and privacy innovations even as competitive pressure remains intense.

🎥 STREAMING MERGER SHOWDOWN → Netflix’s Ted Sarandos goes to the White House to defend its $82.7 B WBD bid amid Trump pressure over board members, while Paramount sweetens its rival $31-a-share offer and regulators push for antitrust review, creating a high-stakes corporate and political clash.

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For the week beginning February 23, 2026

📱 Samsung Electronics unveiled its new Galaxy S26 flagship lineup with higher prices as memory chip costs surge. The Galaxy S26 series — including the base S26, S26 Plus and S26 Ultra — was introduced at Galaxy Unpacked and is set to hit global markets on March 11; pricing in the U.S. starts around $899 for the standard model and $1,099 for the Plus with the Ultra mostly unchanged, reflecting supply-side pressures on smartphone makers.

💾 Soaring memory costs and AI demand are a key driver. Strong demand for DRAM and high-bandwidth memory from AI infrastructure builders has tightened global memory supply, pushing contract prices sharply higher and squeezing margins for devices like smartphones. Samsung’s use of more in-house Exynos processors in select models is also seen as part of a strategy to bolster its chip business amid these market dynamics.

🤖 AI integration and privacy tech are standout features. Alongside chip-related pricing shifts, the S26 lineup packs enhanced AI capabilities powered by partners like Google’s Gemini and Perplexity, as well as an innovative built-in “Privacy Display” on the Ultra that limits side viewing angles — a feature that Samsung hopes will differentiate its premium offering.

🤝 Sarandos Heads to White House: Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is set to visit the White House this Thursday for talks on the company’s $82.7 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) studio and streaming assets. The meeting comes amid a heated bidding battle and President Donald Trump’s vocal demand that Netflix remove board member Susan Rice or “pay the consequences.”

🤼 Rival Paramount Raises Stakes: Paramount Skydance has boosted its offer to $31 per share for the entire WBD company, prompting Warner Bros. Discovery’s board to acknowledge that Paramount’s proposal could be a “company superior proposal” — triggering a four-day window for Netflix to respond.

📈 Antitrust and Political Pressure: Eleven U.S. states (including Republican attorneys general) have urged the Department of Justice to probe the merger for potential competition harms, intensifying regulatory scrutiny. Meanwhile, political dynamics — including Trump’s public pressure over board composition — have added an unusual political overlay to what’s normally a corporate M&A process.

Restaurant reservation wars heat up as DoorDash enters the arena with Resy, OpenTable (CNBC)

Trump pitches new retirement plan with a federal match of up to $1,000 per year — who could benefit (CNBC)

David Ellison has a rocky history at the box office. Buying Warner Bros. could fix that (CNBC)

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