(Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images) |
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New fear unlocked for small businesses: Google Maps sabotage. US biz owners have complained that their map pins have mysteriously shifted locations. One Massachusetts' designer's pin ended up in Africa, "practically in the ocean." The techy Nasdaq had its worst day since 2022 yesterday as investors pulled out of weighty names like Meta and Apple. Wall Street's chip-tracking index lost over $480B in market value after reports that the US could further crack down on exports of advanced chips. |
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Six fortnights and counting… Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" has been No. 1 on Billboard's chart for a record-breaking 13 weeks straight since its release three months ago, with sales and streams continuing to dominate. She sold nearly 2.5M copies of "TTPD" — more than this year's next nine best-selling albums combined, Luminate data showed. It's also the most-streamed album of the year, with a 500M lead over Morgan Wallen's "One Thing at a Time." |
- Love story: Swift contributed 2% of the entire music industry's sales last year, and she's a top earner for her record label, Universal Music Group, which could see a "TPPD" boost when it reports next week.
- Billions: Ticketmaster owner Live Nation saw sales grow 21% to a first-quarter record of $3.8B, boosted by Swift's $1B Eras Tour, which inspired the highest-grossing concert film of all time, released with AMC.
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One album, 30+ versions… When "TPPD" dropped, there were four versions fans could buy, each with a different bonus track. Swift has continued releasing variants, some with acoustic versions of songs, others with voice memos from Swift (a "phantom clear vinyl" version's hot rn). She's not the only artist growth-hacking music sales: this year's top 10 best-selling physical albums have an average of seven vinyl variants. And Sabrina Carpenter released seven versions of her song "Please Please Please," juicing its downloads and use across platforms (think: an extra-fast version for TikTok). |
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Emotional investment pays dividends… Critics say Swift, who was ID'd as a billionaire last year, exploits her fans by encouraging them to buy album variants. But today's music stans spend thousands to travel to different countries to see their fave artists perform live (in addition to the cost of concert tix). Fans will go to great lengths to engage with and support their musical idols, and may like having more opps to do so. |
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Remember When Humans Did That? |
Working the local burger joint's fryer is tough – so much so that it's getting harder and harder for fast food restaurants to staff their kitchens. In fact, ~3M jobs will go unfilled in the US alone. Thankfully, "Miso Robotics has created some of the only restaurant-robot experiences that actually work." That's what Fast Company said in one of Miso's back-to-back Most Innovative list inclusions. It's why brands like White Castle turned to Miso's AI-powered robot, Flippy, to operate their fryers — a switch that can help restaurants make up to 4x more profits. Now Miso's ready to scale. They're even collaborating with NVIDIA. To fuel their growth, Miso's opened a funding round for investors to tap into the automation of the $1T fast food industry. Check out Miso's investment and bonus shares offerings today.* |
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Remember When Humans Did That? |
Working the local burger joint's fryer is tough – so much so that it's getting harder and harder for fast food restaurants to staff their kitchens. In fact, ~3M jobs will go unfilled in the US alone. Thankfully, "Miso Robotics has created some of the only restaurant-robot experiences that actually work." That's what Fast Company said in one of Miso's back-to-back Most Innovative list inclusions. It's why brands like White Castle turned to Miso's AI-powered robot, Flippy, to operate their fryers — a switch that can help restaurants make up to 4x more profits. Now Miso's ready to scale. They're even collaborating with NVIDIA. To fuel their growth, Miso's opened a funding round for investors to tap into the automation of the $1T fast food industry. Check out Miso's investment and bonus shares offerings today.* |
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Bitter with a harsh mouthfeel… The wine industry's been getting corked. One of the world's largest booze companies, Pernod Ricard (parent of Absolut Vodka, Jameson Whiskey, and Kahlúa), announced yesterday that it was selling the bulk of its wine brands to focus on spirits and champagne. The bev giant said that the 10 brands it's offloading, to Australian Wine Holdco, sell about 10M cases/year. Sales of the brands (including Jacob's Creek and Campo Viejo) fell 7% in Q1 as wine consumption continues to oxidize. |
- Flavor profiles: Wine sales made up just 4% of Pernod Ricard's $13B in sales last year. Last week, the company launched a whiskey-focused US unit, and earlier this year it partnered with Coke on a ready-to-drink Sprite cocktail.
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Wining down… Wine's been getting buried, and we're not talkin' earthy aftertaste. This month, booze biggie Constellation Brands also reported dry wine sales. The company's non-beer sales fell 7% in the quarter, and it said it was considering offloading some of its wine holdings. Wine sipping has been falling for years, hitting a 27-year low last year (and production was at its lowest level in over six decades). While newer drinks like spiked seltzers and ready-to-drink cocktails gain buzz, wine can take years to produce and makers can't pivot as quickly to trends. Meanwhile, higher costs, increased competition from marijuana, and growing awareness about the health risks of drinking have hurt alcohol sales. |
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Alcohol's in a soul-searching stage… This isn't wine's problem alone: US beer drinking fell to its lowest level in a generation last year, and Molson Coors found that 30% of Gen Z doesn't drink at all. As habits shift, established bev brands are struggling where nonalcoholic startups are thriving. This month, booze-free-beer maker Athletic Brewing doubled its valuation to $800M, and it's outsold sober offerings from Heineken and Budweiser in US stores. |
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AI-powered answers: Internet search reimagined |
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AI-powered answers: Internet search reimagined |
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- Skate: Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica said it'd buy streetwear icon Supreme for $1.5B from VF Corp (which paid $2.1B for the brand in 2020). Luxottica said Supreme could attract new audiences, but experts say the streetwear hype's fading.
- Dispirited: Spirit Airlines said it'll post a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss after "non-ticket revenue" (think: fees for bags, seat selection, water) came in low. Meanwhile, United Airlines' profit jumped 23%.
- Hacky: Cyberattacks are hurting earnings. UnitedHealth reported a $1.1B earnings hit from a cyberattack and warned of more losses, while AutoNation lowered its profit outlook after a massive digi-attack on car dealerships.
- Samba: Sportswear titan Adidas beat Q2 estimates and raised its annual sales and profit forecast. After posting a $540M loss in 2022, partly from unsold Yeezys, Adidas' Terrace shoes have taken over cities like Paris.
- MedTech: Johnson & Johnson beat quarterly estimates, fueled by growing sales of its cancer treatment and blockbuster psoriasis drugs, which each brought in ~$2.9B. Its Covid-vax sales plunged 40%.
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- Earnings expected from Netflix, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Cintas, Nokia, DR Horton, Domino's, Abbott, Blackstone, Infosys, Textron, Novartis, Snap-on, KeyCorp, Intuitive Surgical, PPG Industries, and AAR Corp.
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Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Apple and Alphabet |
Advertiser's disclosures:
* This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.misorobotics.com. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck. |
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more |
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