Thank You Walmart, Very Cool

Happy Sunday! The bots are fighting… Elon Musk's xAI has sued ChatGPT-owner OpenAI in Northern California federal court, Sherwood News reported on Thursday, alleging that OpenAI "induced" recruits that it had poached to steal and share xAI's trade secrets. Today we're exploring how protein-maxxing "broistas" are luring coffee consumers away from Starbucks, and why Walmart's new prescription offering gives it a cool edge against pharma competitors. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply - we'd love to hear from you! Do you even sip, bro? Nearly 10 years ago, Starbucks, deploying references to "the craftsmanship of the Milanese barista," announced that it would open its first-ever store in Italy. Fast-forward to earlier this month, and the company has made a decidedly American menu decision: after netting its highest US sales week in company history, Starbucks announced it would add protein-infused cold foam and protein lattes to its menu.  Americans' preferences, as it turns out, are not as timeless as Italy's vaunted coffee culture. We've now entered a consumer landscape in the throes of a protein renaissance, where "grams of protein per grande beverage" is a unit of both measurement… and aspiration. Recently, as Starbucks saw its same-store sales dip 2% year over year in Q2 2025, the biggest gainer (+6.1%) across the whole quick-service kingdom was Dutch Bros — an Oregon-born coffee chain where employees are sincerely called "broistas" and its menu has entire sections of "protein coffee" options, smoothies, and energy drinks with names like Tiger's Blood and Kick in Da Face.  Indeed, Dutch Bros reported notching almost $416 million in revenue in Q2 across its mainly drive-thru-only stores. The company recently hit the 1,000-store mark across 19 states and not only plans to open 160 more outposts in the second half of this year, but it also recently revised its national growth plan upward from 4,000 stores to 7,000 stores.  Dutch Bros isn't alone in incorporating the growing lust for functional (or perhaps hyperfunctional) coffee and energy drinks into its model: 7 Brew Coffee has also opened nearly 500 stores across 34 states since 2017. Can Starbucks successfully tap into younger consumers' demands as these coffee contenders have? Read online: "Broistas" and protein-maxxing: Dutch Bros and other unlikely coffee challengers are terrifying Starbucks Other great stories from the week Clash of the titans: Here are the biggest AI data center projects A guide to the GPUs and gigawatts that make up the industry's largest AI infrastructure projects. Disney+ has gone from one of the cheapest to one of the most expensive streaming services Since launching in 2019, the price of Disney+ has gone up 172%. A tiny UK company is showing how easy it is to get a Nvidia halo effect Step 1: Join a free Nvidia program. Step 2: Watch stock go up. Step 3: Watch stock go down. China won the EV race. Up next: freight trucks Rest of World unpacks the Chinese giants dominating a market Tesla and Volvo can barely crack. Retailers prep for an October sales blitz ahead of a cutthroat holiday shopping season Walmart, Amazon, and Target are leaning on early deal events, faster delivery, and price cuts to win over cash-strapped consumers. Investors are growing bullish on weed stocks. But why? Sherwood News speaks to ATB Capital Markets analyst Frederico Gomes. Thank you Walmart, very cool Walmart is now bringing Ozempic straight to your doorstep... along with your daily food shopping. On Monday, the retail giant announced that its same-day pharmacy delivery now includes refrigerated and reconstituted medications such as insulin, GLP-1s, and pediatric amoxicillin, making it the first retailer in the US to offer the service alongside groceries in a single online order. The move comes less than a year after Walmart launched same-day pharmacy delivery, having fulfilled over 4 million orders since last October. Until now, though, the service excluded controlled substances like opioids and medications requiring refrigeration, which make up over 30% of Walmart's pharmacy revenue. Walmart's prescription revenue had been rising steadily for over a decade, averaging just 2.9% growth per year since 2010. That changed in 2023, when growth suddenly broke into the double digits after being lifted by the recent weight-loss drug boom; per the Drug Channels Institute, Walmart accrued an estimated $32.7 billion in prescription revenues last year, with its CFO citing GLP-1 sales as a major driver. With the expansion, the company says it can now deliver more than 90% of its prescription medications directly to customers — an edge that could put it ahead of pharma giants. At present, Walmart is the fifth-largest US pharmacy by prescription revenue, capturing nearly 5% of the market. But while it's currently trailing retail peers like CVS and Walgreens, neither of these offer refrigerated prescription delivery. Read: Walmart will now offer same-day refrigerated prescription deliveries Thanks for stopping by! Have some feedback or want to sponsor this newsletter? Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below. Subscribe 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 Sherwood Terms and Conditions Our Editorial Standards Contact Us Advertise With Us Unsubscribe Privacy Policy SHERWOOD MEDIA, LLC, 85 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025