Hi! It's Oscar Nominations Eve — and while prediction markets already reflect some firm favorites for the shortlist, Disney's "Snow White" and the infamously panned "War of the Worlds" remake lead antithetical categories at the Razzies. Today we're exploring: |
- Save your tiers: Netflix's ad biz is booming, but it's still only a fraction of total revenue.
- Package deal: Ikea is doubling its investment in India in a bid to kickstart sales growth.
- Hot desk: Takis is looking for a "Chief Intensity Officer" to spice up its branded content.
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Netflix made $1.5 billion from advertising last year, about 3% of its total revenue |
It's been over three years since Netflix first introduced its cheaper, ad-supported tiers, which landed with a bit of a thud at the time. Now, selling ads for the plans accounts for a bigger chunk of the streamer's sales than ever before, with the company revealing that advertising revenues hit a record $1.5 billion in 2025. Alongside posting a disappointing earnings forecast that's seen shares slump, Netflix also revealed that the money it made from ads was up more than 2.5x from the year before in yesterday's Q4 and full-year report. While that's certainly progress of a kind, $1.5 billion is still a drop in the ocean in the wider context of the media behemoth's business. |
Last year, as millions of people around the world rushed to sub (or re-sub) to the streamer to watch huge movie hits like "KPop Demon Hunters" or tune in for the final season of "Stranger Things," Netflix's total revenues rose 16% to a whopping $45.2 billion. That meant that advertising accounted for a little over 3% of the company's total sales — proving that the company still has a ways to go to build its commercial break business into anything like the one over at YouTube. So, what are Netflix's ads worth per user? Assuming the streamer had an average subscriber count of about 312.5 million throughout the year, the ~$1.5 billion works out to about $0.40 a month for every one of its global subscribers. But, of course, not every subscriber is on an ad-supported tier. Given that ~40% of Netflix's active user base was on an ad plan around the end of last year, per estimates cited by Deadline, the real "ad revenue per user" figure is likely closer to $1 a month. |
Ikea bets big on India, ramping up investment and production efforts |
The world's go-to for DIY furniture is developing a new manufacturing hub of its own. On Monday, Ikea announced plans to more than double its investment in India to over 200 billion rupees (~$2.2 billion) across the next five years. Having only opened its first store there in 2018, online orders currently account for over 30% of the retailer's total India sales. But with plans to quintuple its store count in the country from 6 to 30, Ikea will be hoping that India can kickstart growth after a gloomy couple of years globally. Back in November, the Swedish furniture giant reported that its global retail sales declined to €44.6 billion (~$52 billion) in fiscal year 2025 — marking the second consecutive year that its global revenues have fallen, down 6% from the 2023 peak. |
The only other occasion across two decades where Ikea's revenues faltered was in 2020, when the pandemic prevented people from going to locations in person. Despite a growing e-commerce business, the company's intentionally labyrinthine store layout has helped ensure that Ikea still sells the majority (some 69%) of its merchandise at its brick-and-mortar stores. With worldwide store visits and customer numbers both growing, Ikea's strategy of keeping prices low to attract cash-strapped consumers meant the retailer simply shifted more stuff for less last year. Indeed, even as sales volumes rose 2.6% in FY2025, a stronger euro against the dollar also impacted its headline result. |
So, why is the company going all in on India, where US tariff rates are currently among the world's highest at 50%? Besides a growing middle class within the country itself, Ikea joins a list of retail powerhouses, including Apple and other electronics giants, that are ramping up their manufacturing facilities in India, keen to take advantage of cheap labor and other low costs. Even with America's tariffs, India's exports still grew a very healthy ~20% year over year in November — driven mainly by exports to the US and China. |
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America's love for spicy food and mouth-tingling sauces looks here to stay |
Some intense news for spice-loving job seekers: Takis, the popular corn tortilla chip brand, launched a public search last week for its first-ever "Chief Intensity Officer," selecting a paid brand ambassador via public voting and live judging for a $30,000 prize. The job advert — which is, of course, really more of a marketing campaign — is emblematic of a country that no longer settles for mild. For some time now, America has quite happily been setting its mouth on fire, embracing heat in almost anything edible, from mac 'n' cheese to sandwiches, lemonade, and ice cream. |
Perhaps in part because of a new generation of spice ninjas who carry their own mini Tabasco bottles and Sriracha key chains, chili sauce is outgrowing its condiment peers. Indeed, it was the only one out of Euromonitor's tracked list of sauce categories to grow in retail volume from 2019 to 2024 in the US — rising 13% while more traditional accompaniments saw their volumes drop. |
For restaurants and packaged food companies battling rising food costs, spice has become a relatively cheap and effective way to get restaurant-goers' attention and mark up menu prices. Snackmakers like Frito-Lay were early to the trend, with a "Flamin' Hot" flavoring first created in 1989 — it now occupies the No.1 spot in spicy salty snacks, generating more than $3 billion in retail sales a year. America's melting pot of cultures has also seen its collective palette expand, with influences from Latin, Asian, and African cuisine bringing up the nation's spice tolerance. That's particularly true in younger people, with 51% of Gen Z in a 2024 survey considering themselves "hot sauce connoisseurs." |
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- Green to red… to green? All year-to-date gains for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had been wiped out at yesterday's close following Trump's Greenland tariff threat — before stocks ticked higher at the open this morning.
- Italian sports car maker Lamborghini delivered a record 10,747 vehicles worldwide in 2025, powered by hybrid models and strong demand across all regions.
- Clip show: TikTok has quietly rolled out a standalone app in the US and Brazil that offers "microdrama" series with 60-second episodes.
- Nearly half of all TV-watching time happened on streaming platforms last month, according to Nielsen data, with YouTube still holding the top spot despite falling to a 12.7% share.
- Chat, is this user under 18? OpenAI is rolling out a new age prediction feature for ChatGPT to help shield younger users from sensitive content.
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| - Just how big is Meta's Hyperion data center? Drop it onto your ZIP code or some famous landmarks to find out.
- Off piste: The 2026 Olympics will be the most widespread in history — here's a look at the venues spanning some 8,495 square miles.
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Off the charts: Which mining giant has reportedly cut its crown jewel prices for the first time in over a year? [Answer below]. |
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