⚾ Dick’s big-league earnings

New shin guards… and a fresh Nike fit. Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods surged 11% yesterday after America’s largest sporting-goods retailer unpacked big-league results. It notched a record $3.6B in quarterly revenue as same-store sales grew 5% over the holiday quarter (more than double what Wall Street expected). Dick’s said over 80% of its sales growth was driven by footwear, athletic apparel, and team sports merch.

• Double or nothing: Dick’s gave a better-than-expected full-year forecast and more than doubled its dividend payout after its third straight year of record sales.

• Roster refresh: It added 7M new “athletes” (aka: customers) last year, many of whom were young women. Dick’s said the segment presents a big growth opportunity.

Your one-stop sporting shop… From replacing worn soccer cleats to scoring a Knicks jersey before the big game, Dick's is a sporting go-to. It’s boosted engagement by adding in-store goodies like golf simulators and batting cages, making it more alluring to customers and brands:

• Direct to Dick’s: While brands like Nike are trying to sell more directly to consumers (think: Nike’s site), many haven’t ditched Dick’s because it has a huge national presence.

• Pricey kicks: Its go-to retailer status lets Dick’s charge more for popular products like Nike Jordans, Hoka sneakers, and Brooks running shoes.

THE TAKEAWAY

If they “need” it, they will come (repeatedly)… Whether it’s football, golf, or little-league baseball, athletes have to regularly replace their gear. Even in a high-inflation environment, people aren’t likely to sacrifice their active lifestyles or give up the team sports they love. Dick's price variety (think: cleats ranging from $28 to $280) could also appeal to the 20% of consumers planning to trade down to less expensive sporting goods this year.

The next Gordon Ramsay… could be down the street whipping up your Bolognese. Shef, a platform for ordering home-cooked meals, announced plans this week to expand nationwide. Shef is kind of like DoorDash minus the restaurant (individual “shefs” offer their specialities). Think: someone three miles from you whips up butter chicken in their kitchen.

• Heating up: Shef raised nearly $74M last year, and though it’s available in just 11 states, this week it started allowing cooks across the US to apply to list their dishes.

• Home is where the tart is: As of last year, several states clarified their rules to allow for the sale of certain types of homemade food. Shef says all 50 states now allow it.

Like an Uber side hustle but for chefs… Shef brings a creative twist to the gig economy. The startup said demand “has grown dramatically,” both from home cooks looking to earn extra $$ and from consumers looking for “more affordable, healthy” options. Shef isn’t the only one whipping up fresh delivery concepts:

• Wonder raised $350M last year to deliver mobile restaurants to your home (think: a food truck at your curb with chefs dishing up hot meals).
• WoodSpoon (another platform for local home cooks) raised $14M in 2021. Meanwhile, CookUnity lets you order precooked meals created by top chefs.

THE TAKEAWAY

Fresh takes on classic recipes can stand out… The delivery biz is still booming above prepandemic levels, but the classic restaurant-to-door model is already supersaturated. Apps like DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Postmates are all competing for the same market share. But now companies are popping up with new twists on the time-tested delivery concept, which could help them stand out in the crowded market.

🃏 Like convincing the table you weren't bluffing… without showing your cards

What if you wanted to prove to someone that you weren’t a criminal without revealing your identity? In cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs are a mathematical way to prove a claim is true without showing the actual data backing it up.

Smart contract Tornado Cash was sanctioned over concerns that criminals used it to launder stolen crypto. But now a new Tornado Cash fork called Privacy Pools is using zero-knowledge proofs to show that anonymous crypto transactions aren't tied to crime.

What else we’re Snackin’

• Jetsued: The Justice Department moved to block JetBlue's $3.8B purchase of Spirit Airlines, saying it would hurt competition and lead to higher fares. The DOJ's suit, which JetBlue said it would fight, means the deal’s grounded for now.

• Angel: Victoria's Secret said it would produce a "new version" of its annual fashion show after a four-year break. The lingerie icon, previously accused of promoting unrealistic body standards, has tried to be more inclusive.

• Pill: WeightWatchers said it's buying telehealth biz Sequence, which pairs subscribers with docs who can prescribe diabetes and obesity meds like Ozempic. The $106M deal comes as demand for weight-loss meds soars.

• LongTok: TikTok said select creators can now place 20-minute videos behind paywalls. The goal: attract influencers away from YouTube by letting them monetize longer video content on the Tok.

• VentureAI: VC juggernaut Andreessen Horowitz led a $200M+ investment round in Character.AI, which uses ChatGPT-like language models to create conversational replies in the style of celebs like Elon Musk.

Snack Fact of the Day

Wednesday

• Earnings expected from Adidas and Campbell Soup

Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Uber and Google

Correction: In the Snacks newsletter published on March 7, 2023, we misstated that Tesla cut the prices of its S and Y models in the US. It actually cut the prices of its S and X models. We’ve updated the online version of the newsletter, and we regret the error.

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