Spotify making its exclusive deal pitch
Hey Snackers,
157 years ago, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declared that all slaves "are, and henceforward shall be free." But this didn't fully happen until June 19th, 1865 β months after the Civil War ended. So today we celebrate Juneteenth to commemorate the end of slavery in the US β and focus on the important work still left to be done.
Stocks barely budged yesterday β even though weekly jobless claims were worse than expected (1.5M last week).
Fire up the nautical puns... After at least 3 ships faced on-board COVID-19 crises, a wave of cancellations, and a straight up ban on cruises, we weren't expecting much from Carnival. But the cruise operator managed to sink below even the worst expectations.
IDGAF'ing... Carnival investors. The stock actually jumped 5% after the Titanic-style earnings. Investors are focused on the rising tide:
It's the cathartic earnings report... People were expecting terrible results from Carnival. That helped stabilize its stock when earnings tanked. Carnival shares are up 33% over the month as investors focus on economic reopenings. Carnival shareholders hope they just got over the worst hump. Meanwhile, some corona-conomy thrivers like Slack have dropped after earnings, because their numbers weren't as jaw-dropping as expected.
What do Kim Kardashian and Batman have in common?... An exclusive Spotify partnership. The Swedish streaming champ just inked a deal with Warner Bros' DC Comics and reality TV's Kim Kardashian West. Its stock surged 12% to a record high on the news. What Spotify splurged on:
Making it exclusive... Spotify is defining the relationship with big stars. The goal? Bring their huge followings (exclusively) to its platform. It's the "Gated Garden" strategy:
Pods have lived up to the splurge... Spotify has spent almost $1B snatching up pod content/companies over the past 1.5 years, including Gimlet Media and The Ringer. Those acquisitions were mainly focused on existing pods with existing audiences. With Kim and DC, Spotify wants more non-podding people to start podding. Since its 1st pod-cquisition in February '19, Spotify's market value has grown by $25B β and its pod audience more than doubled.
Ronald thrives on minimalism... The one thing McDonald's is slimming down: its menu. When coronavirus hit, the Golden Arches streamlined operations by temporarily cutting menu options. Salads, yogurt parfaits, and bagels were among the 100 unfortunates that got booted. Now, they won't be returning to the menu any time soon.
Less is more... That's what McDonald's realized after this corona-conomy experiment. Fewer menu items means less to source, stock, prepare and serve β and less waste. McD's is lovin' the results:
Corona-conomy has been one giant business experiment... It accelerated the WFH trend, and now it's speeding up McDonald's menu-slimming. For years, McD's has been getting feedback that its menu is overwhelming. So it planned to potentially simplify it in 2023 with a menu review. But now that change has already happened... three years ahead of schedule.
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Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Twitter and Spotify
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