Hey Snackers,
The hottest TikTok trend: canned tuna. As US sales of canned seafood soar, social media is swimming with recipes and reviews for #tinnedfish.
Stocks ticked down yesterday after a deal-making drought hit quarterly profits at some big banks. Cryptoâs market cap briefly topped $1T for the first time since November.
Lawsuit secured⌠Elon Musk is heading to court over his âfunding securedâ tweet. Refresher: in 2018 Musk tweeted that heâd secured funding to take Tesla private at $420/share. Turns out the funding wasnât so secure. Another issue: Elon didnât follow required SEC disclosure procedures. Regulators said Muskâs surprise tweet misled investors and caused Tesla stock to spike. Also in 2018, Elon and Tesla agreed to pay $20M each in fines to settle with the SEC (and Elon agreed to step down as chairman). But the chapter wasnât closed thereâŚ
Stirring the pot⌠Elonâs tension with securities regulators and investors has been building for years, from calling regulators âbastardsâ over the $420 fraud charges to his slew of tweets about dogecoin in 2021. Now the billionaire could pay billions if jurors rule in shareholdersâ favor when his trial ends next month.
Private takes can bring public problems⌠Elon is boss of three companies (Tesla, Twitter, SpaceX) but Teslaâs the only one thatâs public. That status comes with lots of responsibilities and expectations, both from regulators and from investors. Elonâs used to ruffling feathers and getting away (mostly) unscathed. But this trial could hit Teslaâs rep.
Chanel? In this economy?... Apparently, if youâre under 40. Millennials and Gen Zâers were responsible for all the luxury marketâs growth last year, according to a Bain & Co. report. The luxe consumer is getting younger: Gen Z shoppers are starting to buy designer goods at 15 (3 years earlier than millennials). Think: Dior foundation, Cartier watches, and Moncler puffer jackets. The trendâs benefiting the industryâs biggest companies.
I could wear my Louis Vuitton⌠raincoat. The economic weather isnât favorable, with soaring interest rates, slowing growth, and sticky inflation. Still, luxury sales have largely stayed shielded from the economic storm. Designer retailers like Louis Vuitton owner LVMH and Gucci owner Kering thrived last year as the strong US dollar put European goods âon saleâ for Americans, while a surge in wealth creation has boosted spending.
Luxury labels are social staples⌠Social media is driving a luxury spending craze among younger consumers who see designer staples as social-status symbols. Teens are ordering those Jacquemus mini bags they see in fashion posts and that Armani foundation that went viral on TikTok. Itâs partly why younger generations are expected to account for 80% of global luxury purchases by 2030.
Brew: DoorDash is expanding its Starbucks delivery partnership nationwide (think: ordering a cold brew mid-Zoom call). Starbs, which already partners with Uber Eats, will get double delivery exposure.
Aisle: Americans arenât shying away from $500 Chicago-Miami round trips: United Airlines unloaded expectation-beating earnings thanks to healthy demand and pricey fares, which offset high fuel costs.
SuitePT: Microsoft plans to integrate OpenAIâs generative AI tech into all its products, like Word, Bing, and Outlook (think: using ChatGPT to help you write emails).
Slip: Goldman Sachs had its worst earnings miss in a decade after a deal-making slowdown led to a 66% profit hit. Morgan Stanley also saw profits slump, but was boosted by record wealth-management revenue.
Chill: As the World Economic Forum kicks off in Davos, Switzerland, biz leaders and economists are warning of a global recession this year. On the plus side, tech giant ABB says the worst of the chip shortage could be over.
Authors of this Snacks own shares: of Tesla, Microsoft, and Starbucks
ID: 2684616