Hey Snackers,
Beware the falling iguanas. Their bodies go dormant and fall out of trees when it's too cold out (we feel you). Cloudy with a chance of iguana.
Markets stalled Wednesday while continued worries over China's coronavirus outbreak hurt travel-related stocks.
Sweet Valentine's Day... On February 14th, Delta's 90K employees will get a check for an extra 2 months of salary as a bonus. The generous $1.6B payout represents 33% of Delta's 2019 profits, which were extra strong (largely thanks to Delta's serendipitous lack of Boeing 737 Max planes).
Not just in-flight peanuts... Since 2012, Delta has paid out $1B+ a year in profit-sharing bonuses to employees, but this year is a record. Delta's not the only one sharing wealth — it's a thing in unionized industries like airlines and automakers. Since 2015, GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have shared a combined $5B with employees. But Delta's bonus (16% of salary) is big compared to average payouts (5% of salary). Here's what companies usually do with profits:
Investing in your people... can sometimes be the best investment. Delta's CEO Ed Bastian said he used to get a lot of heat from Wall Street for using profits for big employee bonuses. But these payouts help make Delta a top-awarded airline. Keeping employees happy (with fat bonus checks) can mean lower employee turnover and higher morale — and that can translate to a better experience for customers (and stronger sales).
It's a bird, it's a plane... it's a toaster-shaped robot taxi. General Motors unveiled its highly-anticipated autonomous robotaxi: "Origin." It was developed by GM's self-driving car unit, Cruise, which GM acquired in 2016. But unlike futuristic concept cars, Origin is a fully engineered vehicle that's actually on its way to production. Here's the deal:
Hands off the (non-existent) wheel... Cars without steering wheels aren't street legal on public roads today (still working on safety concerns). So we don't actually know when Origin will hit the roads, but Cruise's CEO says production plans will be released in a few days.
Ride-sharing gains a whole new dimension... Companies like GM and Alphabet are spending billions developing self-driving cars. The goal isn't to sell you a robo-vehicle — it's to offer a robo ride-hail fleet:
Disrupt plant-based meat... Venture Capital already wants to do that. Memphis Meats just raised $161M to develop "cell-based meat." It takes cells from animal tissue (like chicken breast), then "feeds" the cells nutrients in a lab, producing this "clean meat." Kinda Brave New World-ish, but it's trying to optimize the flesh-growing process. The idea is to grow meat without the rest of the animal's body, slaughter-free.
The real problem = land and water scarcity... Winston Churchill predicted it back in 1931 (seriously): "We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing." Here's the problem with our current animal-raising for the meat industry:
Which is better, plant or cell-based meat?... Both try to give us the sustenance and juiciness of a shank, loin, or flank, but with less enviro-guilt. Once cell-based meat gets USDA and FDA approval (a critical next step), you'll have to decide your alt-meat preference based on these criteria:
Earnings from AbbVie, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Colgate, Comcast, Intel, E-Trade, and Procter & Gamble
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Alphabet, Beyond Meat, and Uber
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