Earnings Wrap: UPS, Chegg, and Beyond Meat

📦 Return to sender… UPS dipped yesterday after the shipping titan dropped a mixed box of #s. Profit fell to $2.2B last quarter (down 24% from last year) and revenue slipped 11% as global shipping demand waned. UPS also cut its full-year revenue guidance by a whopping $3B+ to meet pay-bump terms for its Teamsters union deal, which avoided what would’ve likely been the largest (and costliest) US strike ever. 

• Fresh off the call: “We believe this contract is a win-win-win,” UPS boss Carol Tomé said of the deal.

📚 A+ results… Chegg shares surged 5% yesterday after the edu-tech biz beat Wall Street’s revenue forecast, deescalating AI takeover fears. ICYMI: Chegg’s stock tanked 40%+ in May after it warned of students flocking to ChatGPT. Now Chegg’s teaming up with Scale AI to build learning tools. While Chegg's revenue and subs have dipped from pandemic highs, execs think the slowdown may’ve bottomed out. Chegg’s CEO said that while Gen Z is using AI for homework help, students aren’t always comfy with the info’s accuracy.

• Fresh off the call: Students “will use ChatGPT, but they're not going to try to use it for the things that they use Chegg for," Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig added.

🍔 Faux-meat beef… Beyond Meat shares got burned after the plant-based pioneer saw a 30% sales slump in Q2. US revenue fell 40% as Beyond’s grocery and restaurant sales slumped. The pea-protein icon slashed its annual guidance and said it probably wouldn’t reach its cash-flow goals. Beyond has cut prices for its plant patties and sausages to compete with real beef, but price may not be its only problem: consumers are growing skeptical about the health benefits of fake meat (see: 195 mg of salt/patty).

• Fresh off the call: "This change in perception is not without encouragement from interest groups who have succeeded in seeding doubt and fear around… plant-based meats," Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said.