Hey Snackers,
Google is having some issues down under, so it threatened to leave Australia if a new law that would force it to pay for news passes there. Just Bing it, mate?
Stocks ticked up last week, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index leading the charge ahead of Big Tech report cards: Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Tesla drop earnings this week.
Vaccine rollout: why the government needs Amazon and Walmart
One year later... A major vaccine rollout effort is underway to curb a virus which has killed 2M people globally and ~420K Americans so far. How it started: Since the US rollout began on December 14th, ~41M doses of Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines have been distributed. How it's going: just over 3M people have received the full two doses (less than 1% of Americans). Why so anticlimactic?
- Most of the rollout was left up to the states, which don't have enough health care staff and infrastructure to support the target pace.
- President Biden is aiming for 100M vaccinations in his first 100 days as prez. But Congress would need to approve his $1.9T proposal, which includes $20B to build federal vax sites, hire healthcare workers, and launch an education campaign.
- Some small countries with centralized healthcare are moving faster. Israel has vaccinated 42 people out of every 100, while the United Arab Emirates has vaccinated 25/100. Meanwhile, the US’s rate is 6/100 people, and China’s is barely 1/100 people.
Prime Vax this thing... Early in the pandemic, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to get companies like 3M to make masks and GM to make ventilators. Now, American companies are stepping up on their own to scale vax distribution:
- Walmart plans to offer the vaccine at 5K US locations, starting in seven states this week. It hopes to deliver 10M to 13M doses a month. 150M people already pass through its doors weekly.
- Amazon wrote a letter to Biden offering its logistical expertise. It also signed an agreement with a healthcare provider to administer vaccines at its US warehouses, and partnered with a Seattle hospital to offer vaccinations at its HQ yesterday.
- Starbucks, Costco, and Microsoft are partnering with the state of Washington to deliver vaccines to hospitals and vax sites.
What's in it for them?... Priority vaccination for employees, and goodwill with customers + the government. Amazon, Walmart, and Starbs have aggressively lobbied to gain early vaccine access for workers. Amazon and Walmart combined have 3M+ employees — vaccinating them reduces risk to their operations.
The US government isn’t built for efficiency at scale... but big US companies are. They have the tech, work force, and distribution networks to deliver things quickly countrywide. They've reached "efficient scale" thanks to tough competition (cough, Walmart vs. Amazon), which pushes them to provide quality and convenience at competitive prices. And the pandemic only expanded their capabilities. They have huge reach, but also have streamlined leadership — making them the perfect candidates to speed up vaccine rollout long-term.
Who's up...
If it has a royal title... it's probably a hit. Netflix shares surged to a record high last week on some #streamy numbers. The Flix now has 200M+ paid subscribers (double from 2017). 100M+ households have watched The Crown to date, and 62M watched The Queen's Gambit in its first 28 days. Investors also got excited about positive cash flow: Netflix had more money coming in than going out last year, and expects to be sustainably cash flow positive after 2021. It says it doesn't need to borrow or raise money anymore (read: strong, independent streamer).
Splurging on organic Tide pods... It's the little things. Procter & Gamble is the company behind Tide, Crest, Gillette, and pretty much anything that lives near a sink. P&G's sales jumped 8% last quarter — impressive for a 183-year-old consumer goods giant. It also took home a squeaky clean $3.9B profit. Those numbers were partly fueled by demand for fancier household products. Think: premium dish soap, $100 electric toothbrushes, and paper towels (4-ply).
...and who's down
Like a soggy Biscoff cookie... United shares descended 4% for the week, after the airline revealed it lost $1.9B last quarter. United's sales plunged nearly 70% from a year earlier — and CEO Scott Kirby wasn't upbeat about a recovery anytime soon: Kirby said a “critical mass” of people need to be vaccinated before passengers return, and declined to estimate when the airline would stop losing money. Meanwhile, Delta is seeing the champagne glass half full: it lost $755M last quarter, but expects to be profitable this summer.
What's up, doc?... Bad week all around for companies called United. UnitedHealth's profit dropped to ~$400M last quarter, down from $2B+ in the same period a year earlier. Back in July, United posted its most profitable quarter ever, courtesy of your canceled doc visit: the insurance giant collected premiums while reducing payouts, as you postponed physical therapy. All those pent-up visits turned into "revenge visits" this fall, so United had a bigger bill.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Listen: The 22-year-old poet who stole the show at Biden's Inauguration.
- Live: How to stop keeping score and checking life's "boxes."
- Explore: A virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel (no neck craning required).
- Do: Why we spend weeks avoiding tasks that would literally take 10 minutes.
- Submit: Four things to know about filing your 2020 tax returns (can't wait).
- Focus: How to reduce the mental costs of "task-switching."
This Week
- Monday: Earnings expected from Kimberly-Clark
- Tuesday: Earnings expected from Microsoft, Starbucks, Verizon, GE, and 3M
- Wednesday: Earnings expected from Apple, Tesla, and Facebook
- Thursday: Weekly jobless claims. Earnings expected from Visa, Mastercard, McDonald's, and Altria
- Friday: Earnings expected from Chevron, Caterpillar, and SAP
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft
ID: 1493494