Hey Snackers,
Some sweet news to start your Thursday: over 900 cars paid for each other's meals at a Dairy Queen drive-thru in Minnesota. Who broke the chain, doe?
Yesterday, lawmakers closed in on passing a $900B Covid relief deal that includes another round of stimulus checks. Also: Bitcoin surged past $20K for the first time.
Tilray and Aphria merge to create the world's biggest cannabis company
Can you do the Can Can? Canadian cannabis icons Tilray and Aphria are combining to form Earth's largest pot company by sales. The new company will keep Tilray’s name (heated marriage decision) and will trade on the Nasdaq. Fun fact: it's basically impossible for American cannabis stocks to trade on US exchanges, since marijuana is illegal at the federal level.
- Geographic FOMO: Canna companies don't know where legalization will strike next, so they're trying to plant their weeds wherever the green light seems likely.
- Ameri-canna: Aphria needs to expand outside of Canada. Tilray's US biz gives it nice exposure to the American market as more states are legalizing.
- Euro-canna: As more European countries legalize medical marijuana, Tilray and Aphria can combine their European production facilities to scale and distribute faster.
THC sippin'... Tilray and Aphria are also combining their bev businesses. Aphria acquired SweetWater Brewing Company for cannabis-infused beers like "420 Strain IPA" — Tilray partnered with Bud-maker AB InBev for CBD and THC drinks. These "beyond the leaf" products could be gateway goodies for weed to go mainstream.
Cannabis is freshman year Harry Potter... Hasn't really done much, but gets all the attention. Even after their stocks jumped on the news, Tilray and Aphria's combined market value is just ~$3.6B — for reference: Sam Adams-maker Boston Beer is worth over 3X that. Combined, Aphria and Tilray make less than $700M in sales per year — that's less than Juul's sales in 2018. So canna companies have to consolidate while they wait for more legalization.
Facebook's mini-incubator team is working on a Cameo-style app
So, did you do it Carole?... Cameo is the startup that lets you request personalized videos from celebs. For $1.2K, you can get a happy birthday shoutout from Snoop Dogg — for $300, you can get Carole Baskin to sing "In Da Club" by 50 Cent (major cringe warning). For more context: Kevin from The Office is Cameo's top earner for 2020.
- Cameo might be getting Zucked: Facebook is reportedly building a new Cameo-inspired tool called "Super" to let fans pay celebs for live face time. Think: live streams and Q&As.
Zuck Team 6... Super is being developed by Facebook’s "New Product Experimentation" team, which builds apps outside of FB. Their creations include: a couples app, a music collaboration app, and a meme app. None of these have broken out as a popular, standalone product. But Super could capitalize on the demand for digital celeb events.
NPE is like a mini-incubator.... It's FB's version of startup accelerator Y Combinator. Facebook's getting major heat for its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions — creating new products internally might be a less risky route for growth than buying competitors. With this dedicated team, Facebook is basically throwing app spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. If it lands, FB will probably integrate it into its main app.
StockX, the stock market of sneakers, steps into a $2.8B valuation
Flexing the AF1 display on Zoom... Level 3 Flex. StockX is an online marketplace for sneakerheads and fashion aficionados. The five-year-old Detroit-based startup launched with rare kicks, then expanded to streetwear, bags, and even collectible Pokemon cards (this one's a steal at $5.2K). Now it's almost a triple unicorn:
- StockX just raised $275M at a $2.8B valuation, more than double its 2019 valuation. Celeb investors include Steve Aoki and Eminem.
- It was profitable for the first time last quarter, when sales soared 75% from a year earlier. Wild stat: 50% of its transactions since 2016 happened over the last 12 months.
New York Sneaker Exchange... StockX calls itself "the world's first stock market for things." Makes sense, since its CEO is a former NYSE and eBay exec.
- On a stock market (like the NYSE and the Nasdaq), supply and demand determines prices by matching buyers and sellers of a company's stock.
- StockX mimics the stock market by posting sellers' minimum asking prices and buyers' highest bidding prices. When a bid meets the ask, the sale automatically happens.
Trust is the most valuable commodity.... and StockX gained it through verification and pricing transparency. You won't spend $700 on rare Yeezys if they could be knockoffs: StockX authenticates all products before shipping them, and only sells unworn items (except for watches). It also provides market data for listed products, including the 52-week high and low prices they sold at. That way, buyers and sellers can know if they're getting a relatively fair price, or if they should wait.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Avo: Sweetgreen is launching its first "drive-in" restaurant (fancy speak for: drive-thru) as it expands from cities to the burbs.
- Washy: Ultra-cheap marketplace Wish opens for trading below its IPO price — it's kind of like an online dollar store.
- Give: Mackenzie Scott donates $4.2B to nearly 400 charities as part of her pledge to donate most of her ~$60B+ wealth.
- Searched: A coalition of states sues Google over its allegedly manipulative and competition-crushing ad tech.
- Splurge: Shoppers from low to high income brackets are upping their spending to treat themselves during the pandemic.
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Thursday
- Weekly jobless claims
- Earnings expected from FedEx, General Mills, and Rite Aid
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Google
ID: 1452647