Air Jordan thinks it's a unicorn
Hey Snackers,
FYI, wherever you ski this year, the mountain trail map was probably drawn by this 72-year-old Coloradan.
Stocks budged higher post-impeachment because investors were expecting the historic result from the House.
IAC unmatches Match Group (and the break-up is benefiting both stocks)
Mutual split... Holding company IAC and its Tinder-owning subsidiary Match have agreed to separate. Quick refresher: holding companies own enough stock in other companies to control their management. After a 20-year relationship, IAC will spin off Match into its own single independent company. Here’s what shareholders get:
- It's amicable: IAC and Match stocks both jumped 8% on the conscious uncoupling.
- So who gets the couch?: More than half of IAC's revenue comes from its 80% ownership of Match. IAC shareholders will become owners of the new Match, and Match shareholders will too (plus they'll get a $3 bonus per share). Everyone's happy in this complex deal.
We had some great times... but we're ready to move on. IAC has already spun off 6 companies (worth $58B total today). It invested in Match in 1999, back when it was a little fish in a new online dating pond. Since Match IPO'd in 2015, shares have surged over 400%. IAC profited, and now it's time to move on to its next investment relationship.
It's like Venture Capital, for the rest of us... Kind of. If you don't have million-dollar net worth to be an accredited investor, you probably can't invest in pre-IPO companies. Like a VC, IAC takes risks investing in smaller companies (like digital media brand Vimeo) that may (or may not) pay off. Unlike a VC, any retail investor (like you or us) can invest in publicly-traded IAC — and benefit if its bets pay off (like Match did).
Air Jordan hit $1B... but Nike didn't dominate at home
25 pts, 6 rebounds, 4 assists is great... but not Nike great (LeBron's laughing at you). That sums up Nike's 3rd quarter, which just got off the bench to share its stats. The results dropped shares 2% Thursday, knocking Nike slightly off its record high.
- www.MVP.com: Online sales leapt 38% thanks to an insane 70% Black Friday surge in North America — that's even more impressive since Nike just stopped selling on Amazon (where it was listed among knockoffs).
- Home-field disadvantage: But shares fell because North America makes up 39% of Nike's sales, yet it's growing about a third as fast (5% sales growth) as it is abroad (13%).
Achilles among the Myrmidons... That's Air Jordan. The brand is named/logo'd after the 6-time MVP-winner. Michael enjoys handsome royalty payments for each pair sold, but Air Jordan is still owned by Nike. Jordan just hit $1B in quarterly sales for the 1st time ever — it's now 10% of Nike's sales as it suits up legends at Universities of Michigan and Florida (Go Gators, Go Blue).
Mark leaves Nike in good shoes... Mark Parker, the longtime CEO, taps out in January. He's replaced by John Donahoe, whose biceps scream tech (ex-eBay CEO). Here's the funny thing: Nike's tech-powered online sales look better than ever. Direct-to-you Nike.com and Nike app sales crushed its physical stores. This new guy has big shoes to fill — shoes that doubled the stock since 2016.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Gig Up: Uber's part-time gig platform, Uber Works — "The Tinder for blue-collar jobs" — expands from just Chicago to Miami too
- MTV2: Facebook is negotiating deals with Sony and Universal to bring music videos to its Watch feature (so you'll actually watch it)
- Yuan-ing: PayPal acquires 70% of China's GoPay, making it the 1st foreign online payment platform that can operate in China (the deal was OK'd by the Chinese gov't)
- Dough: Snackpass snags a $21M investment from VC heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz as the startup tries to mix sandwich-ordering with a little flirting
- Concerted: Live Nation reaches a settlement with the Justice Department because its merger with Ticketmaster didn't make ticket pricing any fairer for you and us
- Shaken: California's new earthquake early warning app, MyShake, sends out 1st public earthquake alert
Friday
- Earnings from Carmax, Winnebago, and Blackberry
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon, Sony, Tesla, and IAC
ID: 1042481