The 1st corporate opioid verdict
Hey Snackers,
We thought fall started after Labor Day. But Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte returns this morning — joined by their 1st new PSL concoction in 16 years.
Markets rebounded to start the week after President Trump back-tracked from trade war tough talk on China in hopes of reaching a deal.
The 1st big corporate opioid lawsuit: Johnson & Johnson got off not too bad
Take one and call us in the morning... Mega drug company Johnson & Johnson was handed a verdict by an Oklahoma judge: pay the good people of the state $572M for what you did.
- The crime: J&J was over-selling Oklahomans about the application of its prescription pain medications and under-warning about the risk of addiction.
- The damage: In 2015, 326M opioid pills were prescribed in the state — that's enough for each adult to have 110 pills. And 6K died from overdoses since 2000.
- The penalty: $572M. But it's way less than the $17.5B the state's Attorney General pushed for.
It's over for J&J in Oklahoma... But the legal tour goes on. Next is Cleveland, where a bunch of drugmakers and distributors suit up for another courtroom trial. J&J investors were pleased about the smaller-than-expected dent in the company's bank account — shares rose 3% despite the half-a-billion dollar fine.
Dirty corporate deeds will chase you for years... Johnson & Johnson's exited many of its opioid-dealing businesses. But its drug marketing has left huge emotional and physical wounds — these cases call it a "public nuisance" — which are now facing lawsuits in civil court. Fyi, over 2K other opioid cases remain.
Hasbro drops $4B on a kids TV program (and it got some rappers)
New play-date for the Power Rangers... This one's with Peppa Pig, the British kids show featuring alliteration-enabled animal characters. Toy icon Hasbro will is paying $4B for the company behind the cartoon, Entertainment One. Fun side fact: In addition to Peppa, Entertainment One also owns Death Row Records, the production company behind Dr. Dre.
Peppa's got a passport for China... (stamped regularly). The Blues Clues-meets-Mary Poppins character is translated into 40 languages. But to Hasbro, she's a "Beachhead to go into China for many years to come.”
"Disneyfication" is the future of entertainment... Hasb-rival Mattel is transforming Barbie from toy-to-franchise with her own real-life movie starring Margot Robbie. Hasbro wants a similar profit ecosystem with Peppa. But Hasbro stock had fallen as investors weighed the hefty price tag for the strategy — turns out Disney paid the same sum to get Star Wars back in 2012 as Hasbro splurged for Peppa.
Dish Network faces mixed Wall Street reviews during its transformation
Movie night! (Unless it rains)... That's the reality for '80s babies who grew up with a satellite dish. Dish Network's stock just enjoyed a "buy" recommendation from a Wall Street analyst — only a month after it was hit with a "sell" recommendation. That made us want to sit down, kick off our shoes, and take a look at the satellite OG.
While you were enjoying Clueless on Netflix... Dish Network realized it needed a makeover.
- The old Dish = Pay TV: It literally owns satellites that orbit the earth, sending signals to the dish jiggered to grandpa's garage. That biz has shrunk for years from cord-cutting.
- The new Dish = Wireless: It's gearing up to launch 5G service for the Internet of Things ➡️ Connect your appliances so they buzz your phone when the wash cycle finishes. Dish is also acquiring Boost Mobile as part of the Sprint/T-Mobile merger.
Pay TV companies are evolving gorgeously fast... Just look at AT&T: it's evolved from its landline past, acquired Time Warner, now owns HBO, and is going big on wireless and streaming. Telecom companies are becoming media giants. Dish hopes to Metamorphosize as gracefully, but hasn't quite yet. It's still almost 100% dependent on pay TV revenue because it's mid-makeover.
What else we’re Snackin’
- nbd: Spirit Airlines wants you to start booking flights via text asap fyi
- IPO: Cole Haan announces it wants to take its shoes public with a (business-casual) IPO
- Surprise: Disney is opening pop-up shops in 25 Target stores nationwide
- Ride: Swapfiets, Amsterdam's bike subscription service, prepares to go global
- Looks: Megvii, the Chinese facial recognition startup, files to go public in Hong Kong
- Handshake: France reaches compromise with the USA on tax against US tech giants
Tuesday
- Earnings from Smucker's and Scotiabank
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Beyond Meat
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