🚘 Tesla’s new rivals

Elon's got company(s)... Tesla no longer has its own lane. American EV startups Rivian and Lucid have delivered their first models to customers' driveways. Rivian is the Amazon- and Ford-backed e-truck company that plans to go public on Wednesday. It's targeting a $60B IPO valuation — just $8B shy of Ford's market cap, though Rivian had zero sales in the first half of 2021. Lucid makes luxury EV sedans and went public in July.

• Rivian's R1T has a range of 314 miles/charge and starts at $68K — a longer range, but pricier than most upcoming e-trucks. It's the first e-truck to reach consumers (sorry, Cybertruck) and has built-in drink coolers.
• Lucid's Air sedan has a range of up to 520 miles/charge, the longest of any EV sold in the US (by 100+ miles). The Air starts at $77.4K, but its first orders cost ~$170K — more than any Tesla.

Channeling Musk energy... Like Tesla, both Rivian and Lucid plan to sell directly to consumers (no OG dealers). Tesla's initial strategy was entering at the premium end of the market, then lowering costs as it scaled. Rivian and Lucid will likely take a similar approach. Also like Tesla: Rivian plans to build a charging network for owners, which is key to addressing #RangeAnxiety. There’s a reason newcomers are pulling from Tesla’s playbook:

• Tesla's market cap crossed $1T last month, and it's now worth $1.2T — more than the market cap of one Toyota, five GMs, and six Fords combined.
• US EV sales soared 57% in September from last year, and the Biden admin wants to extend the $7.5K EV tax credit and build more public charging stations.

e-Jordans… Could be your avatar’s digital kicks. Nike filed trademarks for virtual shoes, hats, bags, and gear. E-pparel is already big in gaming: Fortnite players spend $1B+ yearly on swag and other in-game purchases, like NFL skins. While Facebook (aka Meta) and Microsoft build metaverses for immersive work, gaming, and socializing, the e-pparel market is expected to hit $190B by 2025. Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton already sell e-clothes, and Gucci sold an e-bag for more than it costs IRL.

Shoot for the moon… If you miss, you’ll land among the satellites. Last week, Amazon said it would launch its first satellites in 2022 (unrelated to Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket biz). Amazon plans to spend $10B to launch 3K+ satellites that beam internet to some of the 4B people who lack web access. OneWeb, Astra, and Boeing plan to build similar-sized satellite networks, and SpaceX’s Starlink is building a network that’s 10X as big. The space satellite market was $66B last year and is projected to double by 2028.

Robux for my avatar… Tween-favorite gaming platform Roblox posted record revenue in Q2, though user growth is slowing as IRL activities return. FYI: 75% of US kids ages 9 to 12 played Roblox last year. Now it’s focused on becoming a metaverse hub where its 43M users can learn, work, play, shop, and socialize. It’s not alone: Facebook is investing billions in its metaverse, and Microsoft is building meta-like virtual offices and games. We’ll get more on Roblox’s meta game plan when it reports Q3 earnings today.

Mickey prison… Last quarter, Disney’s Parks and Experiences biz turned a profit for the first time since the pandemic. But it hasn’t been smooth cruising: This month China locked 30K+ people inside Shanghai Disneyland after a former park-goer tested Covid-positive. Despite movie theater and park reopenings, Disney’s sales haven’t bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. Investors hope that Disney+ will save the day when Mickey reports earnings Thursday. Disney’s streamers (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN) make up nearly a quarter of its sales, but Disney+ growth is slowing after gaining 110M subs in two years.

• iBye: Zillow shares plunged 37% last week after it said it was ending its house-flipping iBuying business, which contributed to a $330M quarterly loss.
• Squid: A “Squid Game”-themed crypto coin crashed from $2.9K to nearly zero, after its mysterious creators stole millions from investors while preventing them from selling. BTW: Netflix is reportedly not affiliated with the coin.
• Vax: President Biden is urging large employers to pull a Tyson and make sure employees are fully vaxxed by January 4.

• Meta: Why finance and crypto employees are leaving their careers to be entrepreneurs in the metaverse.
• Cam: Why Zoom fatigue is worse for women and new employees — and why turning off cameras could make a big difference.
• Brandy: Altria used to be Philip Morris, Google used to be BackRub, and Meta used to be Facebook — here’s why companies change their name and branding.

• Monday: Earnings expected from PayPal, Zynga, Virgin Galactic, Lemonade, Squarespace, Tencent Music, Madison Square Garden Sports, and Callaway Golf
• Tuesday: Earnings expected from Roblox, Coinbase, DoorDash, Sysco, Unity Software, TripAdvisor, Ringcentral, and SeaWorld
• Wednesday: October Consumer Price Index. Earnings expected from Disney, GoodRx, Monday.com, Bumble, Duolingo, Beyond Meat, Remitly, Wendy's, and 23andMe
• Thursday: Veterans Day. Earnings expected from Wix, Utz Brands, and Revlon
• Friday: Earnings expected from AstraZeneca and Warby Parker

Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Tesla, Pfizer, Ford, GM, Zynga, Roblox, Disney, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and Amazon

ID: 2524144