Hey Snackers,
For those who think shipping delays have been bad recently: a Canadian man just received a package of hair gel he ordered 8 years ago. Happy Friday.
Stocks inched down as US-China trade tensions are escalating again — so is Twitter drama.
Twitter barely budges after Trump targets social media giants with Executive Order
It started with a tweet... But the battle with social media giants has been #trending in DC for a while. On Tuesday, Twitter (for the first time) flagged two of Trump's tweets with links for additional information, as Twitter deemed the words from the President about mail-in voting "potentially misleading." Then yesterday, Trump signed an executive order targeting social giants — TLDR: he's not a fan of Section 230:
- Section 230: Beautiful name — it's part of Congress' Communications Decency Act — it gives social media companies two key (and somewhat contradictory) things...
- Immunity: Social media companies have broad immunity from liability for their users’ posts/actions.
- Moderation: Social media companies also have broad powers to moderate/remove content on their sites (this is the more contentious one #spicy).
If Trump's order succeeds... Without immunity powers, Twitter and Facebook would have never grown into the giants they are today. If Facebook got sued every time someone posted something offensive or false, the 'Book would never have made it past Mark Zuckerberg's dorm room. Losing broad immunity would be disastrous for social media companies.
Investors didn't break a sweat... Despite being (pretty much) directly targeted with an Executive Order by the President of the United States, Twitter's stock moved only slightly downward (4% Thursday). Facebook, which is equally affected by the move, barely budged (it's near an all-time high). Why?
- Threats to regulate Big Tech have been hollow for years — despite all the fanfare since 2016, nothing much has changed.
- The order is likely going to be challenged in court and may get blocked for overstepping the executive power. Section 230 was passed by Congress, and likely requires congressional action to repeal.
DraftKings surges after announcing live sports streaming (despite current lack of live sports)
Tuning into Russian ping-pong... DraftKings took its fantasy sports app public juuust over a month ago. The sports betting company's stock has soared 85% since, even though live sports aren't happening right now (though ESPN did stream a spelling bee). Yesterday, DraftKings announced it'll start live-streaming sports events through its app. Despite the current state of live sports (almost none), investors are optimistic:
- Unity is key: Live streaming in-app could significantly increase DraftKings' user engagement, in terms of both time and money spent in-app.
- Live sports are (kinda) returning: The MLB is on pace to restart sooner than planned, and the NHL and NBA are looking to resume playoffs sometimes this summer. But...
Live sports might be very different... DraftKings' push into streaming was pretty timely. We could be remote-watching big games played in empty stadiums for a while. Sports teams and stadiums will lose out big on missed ticket revenues, but sports betting probably won't change too much.
DraftKings might be getting help from the corona-restless... Sports fans may be looking for ways to feel more engaged in games, now that the electric excitment and sound of a packed stadium is gone. Couple that with non-existent public social events, and it's not hard to see how couch-bound boredom could give DraftKings a boost. FYI, gaming peer Penn National is up 76% for the month.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Dance: TikTok-owner ByteDance reportedly made $3B in profit and raked in $17B in sales for 2019.
- Grub: Papa John’s sales jumped 33% in May, while Popeyes soared over 40% (drive-thru game strong. So is the chicken).
- Tourism: Cyprus said it'll pay for the vacations of any tourists who catch COVID-19 while in the country.
- Chill: Meditation apps are surging — Calm had 31% more downloads in April compared to January.
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Friday
- Earnings expected from Big Lots
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Twitter and Chipotle
ID: 1200522