Hey Snackers,
Most 2020 headline yet: "Squirrel tests positive for bubonic plague in Colorado."
The Dow popped 2%, notching its best day this month. TBD whether Americans will get more government cash cushion — the $600/week in extra unemployment benefits is set to expire by the end of July.
Ford brings back its iconic Jeep rival — but it might need to gas itself up more
SpongeBob French voice: "25 years later"... The Bronco is back. Ford stock revved up 5% yesterday after unveiling a revival of its Bronco. The off-road, open-air SUV was manufactured from 1965-1996 (then Ford killed it). Now Fiat Chrysler's Jeep Wrangler is the #1 off-road seller in the US.
- When one door closes, four open. The new Bronco line includes two and four-door SUVs, plus a smaller Bronco Sport SUV.
- Take the top off. Removable roofs and doors are key features (just like Jeep — #Zucked).
- Name your price The 2021 Bronco starts under $30K (about the same as a basic Wrangler). But top-end models with extra bells/whistles could run you over $60K.
Cry me a Hummer... The Bronco is Wrangler’s 1st real competitor since GM’s Hummer, which was discontinued in 2009 (but is being revived as an EV). Given Wrangler's success...
- Bronco could become Ford's next profit puppy: Credit Suisse estimates it'll add nearly $1B to Ford’s operations if sales reach 125K units.
- Ford's current profit puppies, its F-series pickup trucks and SUVs, have brought in billions in profits. The Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the US since 1981 — a whopping 900K were sold in 2019. And yet...
Ford doesn't hype itself up much... New releases like Bronco and the recently unveiled F-150 drive under the radar. Same with Ford's self-driving, electric-vehicle partnership with VW... and its electric Mustang Mach-E. Meanwhile, Tesla's theatrical Cybertruck unveil makes every major headline years before production. Tesla's good at hype — so good it's now the most valuable car company on Earth (despite no annual profit). Midwestern Ford could gas itself up more.
The New York Times is no longer a newspaper (it's a multi-multi-media company)
All the news that's fit to... convert into every single medium possible. Newspaper ad revenue has been devoured by Facebook and Alphabet. Long-form journalism has lost its audience at the same rate that our attention spans shrank (to Instagram-size). All this to say: The New York Times had to adapt. After 170 years of ink and paper, NYT is no longer a newspaper stock — it has morphed into a full-on multi-media stock:
- TV Shows: NYT reportedly has 10 scripted shows in development, including a limited series for Amazon. Its Modern Love column got turned into a Prime Video show (and NPR podcast). Its weekly news show streams on Hulu and FX.
- Documentaries: NYT has 3 features slated for this year, including one for Netflix. It also premiered two feature-length docs at Sundance (fancy).
- Audio: NYT's The Daily is a top-5 pod on Apple and Spotify. 1619 Project, its chart-topping pod on slavery, is being brought to film/TV (thanks to Lionsgate/Oprah).
- In case pods weren't enough: NYT acquired an app that turns articles into audio.
NYT’s core product isn’t articles... It’s stories. NYT is leveraging its intellectual property by licensing deals left and right. That's how it was able to rise from the newspaper ashes of ad-pocalypse... and be born again just as successfully across entirely new non-print media channels.
It’s not enough to be a one-trick content pony anymore... New mediums are key to reaching new audiences. Most people no longer have the attention span for longform journalism.
- NYT can reach them with the same content by repackaging it into a TV show or pod. It's easier to attract people with this “off-platform” journalism.
- Distribution is just as important: The Times’ goal is to have 10M digital subs by 2025. Partnering with big shots like Netflix and Amazon is key to driving top-of-funnel growth.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Champagne: JPMorgan Chase handily beats quarterly sales and profit expectations, partly thanks to record-smashing trading revenue.
- Peacocky: NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock officially launches today — it has 3 subscription tiers, including an (ad-supported) free one.
- Descended: Delta posts a massive quarterly loss — CEO Ed Bastian called the pandemic's impact on the biz "truly staggering."
- Delhicious: Walmart leads a $1.2B investment in Indian ecommerce company Flipkart — it snagged a majority stake for $16B back in 2018.
- RNASAP: Moderna will begin its late-stage mRNA COVID vaccine trial on July 27 — no mRNA vaccine has ever been approved (yet).
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Wednesday
- Earnings expected from UnitedHealth, Goldman Sachs, and eBay
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon, Delta, Volkswagen, and JP Morgan Chase
ID: 1245410