🍕 Amazon slices the pie
![Smaller pieces, same pie [Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images]](https://cdn.robinhood.com/static_content/mwphzyq69oso/en-US/assets/files/3ceqxdhqiaxGc2UGgwvG1Z_1_GettyImages-1264411425.jpg)
Hey Snackers,
Russian forces continued their attacks on the key Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a day after an airstrike that killed three people at a maternity hospital drew international furor. Cease-fire talks have gone nowhere.
Stocks fell after the monthly inflation report showed prices have still not peaked. Reminder: clocks in the US “spring forward” Sunday morning. It’s the good one: a stolen hour of sleep in return for longer days.
Amazon’s first stock split since the ’90s provides a distraction — and a bump
Go ahead, have another slice… In fact have 19. This week Amazon’s board approved a 20-for-1 stock split. It means an investor with one Amazon share today will get that split into 20 shares on June 3. The Zon’s first split in 23 years comes after its stock had fallen 26% from its November record.
- Smaller slices, same Zon: The split doesn’t directly affect Amazon’s fundamentals or market cap: it’s more slices, but the same amount of corporate pizza.
- Shares still jumped more than 5% yesterday, for Amazon’s second-best day of the year (that does affect its market cap). It could be because Amazon also announced a $10B share buyback, its biggest ever.
- Convenient timing: Congress just accused Amazon of “lying” in an antitrust investigation, and the split could offer a welcome distraction.
Why so split-y?… Companies with soaring stocks sometimes slice them into smaller pieces to make shares cheaper for retail investors to buy. Amazon’s $3K+ share price might seem too big for some investors to swallow. Apple, Tesla, and Google also split their stocks in the past two years, after huge pandemic gains. All four companies have cracked a $1T market cap, though Tesla has since fallen out of the four-comma club.
Stock splits are mostly cosmetic… but they do create buzz. Now that fractional shares are becoming widely available at brokerages, stock splits aren’t as big a deal anymore. Fractional shares take affordability much further than splits, since you can set your dollar amount. Still: splits suggest that a company is confident about its stock's growth.
Lululemon challenges Nike by trying footwear on for size — to help keep pandemic-era growth alive
Lulu’d out from head to toe... After hooking you on your favorite lockdown leggings, Lululemon is stepping into the shoe game. On Tuesday, the Canadian athleisure brand unveiled “Blissfeel,” a $150 women’s running shoe set to hit shelves this month. Back in 2019, Lulu execs said footwear was a natural next step. And since then the brand has only grown stronger. Last fiscal year’s sales are expected to come in at $6.3B, up from $4.4B in 2020.
- Staying true to functional fashion: Lulu’s core brand. The stretchy-mesh sneaks will be available in 10 pastel colors.
- First steps: Lulu is rolling out three other shoe styles later this year, including post-workout slides and cross-training high-tops. (FYI: the men's collection won’t be ready until 2023.)
Goodbye, kitten heels… Casual-shoe demand was supercharged during the pandemic as we ditched leather soles for Crocs and foam kicks.
- But the $70B sneaker industry has historically underserved women, often simply resizing men’s shoes and calling it a day. That’s an opportunity Lulu sees ripe for disruption.
- Female-vantage: Online shoe reseller StockX says women’s sneaker sales have more than doubled in the past six years, and the number of women’s sneaker listings has jumped 1,500%.
Fashion is key to the sole… Lulu's breakthrough was making leggings cool enough to rock in the yoga studio and at happy hour. Now it's using that brand cachet to break into an industry long guarded by OGs like Nike and Adidas. Though they still dominate, their market share has started to erode as upstarts like Allbirds and On gain traction.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Change: Meta is reportedly temporarily changing its hate-speech rules to allow Facebook and Instagram users to call for violence against invading Russians in Ukraine and President Putin.
- Skid: Don’t wait up for that delivery: Rivian share plunged 12% after the e-pickup biz reported more losses. Rivian has 83K reservations, but expects to deliver only 25K trucks this year.
- Mask: TSA and CDC are extending the federal mask mandate for travel through April 18. Covid-19 cases continue to plummet across the US, though over 1K Americans are still dying from Covid every day.
- Bundle: Peloton is experimenting with a new pricing structure as part of its turnaround. In a handful of states, customers can pay a monthly fee (<$100) and get both the pricey bike and a class subscription.
- Bubbles: Android users, rejoice: Google’s Messages app can now handle iMessage emoji reactions, part of a revamp to improve the experience of texting with Apple users. (But Android texts will still be green on iPhones.)
Friday
- South by Southwest festival begins
- Earnings expected from WeWork
Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon, Apple, Google, and Tesla
ID: 2076129