Hey Snackers,
If you’ve dreamed of playing a full nine inning baseball game in your Airbnb without the cleaning fee, a Florida minor league stadium is now available. For $5.1K/night, it sleeps 10 and includes access to the 5K seat stadium, a fully furnished clubhouse, and a hair dryer.
Stocks rose for a fourth straight day after underwhelming economic data: US companies added the fewest jobs in five months and second quarter GDP was revised slightly lower. Investors celebrated the bad news, hoping it might sway the Fed to end rate hikes.
A nationwide Adderall shortage could get worse as students head back to school
No refills… As students who took a summer break from Adderall return to pharmacies for their back-to-school refills, a nationwide shortage of ADHD meds could get even worse. Adderall’s been in short supply for 10 months, with 97% of pharmacists saying in a survey that they don’t have enough. Adderall alternatives are also stretched thin: In July, the FDA added more ADHD meds to its shortage list, including two kinds of Vyvanse.
In a rare team-up, the FDA and DEA recently issued a joint letter urging manufacturers to boost their ADHD med production.
Rising Adderall demand… is spotlighting the supply deficit. Manufacturers churned out 1B fewer doses of amphetamine meds (which include ADHD meds) than they were approved to make last year. They also fell behind gov’t quotas in 2021 and 2020. Meanwhile, US Adderall prescriptions jumped more than 10% from 2020 to 2021. That's partially been attributed to the pandemic-era rise of telehealth services like Cerebral — which was under investigation after former employees claimed it prescribed patients Adderall and Ritalin without proper screenings.
Widespread: Cerebral’s just one of several telehealth startups that have contributed to concerns that ADHD meds are being overprescribed.Â
Plz note: Doctors say demand is also up because more people are becoming aware of ADHD, and studies found some groups are still underdiagnosed.
Meeting med demand is complicated… It’s not your typical supply-demand relationship. Manufacturers have to get certain approvals to ramp up production of ADHD drugs. But even with approval, plants that often operate at capacity may have to make less of one drug in order to make more of another. The confidential nature of the DEA-regulated drugs also makes it hard to know why shortages occur.
Ride with Upway, the certified e-bike expert
A new spin… Upway carries both new and pre-owned e-bikes at up to 60% off retail, with a wide selection from top brands like Gazelle and Aventon.
Spokes-person certified… Each bike is rigorously inspected in Brooklyn, NY by Upway’s master mechanics and comes with a one-year warranty.Â
Pump the brakes… because you don’t have to go anywhere: Upway delivers ready-to-ride, 99% assembled e-bikes directly to your doorstep.Â
Re-cycle… If you’re looking to sell your e-bike, Upway also buys bikes and picks them up… no charge.
Food delivery robots expand, but like self-driving cars, they’re having growing pains
Four-wheeled Wall-E… You may’ve seen them rolling up next to you on a crosswalk: food delivery robots. The metal boxes often come with cutesy googly eyes and have taken over sidewalks in cities like Los Angeles. Delivery bot company Starship recently said that its rovers will be on 50 university campuses this fall, up from 30 last year. Starship said it now has 2K+ bots operating in over half of US states. Other bot companies are expanding, too:
Coco, which kicked off in Los Angeles, has expanded to Austin (its first city outside of CA) with resto partners like Tuk Tuk Thai and Aviator Pizza.
Serve Robotics said it’s grown to service 200+ LA restaurants since entering the city’s delivery market last year. FYI: Serve was spun out from Uber-owned Postmates.Â
Uber Eats partnered with Serve in May, and together they plan to deploy 2K more bots as it expands beyond LA (Nvidia was also a Serve investor).Â
Bumps in the road… The bot spread hasn’t been smooth. Rovers have been attacked, robbed, and vandalized in Los Angeles. Viral videos show people kicking the bots and stealing food from inside. Starship said its robots will try to maneuver around people who block them, or “politely ask them to move.” But there have also been incidents of the rovers themselves causing issues, like blocking sidewalk access or casually rolling through LA crime scenes.
It’s man vs. machine… The rise of delivery bots coincides with recent efforts in cities like NYC, SF, and Minneapolis to provide better wages and protections for gig workers (like minimum wages for delivery drivers). Gig apps like Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub may embrace delivery bots and autonomous cars in an effort to lower labor costs. Uber has already teamed up with robotaxi company Waymo to offer self-driving rides.
What else we’re Snackin’
Sip: Shares of Jack Daniels parent Brown-Forman fell after it reported a dip in whiskey sales, but its El Jimador tequila brand grew 27% even as Americans (especially Gen Z) cut back on booze.
Stack: Lego had its worst profit drop in nearly two decades as demand slipped for the blocky toy icon. Now Lego’s hoping to add to its movie franchise following the huge success of Mattel’s Barbie movie.Â
iWonder: Apple’s expected to unveil its iPhone 15 and more Apple Watches at a special event on September 12th. It’s hoping new gadgets will revive demand as hardware sales slip.Â
Track: Private railroad Brightline is taking on Amtrak with trains that can reach 125 mph. Its Orlando station, slated to open next month, will be the US’s first non-Amtrak passenger route between two metro areas in 40 years.
Ache: Post-its parent 3M agreed to pay $6B to settle a suit claiming its ear plugs failed to prevent hearing loss. 3M could pay another $10.3B to settle a suit over “forever chemicals” contamination.
Thursday
Jobless claimsÂ
July’s personal-consumption expenditures
Earnings expected from Broadcom, Campbell Soup, Dell, Dollar General, Hormel, Lululemon, Polestar Automotive, UBS, and VMware
Authors of this Snacks own shares of:Â Apple, Mattel, Nvidia, Starbucks, and Uber