.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&cs=srgb&fit=max&w=3840)
Hey Snackers,
Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa took home a silver medal at the Olympics this week, but she’s also getting attention for taking home the cheese. Photos of the athlete posing with wheels of parmesan have gone viral (she’s sponsored by Italy’s Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium).
US stocks dropped yesterday as weak economic data stoked fears of a downturn. After the bell, Amazon disappointed on quarterly sales growth while Apple beat estimates. Today, the July jobs report will shed more light on the health of the US labor market.
😘 Quiz me more: Our Snacks Seven quiz is back to test your memory of the past week’s newsletters. Here’s a sample q:
Former President Trump proposed a national “stockpile” of what? (Check your answer.)
Kohl’s shacks up with Babies “R” Us as retailers bet on stores-in-stores
Rockabye retail… is cooing back to life. This week, Kohl’s started bringing Babies “R” Us shops into its department stores, with plans to have 200 locations by this fall. Babies “R” Us went out of business in 2018 along with its then parent Toys “R” Us, but last year the baby retailer opened a new flagship store at the American Dream mall in New Jersey. With the partnership, Kohl’s can broaden its baby goods selection (which used to be only clothes) to include essentials like strollers, car seats, and cradles.
Carpool: Since most of Kohl’s 1.1K+ stores are located in suburban strip malls, the retailer hopes its Babies “R” Us shops-in-shops will lure errand-running parents.
Splurgin’ on $2K bassinets… US birth rates have tumbled to 40-year lows as the age of first-time parents rises (the median age to give birth is 30). Since older households tend to have more disposable income, retailers are betting parents will splurge on their newborns. Target and Walmart recently expanded their baby departments. In May, Macy’s launched its first baby registry service. Meanwhile, baby registry Babylist said it has 9M customers/year.
Bag o’ nappies: A poll found that 86% of moms are making registries. That’s more than in the past decade.
Old cribs can cradle new biz… Retailers are increasingly using “inception retail” (aka mini stores-in-stores) to integrate well-known retailers into their offerings — and compete with mega marketplaces like Amazon. Target shacked up with Ulta Beauty, opening 100+ shops-in-shops, and in 2021 Kohl’s brought in mini Sephora stores. In March, Kohl’s said that its Sephora shops had topped $1.4B in sales and that it planned to open 140 more this year.
8% Dividend Yield Investment Opportunity
Elite investors often get special deals that aren’t available to the public.
Take Warren Buffett, for example. When he invested $10B in Occidental Petroleum, he didn’t buy the publicly traded stock. He got preferred stock paying an 8% dividend.
While you won’t be investing alongside Warren Buffet, Monogram is offering the public preferred stock with an 8% yield (in cash or kind) that’s convertible to its public stock. Public MGRM shares closed at $2.36 yesterday, but the unlisted preferred stock (which is convertible into one share of common) is available for $2.25 per share.
Monogram launched this offering in advance of their anticipated FDA submission to market their robotic surgery tech this year.
WWE has big heat ahead of its SummerSlam event as live entertainment takes center stage
The slam of the summer… WWE’s second biggest event of the year after WrestleMania, SummerSlam, is this weekend — and it’s already proving to be a champion for the entertainment brand. Sponsorship revenue for SummerSlam is up 60% from last year’s $7M. It’s the latest good news for WWE, which joined Endeavor and UFC last year in forming the publicly traded TKO Group. The company reports next week, and its shares are up more than 35% this year.
Muscle money: This year, WWE signed a $5B media rights deal with Netflix, marking the streamer’s largest live sports play. In April, WrestleMania viewership spiked 41% on the year and merch sales rose 20%. WWE bested UFC in Q1 revenue, notching ~$317M.
Room to rumble: UFC brought in about $35M more than WWE in sponsorship revenue last quarter, but WWE is ramping things up. In March, it started selling more placement spots, including a center-ring logo deal with Logan Paul’s Prime energy drink.
That’s Nielsen’s music… Live sports, predetermined or not, are an eyeball magnet. Ratings for the Paris Olympics are up 79% from the Tokyo Games, according to Comcast’s NBC. Compared to last year, WWE’s “SmackDown” ratings were up 10% in the first half of the year in the coveted 18 to 49 demo. NFL regular season games averaged 18M viewers last year, tied for the second highest figure in ~30 years.
Attention commands big fees… Live sports viewership is up, and leagues are capitalizing on the buzz: the NBA last month scored three new media deals with Disney, Comcast, and Amazon worth $77B. And premium offerings get premium pricing: YouTube charges $350/year for NFL Sunday Ticket and Venu Sports — a new streamer from Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. — will be priced at $43/month.
The Crypto Catch-Up…
📜 Policy… Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill that’d see the US gov’t create a national bitcoin reserve by purchasing 1M BTC over five years. The crypto industry celebrated the idea, though Lummis doesn’t think it’ll pass this year.
📸 Flashy… Stablecoin giant tether said it notched a record $5.2B in profits in the first half of the year. With a $114B market cap, Tether’s USDT is the largest stablecoin. For years the biz has faced scrutiny over the backing of its token.
💰 Spendy… Former Prez Donald Trump reportedly raised $21M primarily from crypto industry insiders at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville. Trump has embraced crypto while VP Kamala Harris reportedly looks to “reset” relations with the industry.
What else we’re Snackin’
iBeat: Apple’s sales grew 5% last quarter, driven by strength in iPad and Services. But iPhone sales, which made up nearly half the company’s total revenue, fell as upgrades slowed.
BudLighter: AB InBev’s beer sales sagged last quarter as the fallout from a Bud Light boycott in the US continued while China sales fell. Last month, Modelo maker Constellation Brands reported bubbling beer sales.
NotPrime: Amazon’s cloud and ad units had double-digit quarterly growth, but the
stock dropped 5% after the ecomm titan reported weaker-than-expected sales and gave a disappointing quarterly forecast.Vaxing: Moderna stock plunged 20% yesterday after it beat sales expectations but slashed its annual forecast. The biotech co cited high competition for respiratory vaccines in the US and weak EU sales.
CrowdSuit: CrowdStrike shareholders sued the cybersecurity co, saying it misled investors on the reliability of its software. Delta Air Lines, which said the CrowdStrike outage cost it $500M, is reportedly prepping to sue.
Snack Fact of the Day
Last year Greece had a record 36.1M tourists, up more than 2X from 2005
Friday
US jobs report
Earnings expected from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Squarespace
Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and shares of Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Delta, Disney, Exxon, Moderna, Ulta, and Walmart
Advertiser's disclosures:
* This is a paid advertisement for Monogram Technologies Series D Preferred Stock offering. A prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus have been filed with the SEC. Before making any investment, you are urged to read the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus carefully for a more complete understanding of the issuer and the offering.
The securities offered by Monogram are highly speculative. Investing in these securities involves significant risks. The investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Investors must understand that such investment could be illiquid for an indefinite period of time. There is no existing public trading market for the Series D Preferred Stock. Monogram does not intend to apply for listing of the Series D Preferred Stock or the common stock purchase warrants on a national securities exchange or quoted on an over the counter market.
DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck.