🎢 Disney’s $60B park play
Hey Snackers,
When your “For You” page starts looking like Pirate Bay: pirated movies, broken up into series of short clips, are going viral on TikTok. The next blockbuster might be a 47-parter.Â
Stocks ticked down yesterday as traders cooled their heels ahead of today’s Fed decision. Analysts expect the US central bank to pause rate hikes this month as officials take inflation’s temperature.
Disney’s pouring $60B into its parks-and-cruises biz as cable and streaming struggle
Big bet on Main Street… Disney announced plans to nearly double its spending on its parks-and-cruises biz with $60B in investments over the next decade. The world’s largest theme-park owner also runs a cruise line that visits ports in 40 countries. Parks are on pace to earn the Mouse House $10B in profit this year (up ~5X from a decade ago). Despite some recent dips in attendance, overall guest spend at Disney parks is up 42% from 2019 as fans splurge on higher-priced tickets, Mickey merch, and $22 loaded pretzels.Â
Disney’s parks, experiences, and products unit made up over a third of its sales last quarter, growing 13%, while its media and entertainment division sagged.
“Let’s watch a Disney Channel movie”… or not. Its ambitious park plans come at a tough time for its media biz. Last month Disney reportedly held talks to sell its ABC network and TV stations to broadcaster Nexstar as cord-cutting intensifies. It’s also exploring “strategic options” for ESPN. Movies and streamers aren’t doing so hot either.
Box-office blues: Despite the buzz around “Little Mermaid,” ”Indiana Jones,” and ”Elemental,” this summer Disney lost an estimated $900M at the box office.
Streaming pause: Disney+ is expected to be tens of millions of subscribers short of its 2024 target after hiking prices, jeopardizing Disney’s goal of making its streaming biz profitable by next September.
Old winners can create new magic… As Disney adapts to changing media trends, its traditional parks biz is still a bright spot. In the past decade, it opened Shanghai Disney and added popular rides from franchises like "Star Wars" and "Avatar.” Now Disney's planning to double its cruise-line capacity and incorporate more of its IP from newer films like "Coco," “Encanto,” and "Black Panther" into the park experience.
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H&M is now charging for returns as more retailers discourage customers’ send-it-back habits
Fee returns… H&M shoppers in the UK now have to pay $2.50 to return their ribbed tanks and mock turtlenecks online and in stores. The Swedish retailer has plans to tighten its return policy in other markets too (it’s already started in other European countries). In the US, the fast-fashion giant (the second largest after Zara) charges $6 for online returns, but IRL is free. H&M loyalty members who spend $500/year can still make online returns at no cost.Â
Trending: A cascade of retailers have gone from free → fee returns in recent years, including Zara, Boohoo, TJ Maxx, Dillard’s, and Kohl’s, charging as much as $11 to send stuff back. At the same time, return windows have been shrinking.
Even Amazon added a $1 fee in April to drop packages off at UPS when there’s an Amazon-owned drop-off alt like Whole Foods nearby.
Ordering five white tees… with every intention of returning four. Last year US shoppers returned nearly 17% of the merch they bought — $816B worth. Retailers don’t just lose out on the revenue they’d earn if customers kept their purchases; they also take a hit on shipping costs, which are rising as gas prices and wages surge. And they have to maintain a bloated inventory to fulfill (likely to be returned) large orders, and to restock what gets sent back.
Freebies work till they don’t… Free returns were introduced to encourage online shopping. It worked… maybe too well. Over time, customers adapted their shopping habits to depend on returns, using their bedrooms as fitting rooms. Now retailers looking to tighten budgets may follow H&M’s lead in trying to discourage bulk buying. But those that keep free returns could win over customers who want to order three sizes of the same shirt.
Heard on the Block: “total value locked”
🌡️ Like a quick temp check for crypto health…
Total value locked, or TVL, is the value of all the crypto tied up in a smart contract, and it’s one metric used to gauge the health of a digi ecosystem. The industry’s thinking: the more crypto wrapped up in a project, the more robust it could be. As of yesterday, there was more TVL on base — the ethereum layer 2 that Coinbase launched last month — than on solana. Fans once hyped solana, a layer-1 blockchain that in the past struggled with outages, as a potential “ethereum killer.”
What else we’re Snackin’
Game: Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer, Max, is adding a live-sports tier that includes the MLB, NHL, and NBA. YouTube, Amazon, Apple, and other streamers have been adding sports to lure subscribers.
XFee: Elon Musk floated the idea of charging all X (fka Twitter) users a “small monthly payment” to use the site as a way to discourage bots. This month, Musk said that X’s ad revenue was down 60%.Â
Suite: After NYC’s crackdown on short-term rentals, Airbnb said it would cancel and refund bookings for stays after December 1. Hotel rates could rise as travelers scramble to rebook holiday accommodations.Â
Dialogue: The writers’ union is set to resume negotiations with Hollywood studios today as strikes approach the five-month mark. Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher delayed the return of their shows after backlash.Â
NeXt: Microsoft’s next Xbox could arrive in 2028, and it might use AI and machine learning. A leak detailed what could be an ecosystem of next-gen gaming gear including consoles, PCs, and handhelds.
Wednesday
Fed interest-rate decision
Earnings expected from FedEx, General Mills, and KB Home
Authors of this Snacks own ethereum and shares of: Amazon, Apple, Disney, and Microsoft