Hey Snackers,
A Danish artist commissioned by a museum to create works commenting on EU wage disparities has been ordered to return nearly $71K (plus legal fees). The reason: the artist turned in two blank canvases titled “Take the Money and Run.” Guess the museum missed the pointillism.
Stocks slid as the Fed skipped a hike for this month, keeping rates steady in the 5.25%-to-5.5% range (still a 22-year high). The US’s central bank suggested high rates could stick around awhile. Instacart and Arm shares slipped after their recent IPOs.
SpaceX rival Rocket Lab stumbles as the reusable-rocket industry takes off
No rocket, man… Reusable-rocket co Rocket Lab notched a big L this week after its satellite-carrying Electron rocket failed about 2 minutes into its flight. The failure, on Tuesday, was the first for the California company in more than two years, and it sent the biz’s stock down nearly 12%. (Rocket Lab said it would postpone its next Electron mission.) RL has blasted to industry prominence in recent years, trailing only SpaceX as the most active US rocket company. But space, as so many in the industry say, is hard:
Blue it: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin had a rocket engine explode during testing in June.
Astried: Astra said last year that it would stop flying a rocket designed to launch small satellites after several failures — including a mission for NASA.
Virgin Obit: Despite some initial success, Virgin Orbit shut down this year.
X marks the spot… Elon Musk’s SpaceX isn’t the only game in rocket-launching town, but an industry expert said it’s a “de facto monopoly.” Its rockets were behind 88% of US launches in the first half of this year, and it’s received $15.3B in gov’t contracts since 2003 (picture: launching NASA astronauts, flying US military satellites). SpaceX also does a steady business shuttling Starlink satellites into space, as well as the satellites of Starlink’s competitors. But it’s had its share of launch problems too.
Second place still gets on the podium… The global market for rocket launches was $8B last year and is expected to hit $13B by 2025. That = a significant market for any company that can quickly and cheaply send rockets into space — something SpaceX’s reusable rockets are good at. Rocket Lab’s recent failure is a setback, but its Electron rocket has a 90% success rate.
The Biggest Disruption To $martphones in 15 Years 🤳🏼
Flip the Script: Turn your phone from a cost to an income source. Intriguing idea, isn't it? Which is why, we have our eyes on the launch of Mode’s Pre-IPO Offering. It’s the latest in a series of impressive raises among smartphone innovators, likely spurred by Apple’s recent $3T valuation.
Mode saw 150x revenue growth from 2019 to 2022, a leap that has made them one of America’s fastest growing companies. Mode is on a mission to disrupt the industry with "EarnPhone," a budget smartphone that’s helped consumers earn & save $150M+ for activities like listening to music, playing games, and ... even charging their devices?!
Early backers are getting up to 100% bonus stock, and in the first month alone, 10,000+ investors acquired shares — leaving less than ~10% in the allocation.
Walmart opens its first pet-services center to grow its slice of the $320B furry industry
Come for the grooming… stay for the groceries. Yesterday Walmart opened its first pet-services center in an Atlanta exurb, offering everything from $15 nail trims to $25 rabies shots. It added vet services to some of its stores in 2019, and this year it gave Walmart+ subscribers free access to virtual vet visits. The new pet vet and grooming center has its own entrance next to Walmart, and is staffed by workers from pet health and wellness company PetIQ. Walmart plans to open more locations next year (or sooner).
Purr-fect opportunity: Well over half of Americans have a pet, and vet-clinic traffic is on the rise as more folks check up on their fluffy companions. And businesses have taken note.
Stocking up on squeaky toys… Pet adoption has really slowed since the pandemic, but that didn’t keep Americans from splurging $137B on their fur babies last year, up 11% from 2021. Retailers want to cash in on the pet-palooza. In July, home-improvement biggie Lowe’s said it would expand its Petco shop-in-shops from 15 locations to nearly 300 by the end of the year. Petco itself has grown its vet biz from 10 clinics in 2018 to 247. And this year Kohl’s said it would make room for more pet goodies.
Capitalize on the habits you create... 31M people visit Walmart daily for their budget-shopping needs like groceries. Adding pet services next to stores could create a convenient two-in-one habit, giving shoppers more to add to their list (picture: dropping Rosie off for a trim while you grab eggs). Chewy and Petco said pet owners are increasingly opting for wallet-friendly supplies, and Walmart could capitalize on its discount reputation.
What else we’re Snackin’
Deliver: FedEx shares spiked after the shipping titan topped profit estimates and raised its earnings forecast thanks to cost cuts, price hikes, and market share gained from rival UPS and bankrupt Yellow Corp.
Loot: The FTC is contacting 37M people who may qualify for refunds on purchases they or their kids accidentally made in Fortnite. The $245M settlement comes from a suit accusing Epic Games of using “deceptive interfaces.”
Surgical: Elon’s brain-implant startup, Neuralink, is recruiting people with quadriplegia to evaluate whether its brain chip can help them control devices with their minds. Rival Synchron started human trials last year.
Bookbot: George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, and other authors sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI, accusing it of illegally using their books to train its bot. They’re the latest authors seeking AI copyright protections.
Off: GM and Dodge maker Stellantis said they laid off more workers (~2.4K combined) as a result of the United Auto Workers’ union strike, which has caused parts shortages even at plants that weren’t targeted.
Thursday
August existing-home-sales report
Earnings expected from Darden Restaurants
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: GM, Rocket Lab, and Walmart
*Advertiser's disclosure: Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile’s Regulation CF Offering.