Hey Snackers,
Birkenstocks are not works of art, at least legally speaking, according to Germany’s top court. The ruling culminates a long legal battle, as Birkenstock first attempted to gain copyright protections back in May 2023 to prevent copycat brands from selling similar products. Still, the court said the shoes exhibited “pure craftsmanship using formal design elements” — and last week’s glowing quarterly earnings report suggests that a growing number of sandalheads agree.
On Friday, stocks reversed last week’s record gains as investors lost their appetite for risk amid economic concerns. Consumer sentiment soured over inflation fears.
Let’s get quizzical — see how you do on our Snacks Seven business trivia:
What is America’s least-delayed airline?
Check your answer.
The auto industry is getting volatile after years of relative calm
After years of post-recession stability in the auto industry, marked by broad shifts in product mix like a gradual pivot toward electric vehicles and the faltering hegemony of pickup trucks, the past several weeks have comparatively been absolute chaos. From the potential impacts of threatened tariffs to major swings in the tenuous alliances that define the business, carmakers have been especially volatile bets for investors.
Just in the past few weeks, auto tariffs in the neighborhood of 25% coming as soon as April 2 were floated by the president; merger negotiations between Nissan and Honda that would’ve created one of the largest automakers in the world collapsed; a hydrogen-powered vehicle company once worth more than Ford filed for bankruptcy; and Rivian managed to make a gross profit.
Not to mention that many gradual trends that investors have been monitoring have begun to hit key inflection points.
Chinese automaker BYD has been on a tear when it comes to exports, and last week said its EVs are about three to five years ahead of rivals.
EV sales hit a monthly record in the US in January, accounting for 9.1% of new vehicle sales in the month, even if the future of the EV tax credit is uncertain.
GM, assessing the potential effects of tariffs, said it would have to weigh plant relocations and revealed that it’s already moving inventory across borders to try to get ahead of them. Ford’s CEO also said the tariffs would “blow a hole” in the US auto industry.
None of that is even touching the stainless steel elephant in the room. With CEO Elon Musk morphing into the right-hand man of the American president, Tesla has been a key beneficiary of that power but also a major subject of volatility, especially over the past 60 days. Sure, full self-driving is facing hurdles in China and sales are dropping around the world, but does that matter if the new administration can greenlight buying $400 million worth of armored Teslas with the stroke of a pen?
No wonder a Japanese group plans to pitch to Tesla that it should invest in Nissan, fresh on the rebound from the breakup of its Honda situationship, in exchange for American factories.
Stories We're Watching
Game(Stop CEO) respects game: Ryan Cohen, head honcho at GameStop, has reportedly increased his personal stake in Alibaba to about $1 billion. The Chinese e-commerce and cloud giant has had everything go right in 2025 — the release of strong Q4 results, the success of its AI models, its AI partnership with Apple, the preservation (for now) of the “de minimis” shipping exemption, and a vote of confidence from another billionaire investor, David Tepper, who also doubled down on the stock heading into this year. All this has helped propel Alibaba up 60% year-to-date. In the S&P 500, only Super Micro Computer has enjoyed a larger gain so far this year.
ESPN and MLB’s fallout could open up another bidding war: Disney’s ESPN and Major League Baseball are parting ways, ending a 35-year media rights relationship after the 2025 season. The MLB, which enjoyed a ratings and live attendance resurgence last year, is likely hoping to replicate some of the streaming bidding wars that have boosted other sports leagues’ deals. This will likely make the sports streaming landscape, which is already the Wild West and infuriating for fans, even more complex.
Top investors are buying this unlisted stock
When the co-founder who helped grow Zillow into an industry leader starts a new company, investors take note.
After all, growing a company to $8.9B in size doesn’t happen by accident. That’s why top firms like SoftBank have already invested in Pacaso.
Taking the industry by storm all over again, Pacaso’s streamlined co-ownership platform completely revamps a $1.3T market.1 And by handing keys to 1,500+ happy homeowners, Pacaso earned $100M+ in adjusted gross profits in four years.2
Now, they’re focused on international expansion. With record-breaking sales in Paris, 7 homes in Cabo, and their most expensive European property yet recently acquired in London, it’s happening fast.
No wonder Pacaso’s share price is changing soon. Invest at $2.70/share by 2/27.3
The Best Thing We Read Today
Travel companies blew earnings out of the water this quarter. Booking Holdings took it a step further.
Booking is the only major travel platform outperforming the S&P 500 since Airbnb’s December 2020 IPO.
What Else We're Snackin'
The SEC said it has created a new team, known as the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, to focus on rooting out fraud committed in the emerging technologies space, including crypto
The Cheesecake Factory’s ever-expanding menu is matched only by its ever-expanding revenues
Celsius spiked last week after announcing its plan to buy Gen Z-focused competitor Alani Nu
On Friday, Coinbase said the SEC had dropped its lawsuit against the company
Live Nation’s blockbuster year ended with a bang as the company forecast an even better year for concerts
Snack Fact of the Day
McDonald’s now sells more chicken than beef.
This Week's Events
Earnings expected from Domino’s, Zoom, and Hims & Hers
February Consumer Confidence. Earnings expected from AMC, Keurig Dr Pepper, Planet Fitness, Home Depot, Cava, Instacart, Lemonade, and Intuit
January new home sales. Earnings expected from Nvidia, Salesforce, Lowe’s, IonQ, Stellantis, and Ebay
Q4 GDP (second estimate). January durable goods, January pending home sales. Earnings expected from Soundhound, Dell, HP, Duolingo, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Warner Bros. Discovery
Personal consumption expenditures (the Fed’s preferred inflation index). Earnings expected from Fubo
1 This is the U.S. Total Addressable Market. Source: All US housing data based on National Association of Realtors, Redfin and MLS data U.S. Census 2021; 24M U.S. households earn greater than $150K per year, equating to 19% of total U.S. households. US serviceable based on transactions greater than $500K per home sold per period.
2 We calculate Adjusted Gross Profit as gross profit under GAAP adjusted for amortization of developed technology, inventory valuation adjustment in the current period, inventory valuation adjustment in prior periods and share-based compensation. Please see management discussion of the financial condition section of the offering circular for more details.
3 The minimum investment is $1001.70. This is a paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.pacaso.com.
Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities.
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.