July 21st - The Week Ahead

In partnership with

Welcome Back! Let’s get you all the information you need to get ready for the week.

P.S. - If you’re loving our newsletters - please forward it to a friend - it would mean the world to us 🤝 

The Week Ahead Of Us 🔍

3Q Earnings are kicking off! We’ve got some big names on deck this week. While there’s massive tech guys like Google, IBM, and Tesla there’s also a lot of “real economy” companies like Capital One, GM, Genuine Parts, and Robert Half that will give a good look on the strength of the consumer.

• Monday: SAP, Verizon, Ryanair, NXP, Truist, IQVIA, Nucor, Brown & Brown, Zions Bancorp, Cleveland-Cliffs

• Tuesday: Google, Tesla, Visa, Coca-Cola, Danaher, Texas Instruments, GE Aerospace, Phillip Morris, Comcast, UPS, Lockheed Martin, Chubb, Moody’s, Spotify, Capital One, GM, MSCI, Kimberly Clark, CoStar, PulteGroup, Seagate, Genuine Parts, Quest Diagnostics, EQT, A.O. Smith, Albertsons, Range Resources, Invesco, Robert Half, Red Rock Resorts, Asbury Automotive, PJT Partners

• Wednesday: Thermo Fisher, IBM, ServiceNow, AT&T, Boston Scientific, Waste Management, Fiserv, General Dynamics, Santander, Chipotle, Ford, O’Reilly Autoparts, United Rentals, Waste Connections, eBay, Invitation Homes, Rogers Communication, Churchill Downs, Evercore, Stifel, Taylor Morrison, Whirlpool, Wyndham Hotels

• Thursday: AbbVie, Astrazeneca, Lloyds, Union Pacific, Unilever, RTX, Stellantis, Norfolk Southern, PG&E, Valero, Barclays, Keurig Dr. Pepper, L3Harris, Royal Caribbean, Dow, Nasdaq, Baker Hughes, Tractor Supply, Decker’s, Southwest Airlines, SS&C, Pool Corporation, Juniper, Texas Roadhouse, Skechers, Roku, Hasbro, Mohawk Industries, FTI Consulting, WEX, Eagle Materials, Liberty, Boyd Gaming, Lazard, Columbia Sportswear, Boston Beer Company, and Sonic Automotive

• Friday: Bristol-Myers, Charter, Colgate, 3M, T. Rowe Price, Booz Allen, TRiNet, Piper Sandler, AllianceBernstein, Howard Hughes, Newell Brands

A Message from our Sponsor

Take a demo, get a Blackstone Griddle

Financial operations heating up? BILL Spend & Expense can help you take control. Automate expense reports, set budgets across teams, and get real-time insights into company spend. Take a demo to learn how and we'll give you a 28" Blackstone Omnivore Griddle—so you can take control of your next barbecue, too.

Request a demo

The Main Stories 🔍

President Biden has dropped out: President Joe Biden will no longer seek re-election, but will see out the remainder of his term. He has subsequentially endorsed VP Kamala Harris. For anyone looking for drama - you may not get it. As a member of the Biden/Harris ticket, VP Harris will be fully financed with a war chest of political donations, with anyone who wants to challenge VP Harris for the nomination will face an uphill fundraising battle. The Clintons have endorsed VP Harris as well. Follow along with the latest here.

The CrowdStrike crisis is going to change everything: A human error associated with a Windows security update by CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity giant embedded in the backend of every day companies, showed our fragile our ecosystem may be and is going to have CIOs rethinking their reliance on them going forward. Airlines, TV Broadcasters, Banks, Hospitals, 911 Call Centers, Small Businesses, and many more companies came to a standstill on Friday morning.

This was since fixed, but the consequences in some instances were deadly. The fallout isn’t clear just yet, but several anonymous business leaders are already looking into reducing their reliance on CrowdStrike.

Netflix earnings were robust: Global Memberships grew 16.5% y/y to 277.6 million, Revenue of $9.56B was in line with expectations, and EPS of $4.88 beat expectations of $4.74. Netflix called out how they and YouTube pretty much dominate the streaming industry, noting "streaming accounts for 40% of total TV time in the US today, with Netflix and YouTube the clear leaders in direct to consumer entertainment. Collectively our two services account for almost half of all streaming TV watch time in the US" That’s really crazy to think about and makes it even more insane how back in early 2022 everyone was dumping Netflix stock and doubting their vision.

The 2024 Amazon Prime Day was Amazon’s biggest Prime Day event thus far: During the 48 hour window last week, more than 200 million items were sold, driving sales to $14.2B, up 11% y/y according to Adobe.

Barbarians vs. baristas: Well known hedge fund activist, Elliott, has built a sizable stake in Starbucks and has been having private conversations with the Company. For years, the coffee giant has vied to become customers’ “third place” along with their home and work. Founder Howard Schultz’s vision, however, has been increasingly challenged by widespread unionization efforts, consumers’ embrace of to-go ordering, inflation pressures, and intensifying competition in China.

Meta and Google square off: Meta is looking into taking a 5% equity stake in Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica. This would help Meta expand into “the metaverse” via an eyewear collaboration with the eye glasses giant a year after the duo successfully launched their second generation of smart glasses. However - the big twist is that Google is looking to steal the Ray-Ban partnership from Meta…and embed their Gemini offering into “Gemini smart glasses”.

More Headlines 🍿 

• The widely anticipated EA Sports College Football 25 had 2.2 million players during it’s 4-day preorder period - driving around $200 million in sales 👀. The first major college sports game of any kind dropped since 2013, the Game is tapping into pent up demand and attract a wide audience of everyone from middle schoolers to their dads. Evidencing the post-NIL regime change, EA also announced that every player in the game earned $600+ and a free copy

• Warner Bros. Discovery is evaluating breaking up the Company. The move would separate linear and streaming/studio, posing some challenges – the streaming business depends on cable cash flows – but also offering opportunity for appealing M&A (i.e., Max + Peacock) which ranks high on CEO David Zaslav’s strategic agenda. My idea is splitting into two companies called “Warner Brothers” and “Discovery”

• For decades, South Korea has been vying to export its nuclear expertise. Seoul’s atomic campaign marked a major win this week when a state-owned company earned a contract to build two multi-billion dollar reactors in the Czech Republic. Consistently out-competing Western developers on price and timelines, Korea hopes to emerge as the dominant nuclear contractor in Europe

• Bud Light is slipping to the 3rd best selling U.S. beer. After losing the crown to Modela, it’s now in 3rd place behind Michelob Ultra. The Anheuser-Busch subsidiary has been struggling since last year’s collaboration with transgender TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney which prompted a conservative backlash and widespread boycott

• Elon Musk removed CrowdStrike from Tesla and X systems on Friday. Musk’s move came after he announced that the outage “gave a seizure to the automative supply chain.” Musk also threw shade towards CrowdStrike’s DEI initiatives

• The U.S. fertility rate hit a record low of 1.62 births per woman in 2023. The lowest rate since tracking started in the 1930s reflects a growing number of Americans waiting longer to have kids (or avoid them at all), greater access to contraception, and increased, sustained female workforce engagement.

• For the second time in two years, U.S. ports risk major disruptions after talks broke down between the International Longshoremen’s Association and shipping industry executives. The ILA, which represents ~45k dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts, is demanding carriers share the surplus billions they made off pandemic-era inflated shipping rates with union members. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, ports will grind to a halt in the fall when dockworkers’ contracts are set to expire

• Hims & Hers Health is voluntary cooperating with an FTC inquiry

• Grizzly Research has released a short report on Pinterest

• Separately - I run a Fantasy Football Newsletter that helps you figure out who to draft in Fantasy Football. With the season approaching, we’re going to have a lot of posts dropping in August. Subscribe for free here 🤝 

In Other News

Whiskey Investing: Consistent Returns with Vinovest

It’s no secret that investors love strong returns.

That’s why 250,000 people use Vinovest to invest in fine whiskey.

Whiskey has consistently matured and delivered noteworthy exits. With the most recent exit at 30.7%, Vinovest’s track record supports whiskey’s value growth across categories such as Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish whiskey.

With Vinovest’s strategic approach to sourcing and market analysis, you get access to optimal acquisition costs and profitable exits.

Schedule a call with a Vinovest advisor to learn more.

M&A Transactions💭 

Chuy’s Holdings (NAS: CHUY), a restaurant concept offering a distinct menu of authentic, freshly prepared Mexican and Tex-Mex inspired food, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $605.0M by Darden Restaurants (NYS: DRI). Piper Sandler advised on the sale.

Brasc Rs Shopping Centers, operator of a shopping center, was acquired for $215.99M by Parshop.

Unity Semiconductor, manufacturer of metrology and inspection equipment, was acquired for $167.19M by Merck (ETR: MRK).

Invetx, developer of a biotechnology innovation platform, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired for $520.0M by Dechra Pharmaceuticals. Bank of America advised on the sale.

In-tech, provider of digitalization and development services for automotive sector, was acquired for $517.75M by Infosys (NSE: INFY). Raymond James advised on the sale.

Fortum’s Recycling and Waste Business in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired for $862.92m by Norsk Gjenvinning.

Amphenol (NYS: APH) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire The Outdoor Wireless Networks and Distribution Antenna Systems Businesses of CommScope Holding Company (NAS: COMM) for $2.1B. Moelis advised on the sale.

Carlisle Management Company, operator of a global investment management firm, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $200.0M by Abacus Life (NAS: ABL).

Augmedix (NAS: AUGX), the company engages in the ambulatory/clinical/hospital segments of the U.S. patient care services market, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $139.0M by Commure. Evercore advised on the sale.

Private Placement Transactions💭 

Kandji, developer of a mobile device management platform, has raised $100.0M of Series D venture funding led by General Catalyst at a pre-money valuation of $750.0M.  

Human Interest, operator of an administration and advising platform, has raised $267.0M of venture funding led by Baillie Gifford and Marshall Wace as a pre-money valuation of $1.06B.

Cart.com, developer of unified commerce and logistics software, has raised $85.0M of Series C venture funding led by Snowflake Ventures, PayPal Ventures, and Prosperity7 Ventures at a pre-money valuation of $1.2B.

Aven, operator of a fintech company, raised $142.0M of Series D venture funding led by Khosia Ventures and General Catalyst.

Nearfield Instruments, developer of high throughput scanning probe microscopy systems, has raised $145.62M of Series C venture funding led by Temasek and Walden Catalyst.

Kreators Network, provider of data-driven label services, has raised $3.5B of Series A venture funding led by T.S. Investment.

Saronic, manufacturer of unmanned surface vehicles, has raised $175.0M of Series B venture funding led by Andreessen Horowitz at a pre-money valuation of $825.0M.

Noteworthy Chart 🧭

Best of YouTube ⌚️

Which U.S. Cities Are Sinking And How Much It Will Cost To Stop Them?

Meme Cleanser 😆