…and all-you-can-eat's bountiful return
| The place to be (Ashish Vaishnav/Getty Images) | |
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Yesterday's Market Moves | | Dow Jones
33,715 (-0.04%) | S&P 500
4,329 (-0.45%) | Nasdaq
13,336 (-1.16%) | Bitcoin
$30,162 (-1.00%) |
| Dow Jones
33,715 (-0.04%) | S&P 500
4,329 (-0.45%) | Nasdaq
13,336 (-1.16%) | Bitcoin
$30,162 (-1.00%) |
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Hey Snackers, Pie in the sky: Domino's just upped its delivery game by using a jetpack to fly a couple of piping-hot pizzas to UK festivalgoers. We hope they left a sky-high tip. Stocks ticked down yesterday with the techy Nasdaq leading the slide. Investors were on the lookout for disruptions to the oil market following a short-lived Russian rebellion. | |
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Amazon says it'll invest billions in India as tech biggies go all in on the fast-growing economy | "Made in India"… is having a moment. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Biden met in the US last week with some big tech CEOs. The goal: ramp up investments in the South Asian country that's on pace to becoming the world's fastest-growing economy. (FYI: India is the most populous country with 1.4B+ residents.) And tech biggies are vying to get in on the action: Sparked up: Amazon said it would more than double its India investments to $26B by 2030 (with a big focus on growing its cloud biz), and Google said it'd build a global fintech center there. Green light: Chipmakers Applied Materials and Micron said they'll spend a combined $1.2B in the country, and Elon Musk said Tesla plans to invest in India as soon as possible.
A tech frenzy… Last year India ranked as the fifth-largest economy, overtaking the UK. From January to March of this year, India's GDP growth outpaced that of China, the US, and Japan. Meanwhile, as US-China tensions escalate, more companies are boosting production in India to keep their supply chains running smoothly (aka: friend-shoring). Apple aims to make a quarter of its iPhones in India by 2025, and HP is looking to up manufacturing there too. |  | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Old ties can open new opportunities… Biden said the US's relationship with India is stronger than ever, essentially flipping the script after years of regulatory and political turbulence. The US is now India's #1 trading partner, with trade up 8X in the past two decades. The latest tech-spending announcements could just be the start: JPMorgan already raised its economic forecast for India next year. | |
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The all-you-can-eat buffet is back for seconds as diners search for value | 55 burgers, 55 fries, 55 tacos… Buffets, declared dead in recent years, are back on the menu for US diners. Although the self-serve industry saw a steep pandemic drop-off as germ-weary customers said "pass" on shared tongs and communal food bars, demand has piled back up. Buffet mainstay Golden Corral says business is up 20% so far this year, and three leading US buffet chains (Golden Corral, Cici's, and Pizza Ranch) saw a 125% spike in customer visits between January 2021 and this March. All-you-can-imagine: Buffets are attracting customers by appealing to the TikTok crowd with snap-worthy spreads (picture: charcuterie boards, towers of crab legs). All-you-can-buy: In buffet hotspot Las Vegas, the Bellagio reopened its signature buffet, while Sin City's largest buffet, at Caesars Palace, underwent a $10M renovation.
Unlimited breadsticks, unlimited power… From diners to drive-ins to dives, foot traffic increased at almost all restaurant types last quarter as folks favored eating out. Family-friendly Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants beat Wall Street expectations in its earnings report last week with same-store sales increasing by 4%. And while the pandemic forced some restos to shift strategies, those shifts look like they're paying off: Chipotle's expansion into small towns is generating record opening sales. | | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Customers are still shoppin'… for value. Despite inflation, Americans are making space in their budgets for deals. Visits to dollar stores are up, even among those with $100K+ incomes. Buffets, which let diners help themselves to endless plates of shrimp for one fixed price, offer people peace of mind that they're getting their money's (and belly's) worth. | |
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What else we're Snackin' | Sub: Meta rolled out an $8/month game subscription for its VR headsets. It also cut the price of its Quest 2 and Quest Pro devices in March, reportedly following underwhelming sales. Net: The White House announced $40B in funding aimed at increasing internet connectivity in the US. Some 24M people across the country lack access to high-speed internet, with gaps concentrated in rural areas. Pride: Starbucks workers in 104 US stores went on strike, alleging that the chain wouldn't let locations decorate for Pride. Target and AB InBev have faced criticism for their responses to anti-LGBTQ+ protests. Forever: 3M said it'd pay $10.3B to settle claims it polluted US drinking water with toxic chemicals. "Forever chemicals" have been in use since the 1940s, and the CDC says they may lead to an increased risk of cancer. Pill: Pfizer said it'd stop the development of an obesity and diabetes pill over health concerns. Some investors predict the market for new obesity drugs like Wegovy could exceed $100B/year.
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Snack Fact Of the Day | More than 7% of US adults identify as LGBTQ+ | | |
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Tuesday | Authors of this Snacks own shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev and Apple | |
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more | |
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