Hey, Alexa — you've got competition |
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Time to cry over unspelled milk: a Costco wholesaler is recalling nearly 80K pounds of butter after it failed to mention on the label that the dairy delight contained milk. Markets finished mixed yesterday as some stocks continued to run hot on the Trump bump and others cooled. Traders upped bets on a December rate cut after October inflation #s were in line with expectations. 🎙️ Fresh pod: Tune in on Spotify or Apple Podcasts for the latest episode of "Sherwood Ten": 10 questions in 10 minutes with entrepreneurs, entertainers, and thought leaders. |
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Home sweet iHome… Apple's preparing to launch a wall-mounted smart-home tablet as early as March, Bloomberg reported. The device, said to look like an iPad, can control AC and lighting, host video calls, answer questions, and play music. Apple's infusing it with features from its new generative-AI platform, Apple Intelligence, which was released last month in the latest iPhones (reception's been lukewarm, though users are entertained by goofy AI-generated notification summaries). Apple's hoping its AI-powered features (feat. a smarter Siri) can help it make a splash in the smart-home market. |
- Hey Google, call Alexa: The smart-home segment is dominated by Amazon's Echo tablets and Google's Nest Hub displays. Apple, trailing behind, wants to catch up.
- Going out on a robo limb: Apple's also reportedly working on a pricier version of the home tablet with a robotic arm that can move the screen around as you pace.
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Is the smart home in the room with us?… Techies have long touted the prospect of connected smart homes (picture: showers that turn on at your preferred temp when your alarm rings, health sensors that order Advil). But futuristic vibes haven't yet landed. The market's still fragmented, with smart speakers like Amazon's Alexa and Google's Home Mini, plus thermostats and security cams. Amazon's tablet-headed home robot, Astro, hasn't taken off, and this year Roomba maker iRobot let go of half its workforce. |
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Failure's part of the profit process… and Apple can afford to fail. As its hardware sales slow, Apple's made big, expensive bets to enter new markets. It hasn't always gone well: it axed its decade-long effort to build a self-driving EV. And sales of its $3.5K Vision Pro VR headset, rolled out this year, have disappointed (it's said to be considering ending production). But the Apple Watch was a hit, making the company a leader in the connected fitness market, and it's hoping for a repeat in the smart-home space. |
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'Tis the cheese'in… It's a jolly time to be making movies about small-town bakers falling for fictional princes during a blizzard. Hallmark's streaming service — and two dozen or so other niche streamers in the specialty category — have been thriving. Overall, genre-based streamers like Hallmark (romance), Shudder (horror), and Crunchyroll (anime) have outpaced the subscription growth of massive rivals. Subs to specialty streamers grew 27% last year and are up 20% this year, compared to 8% growth for industry leaders. |
- Small wins: Sony's Crunchyroll has nearly half the subscribers of Comcast's Peacock. Comedy-streaming platform Dropout TV recently sold out Madison Square Garden with a live version of its popular "Dimension 20" show.
- Growth era: In the second quarter of this year, the # of people subscribing to at least one niche streamer passed 51M, more than double from two years ago. About 60% of specialty streamer subs were made through Amazon's channels service.
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Big + problems… A lot of large streaming platforms are struggling to turn consistent profits, while their parent companies get dragged down by flailing cable businesses that their streamers are helping to destroy. Pricey productions and hefty sports deals have also weighed on bottom lines. To make up for losses, streamers have been slashing original-content spending, raising their prices, and flooding their apps with ads. It's led to more subscription pausing. Through September, over a third of premium streaming subscribers had rejoined a service they'd already canceled within the year. |
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Specialists can swim upstream… Staying small and targeted has allowed niche streamers to keep budgets low while winning over fans. That success has attracted large rivals too: Netflix recently made a deal to add more content from AMC+ (AMC Networks' streamer). |
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The smart home industry has seen some spectacular exits, yielding impressive returns for early investors. In the past decade, we've seen Nest acquired for $3.2B by Google, and Ring acquired by Amazon for $1B.1 That's helped turn the Smart Home space into an evolving billion-dollar industry. Yet one category in the smart home industry has eluded adoption: Smart Shades. RYSE is aiming to dominate this category, as their smart shades have launched in over 100 Best Buy stores. Invest Now to take advantage of their current share price.2 |
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The smart home industry has seen some spectacular exits, yielding impressive returns for early investors. In the past decade, we've seen Nest acquired for $3.2B by Google, and Ring acquired by Amazon for $1B.1 That's helped turn the Smart Home space into an evolving billion-dollar industry. Yet one category in the smart home industry has eluded adoption: Smart Shades. RYSE is aiming to dominate this category, as their smart shades have launched in over 100 Best Buy stores. Invest Now to take advantage of their current share price.2 |
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- Amazon debuted a discount store called Amazon Haul, which prices products at under $20 to rival deals from Chinese ecomm titans Shein and Temu.
- Cava's revenue and profit popped last quarter as the Mediterranean-bowl biz moved to open scores of new salad-slinging spots.
- Robinhood added altcoins solana, cardano, XRP, and pepe to its US platform as the crypto industry anticipates a regulatory thaw under Trump. (Sherwood Media is an independent subsidiary of Robinhood Markets.)
- Volkswagen upped its investment in Rivian to $5.8B as the legacy carmaker taps the e-truck startup to build tech for EVs.
- Voice-enabled AI company SoundHound saw record sales last quarter as more restaurants signed up for its AI-powered drive-thru solutions.
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- Initial jobless claims
- Producer price index
- Earnings expected from Disney, JD.com, and Advance Auto Parts
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Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Robinhood, and Sony |
Advertiser's disclosures:
¹ The performance of other companies is not necessarily indicative of the prospective returns of RYSE, Inc. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. ² This is a paid advertisement for RYSE's Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at: SEC website. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. 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. |
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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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