Hey Snackers,
Plant-based meat is sooo yesterday. Solar Foods just raised $5.2M to sell protein made from... "air and electricity."
Stocks hit fresh highs yesterday after the UK became the first Western country to start rolling out a Covid-19 vaccine, just days after Pfizer's shot was approved.
Stitch Fix stock soars as "the Fix" makes a surprise comeback
Boho chic or athleisure grunge?... We're not so sure about the last one. Stitch Fix uses human stylists and algorithms to send you curated boxes of outfits each month. It had a major glow-up last quarter, after posting a $45M loss in the previous quarter. The stock shot up 40% on these stats:
- Sales jumped 10% from last year, and Stitch expects 20% to 25% growth for its full financial year (investors love to hear it).
- "Active clients" grew 10% to nearly 3.8M, and it notched a surprise profit.
"The Fix" is back... When we last checked in on Stitch Fix in September, customers were increasingly dropping "the Fix" box and ordering single items Ă la carte (like getting one spicy tuna roll vs. omakase). Not a great sitch for Stitch, since the subscription box is its real profit puppy and main value prop. Last quarter...
- The Fix made a comeback: First-time Fixes jumped 25%, while traditional retailers like Lord & Taylor and Francesca's filed for bankruptcy.
- The Fix got smarter: The recommendatiom algorithm that picks your outfits improved, leading to higher satisfaction and fewer returns (#datascience).
Content is king, but personal curation is queen... From Netflix with its show-surfacing algorithms to Facebook with its freakishly well-targeted ads, personalization is key to driving sales and engagement (shoutout TikTok). This extends to physical products like Stitch's Fixes, too. More personalization = more engagement = less wasted resources = more $$$$.
Uber sells its self-driving car division because the hype was premature
Self-driving yourself to the fridge... Or better yet: self-driving the fridge to yourself. Uber just sold off its self-driving car unit ATG to autonomous vehicle competitor Aurora Innovation (Aurora Carrabis?). But instead of receiving cash in exchange, Uber gets to invest $400M into the combined company. Let's reverse...
- ATG was Uber's precious big bet. Uber's still unprofitable because it pays out most of its bookings to drivers. Self-driving = basically $0 driver costs.
- But it was losing money... Uber says ATG and “other technologies” (like air taxis) have burned through more than $300M this year.
- ....and it was a mess: That included a lawsuit for trade secret theft and a tragic autonomous vehicle test that killed a pedestrian.
Ride what you know... Uber has been doubling down on its core rides and delivery platform, while stepping away from risky moonshots. It just ditched Elevate, its air taxi division. Earlier this year, it offloaded its Jump e-scooters/bikes biz to Lime. Instead: it bought Postmates and launched Uber Reserve for rides.
We have to reset our self-driving expectations... Every year it seems we're just months away from a breakthrough. Last year, Elon Musk told the world that Tesla planned to have 1M autonomous robotaxis on the road in 2020 — spoiler: didn't happen (still 22 days left though!). This week, Volkswagen's CEO said he expects autonomous vehicles to hit the market by 2025 to 2030. Either way, it'll be years before they're ready for primetime.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Vax: The FDA said Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine met its success criteria. It could get approved at the FDA's big review meeting tomorrow.
- Phoney: Apple finally unveils its AirPods Max over-ear headphones for only $549 (niiice).
- Zen: Meditation app Calm hits a $2B valuation after becoming a go-to perk for WFH companies.
- Treat: Chewy's sales jumped 45% last quarter on the pet-palooza, and it posted a smaller-than-expected loss.
- Again: Tesla is cashing in on its stock price by issuing up to $5B in new shares, its second offering in three months.
- Why: China bans 105 mostly Chinese apps for "offensive" content, but includes TripAdvisor. BTW: the US' TikTok ban got blocked (again).
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Wednesday
- DoorDash expected to start trading on the NYSE
- Earnings expected from Campbell Soup
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Uber, Apple, and Tesla
ID: 1441716