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- 👉 The Investing Week Ahead: Eclipse Edition
👉 The Investing Week Ahead: Eclipse Edition
Even Krispy Kreme is celebrating...
Welcome to your new week.
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Key Earnings Announcements:
Constellation Brands, Delta Air Lines, and major banks kick off a new earnings season.
Monday (4/8): N/A
Tuesday (4/9): Aehr Test Systems, Cognyte, Tilray, WD-40 Company
Wednesday (4/10): Applied Digital, Delta, Rent the Runway
Thursday (4/11): Carmax, Constellation Brands, Fastenal
Friday (4/12): BlackRock, Citi, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Progressive, State Street, Wells Fargo
What We’re Watching:
Delta Air Lines braces for a challenging week as expectations set a subdued tone for its Q1 earnings and outlook amidst a tough operating climate.
Despite some analysts recently downwardly-revising their projections — estimates anticipate a slight increase in JPMorgan Chase earnings per share to $4.13 and an +8.9% jump in revenue to $41.7 billion — potentially the highest in the bank's history.
Investor Events / Global Affairs:
The economic craze of the eclipse, Google might buy HubSpot, Paramount might buy Skydance, and streaming platforms are cutting down even more on password sharing.
Solar Eclipse Economic Pump
As the solar eclipse draws near, the hospitality and tourism sector is getting a boost.
Airbnb (ABNB) released data that shows the platform's listings along the path of totality are nearing a 90% booking rate for the night preceding the event. Hotel and motel booking rates have shot up along the key cities like Indianapolis and Dallas — where visitors have arrived from all over the country.
Airbnb closed up +1.8% on Friday at $161.77 for its first good showing after its seventh straight trading session dips. Regardless, Airbnb's stock has climbed nearly +19% this year — outperforming the S&P 500.
Airbnb should benefit (to a much higher degree) on a 2024 travel upswing expected for the Paris Olympics and a rebound in travel from China and Latin America. The eclipse is an added bonus for the company that had consumers booking almost a year out.
Some fun “eclipse promotions” below…
Google (GOOG) Considers Buying HubSpot (HUBS)
Alphabet, Google's parent company, is considering an acquisition of HubSpot (HUBS) — an online marketing software firm valued at ~$35 billion. This would be Google’s largest-ever acquisition.
Leveraging its substantial cash reserves — Google would make this move in order strengthen its presence in the customer relationship management (CRM) software market. This development reflects a broader trend of increased merger and acquisition activity in the technology sector as of late.
HubSpot has 250K businesses leveraging their CRM tool, whereas Google has 1.2M businesses using their Google Ads network. We would imagine Google is hoping to cross-pollinate a percentage of these 1.2M businesses into this “new” CRM tool — allowing them to monetize existing customers further down the funnel.
Even just a 10% crossover rate (120K customers) would increase HubSpot’s existing customer base by nearly +50% — making the acquisition pay for itself over a few short years.
If you enjoy this type of in-depth analysis, consider upgrading your subscription below.
Paramount Global (PARA) Considers Buying Skydance
Paramount Global is in talks to purchase independent studio Skydance Media in an all-stock transaction valued at ~$5 billion. Separately — Skydance's involvement could also provide Paramount with much-needed cash infusion to address its debt and bolster its technology initiatives.
Members of Paramount's board agreed to enter into exclusive merger talks with Skydance Media, favoring the independent studio over a $26 billion offer from private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Password-Sharing Crackdowns Continue
Starting in June, Disney+ will enforce stricter measures against password-sharing — aiming to drive subscriber growth and profitability. CEO Bob Iger also highlighted the need for industry consolidation and expressed Disney's goal of achieving double-digit margins in the streaming business.
This announcement follows Netflix's success with a similar crackdown, which significantly boosted its subscriber numbers in 2023.
Iger's remarks came shortly after Disney investors supported him and the company's directors in a proxy battle against activist investors critical of Disney's performance in the streaming era.
Major Economic Events:
Inflation is not expected to improve much from the month before, Fed meeting minutes are unveiled, and more.
Monday (4/8): N/A
Tuesday (4/9): NFIB Optimism Index
Wednesday (4/10): Boston Fed President Susan Collins Speaks, Consumer Price Index, Core CPI, Minutes of Fed’s March FOMC Meeting, Monthly US Federal Budget, Wholesale Inventories
Thursday (4/11): Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic Speaks, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee Speaks, Core PPI, Initial Jobless Claims, Producer Price Index
Friday (4/12): Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic Speaks, Consumer Sentiment (prelim), Import Price Index, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly Speaks
What We’re Watching:
March’s inflation for consumers gets an update this Wednesday — with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report set to be released.
March's inflation for producers gets an update this Thursday — with the Producer Price Index (PPI) report set to be released.
If you’re starting your investing journey or are interested in buying T-bills yielding 5% or more, consider visiting Public.com.
If you want to check out the full episode list of the Rich Habits podcast, click here.
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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