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| Hello Insiders!! Today’s Business newsletter covers: - 🚗 Drive-thrus faster as fewer cars wait
- 🌍 Nestle: Global food consumption down
- 🚚 Rivian EV deliveries beat expectations
If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Make sure to continue reading for the Quarterly Earnings Report and the Quick Hits. Thank you!! Shriram
p/Shriram | |
| 1 | | According to an annual study by Intouch Insight, fast-food drive-thru lanes have sped up significantly as customer demand for this service has declined. This year, the average time spent in a drive-thru lane was reduced by 29 seconds, with order placement wait times being 25 seconds shorter and the average number of cars in line to order dropping from 2.76 to 1.27. More: - The three restaurants with the quickest drive-through times were Taco Bell, KFC, and Carl's Jr.
- Despite advancements, drive-through times this year still lag behind 2019 by 15 seconds.
- Online ordering and self-ordering kiosks in restaurants are now popular with customers.
- Several restaurant chains, including McDonald's and Chick-fil-A, are testing artificial intelligence (AI) software and increasing the number of drive-thrus to improve service even more quickly and cut down on errors.
- Intouch Insight conducted the study based on visits to roughly 1,500 locations of well-known fast-food franchises.
Q: What factors do you think are contributing to the decline in customer demand for drive-thru services? Join the conversation here. |     | |
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What the numbers say: The price of Nestle's shares dropped 1.2% on Thursday, and they have dropped almost 4% so far this year. Despite not significantly raising prices since April, the company's volume sales have declined due to the decline in global food and beverage consumption since the year's beginning. Relevance: In recent quarters, consumer goods companies have depended on price hikes to fuel sales growth. Nestle's cautious perspective reflects probable changes in consumer behavior, such as decreased consumption and altered eating patterns. More data: Although US consumers are resilient, the loss of pandemic support impacts expenditure. Although Nestle's China recovery is taking longer than anticipated, optimism for the European market, particularly regarding energy access, persists. By 2030, the business hopes to increase sales of healthy products by $27B. It also plans to review its share buyback program and examine acquisitions that might raise earnings. To protect EPS and include earnings in the financial statements, Nestle also retains a slightly higher than 20% holding in L'Oreal SA. | | | |
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| 3 | | Rivian Automotive exceeded expectations with its electric vehicle (EV) deliveries in the third quarter, shipping 15,564 vehicles, marking a 23% rise from the second quarter. During the same period, the company manufactured 16,304 vehicles at its Illinois facility, and as of June 30, it held $10.2B in cash. More: - The company is still scheduled to build 52,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in 2023, including Amazon delivery vans, the R1T truck, and the R1S SUV.
- Rivian implemented cost-cutting measures earlier in the year, including a 6% personnel reduction in February and the sale of convertible notes worth $1.3B in March.
- The debut of its more compact R2 car platform was postponed from 2025 to 2026.
- On Nov. 7, the business will release its third-quarter profit figures.
- On Monday, shares fell more than 2% for the day.
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| 4 | | Taco Bell will offer $1.49 breakfast tacos with egg and cheese and optional bacon, sausage, or potato for a limited time. Taco Bell is making this change as part of its strategy to take on fast food giants like McDonald's and Wendy's, and a campaign featuring comedian Pete Davidson apologizing for past breakfast menu issues resulted in a 9% increase in breakfast sales. More: - Taco Bell only makes 6% of its revenue from breakfast, but McDonald's makes roughly 25%.
- According to recent research from the NPD Group, breakfast is crucial because lunch and dinner sales were down owing to higher menu pricing, but morning sales stayed stable.
- In honor of National Taco Day, Taco Bell is returning its Taco Lover's Pass membership program for two days, where customers buy a pass for $10 and receive one free taco for the next month.
- The promotion necessitates enrollment in Taco Bell's digital rewards program, which boosts order volumes and offers valuable information for targeted marketing.
Zoom Out: - In the last earnings call, Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, said it seeks to increase digital sales through exclusives, with loyalty program members spending 35% more.
- As of August, digital orders amounted to nearly half of Taco Bell's global sales, totaling $7B.
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| 6 | | Instant Brands, known for products like the Instant Pot cooker, has chosen Centre Lane Partners as the top bidder in its bankruptcy auction, with Centre Lane offering $350.8M for Instant Brands' housewares and appliance segments. The sale is awaiting approval from the Houston bankruptcy court following Centre Lane's increased bid of $122.6M for the appliances business, surpassing Conair's final offer of $129M. More: - Conair, a provider of personal care and kitchen appliances owned by American Securities, made a $125M offer for the appliances business.
- In June, Instant Brands declared bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and listed assets and liabilities totaling more than $500M.
- Due to stricter credit requirements, higher interest rates, and a reliance on the Instant Pot product, which witnessed lower sales during the pandemic, the company experienced cash issues.
- In 2019, Cornell Capital bought Instant Brands and combined it with kitchenware manufacturer Corelle Brands.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - It's been 150 years since the last great leap in engine technology. Invest in LiquidPiston to be part of the next one.*
- Lordstown Motors, a troubled EV startup, proposes to sell its assets to its former CEO after filing for bankruptcy in June due to its failure to introduce its first truck model.
- A film based on Beyonce's "Renaissance World Tour" will be distributed worldwide by an AMC Entertainment unit, leading to a 4.8% rise in AMC shares, peaking at $8.37 before settling at $8.
- The Biden administration's proposal to increase fuel economy standards until 2032 could result in $6.5B in fines for General Motors and $3B for Stellantis, per Reuters.
- Sphere Entertainment's shares surged 11% on Monday following the successful opening of its new Las Vegas venue, which hosted a performance by U2 and plans to host live concerts and sporting events.
- Even the best engineers can run into challenges. Straight from the cloud experts at DoiT, here are 5 core strategies for cloud innovation*
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Term of the Day Large language models: Large language models (LLMs) are a statistical method that helps predict the following outcome in a given sequence of input. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
INSIDE BUSINESS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Freelance Writer | | Shriram is pursuing Master’s in Business with Marketing at Warwick Business School. He worked as a Senior Consultant in Tech and Political Consultancies before his Masters. He is passionate about Tech, Marketing, Strategy, Anthropology and Politics. He is also the Postgraduate Ambassador for Warwick Business School. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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