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| Here's your daily business briefing. - ☕ Starbucks pushes sugary drinks to boost sales
- 🎁 Deep Dive: Kohl's holiday plans aim to revive sales
- 🏋️♂️ Planet Fitness soars on revenue boost
Make sure to continue reading the Quarterly Earnings Report and the Quick Hits. Thank you!! Shriram
p/Shriram | |
| 1 | | Starbucks reported an 8% sales increase at its long-standing North American stores due to higher-priced specialty beverages and customers spending more per visit. The coffee chain's custom drink options, boosted by social media, have contributed to its sales growth. More: - Starbucks is driving revenue growth by offering high-octane drinks inspired by customer and barista customizations, which leads to increased customer spending.
- Starbucks' overall revenue climbed 11% year over year in the fourth quarter to a record $9.4B, while its revenue grew 12% for the entire fiscal year to a record $36B.
- Starbucks aims to construct stores with various formats, such as drive-thru-only and delivery-only locations, and is also increasing the range of products it offers.
- By 2030, it plans to have 55,000 outlets worldwide.
- Along with expanding its tech ties with firms like Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, the corporation is also concentrating on growing its 75 million active digital rewards members — a goal it hopes to accomplish in the next five years.
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What the numbers say: For its most recent full fiscal year, Kohl's recorded net sales of $17.2B, a nearly 9% decrease from the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Due in part to a shortened fiscal year, Kohl's shares have dropped almost 17% this year, trailing the 12% increase in the S&P 500 and the consistent performance of the retail ETF XRT. The firm forecasts a 2% to 4% decline in full-year sales. Relevance: Kohl's is reinvigorating its brand by focusing on store aesthetics and product offerings to achieve sales growth in 2024, emphasizing home decor, pet, gifting, and beauty products. It also aims to capture a larger share of the home goods market due to Bed Bath & Beyond's decline and expand its pet merchandise offerings to tap into the pandemic-driven pet industry growth. More data: Kohl's is reinvigorating its brand by focusing on store aesthetics and product offerings to achieve sales growth in 2024, emphasizing home decor, pet, gifting, and beauty products. It also aims to capture a larger share of the home goods market due to Bed Bath & Beyond's decline and expand its pet merchandise offerings to tap into the pandemic-driven pet industry growth. | | | |
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| 3 | | Planet Fitness exceeded expectations with Q3 earnings of $0.59 per share, driven by robust revenue of $277.6M, beating anticipated figures. The company also reported a profit of $39.1M or $0.46 a share, up from $26.9M, or $0.32 a share, YoY. More: - Planet Fitness reported substantial revenue growth, with a nearly 14% increase to $277.6M for the quarter, prompting the company to raise its full-year revenue growth outlook to 14%.
- Planet Fitness' stock soared more than 10% after outperforming expectations in Q3, and the company boosted its full-year outlook.
- After Chris Rondeau abruptly left the company in mid-September, the hunt for a new CEO is still on.
- To enhance store-level return models and franchise agreements, Planet Fitness is implementing strategic modifications, such as lowering franchise costs and prolonging the agreement time.
- The company hopes to maintain member growth even as it tests raising the price of its "Classic Membership" in more than 100 test markets.
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| 4 | | Semiconductor startup Changxin Xinqiao Memory Technologies Inc. secured $5.4B from government-backed investors, demonstrating China's dedication to technological self-reliance amid U.S. sanctions. The China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II, along with two other locally government-affiliated investors, contributed $2B to this round. More: - Changxin Memory Technologies is preparing an IPO in China that may value the business at over $14.5B, intending to compete with industry titans like Micron Technology Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.
- Despite being unable to obtain cutting-edge chip technologies from the U.S., China has been working on innovations in the semiconductor sector.
- China's primary long-term semiconductor financing entity, The Big Fund, expanded its investments this year, participating in funding rounds for over a dozen companies, including Changxin Xinqiao.
- Created in 2014 with $45B in capital, The Big Fund has supported several semiconductor firms, including those under U.S. sanctions, although it faced challenges due to a corruption probe.
Zoom Out: - Presidents Biden and Xi are set to meet in San Francisco next month, with discussions expected to involve economic aspirations, Taiwan, and Ukraine.
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| 6 | | Nestle has invested $100M in food-delivery startup Wonder Group, aiming to bolster its efforts to supply high-tech kitchen equipment and prepared ingredients to businesses like hotels, hospitals, and sports arenas. The strategic partnership is anticipated to enhance food quality, consistency, and revenue for operators in various out-of-home segments. More: - Marc Lore, the former head of Walmart's online business, formed Wonder Group in 2018, and at a prior fundraising round, the company was valued at about $3.5B.
- Primary food and beverage corporation Nestle will work with Wonder to create pasta and pizza specially designed for Wonder's kitchen appliances, which Nestle will then market to customers.
- Wonder Group is shifting from operating a fleet of mobile kitchens to opening brick-and-mortar kitchens with various menu items from various restaurants and chefs.
- The company wants to grow its network of outlets and turn into a "super app for mealtime," providing a range of options to suit the schedules, dietary requirements, and finances of its clients.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Upway offers discounted e-bikes from top brands with a one-year warranty and 14-day returns. Buy your e-bike by Nov. 9 for a chance to enter a giveaway and receive your money back.*
- The top U.S. consumer financial watchdog proposed regulating tech giants' digital payments and smartphone wallet services due to their scale and consumer protection deficiencies.
- UBS, which recently acquired Credit Suisse, reported a net loss of $785M, falling short of expectations and contrasting with a prior-year net profit of $1.73B.
- TikTok parent ByteDance's virtual reality division has announced restructuring and staff reductions, reflecting the VR market's downturn overshadowed by the AI boom.
- The IMF has revised China's expected economic growth to 5.4% this year, up from its previous forecast of 5%, reflecting a strong post-COVID recovery, but it foresees slower growth in the coming year.
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INSIDE BUSINESS LEADERBOARD (30 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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