👀 Meta spilled the beans

Meta revealed its first-quarter results | Gucci-owner Kering's results weren't front-cover material | [Finimize](   TOGETHER WITH     Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for April 25th in 3:16 minutes.   🎧 Many have tried and failed to scale a fintech brand – but Dan Hegarty has successfully done it not once, but twice. So tune into [the latest episode of our Generation Podcast](, and find out why the two-time startup founder believes in taking creative risks, even when they're uncomfortable. [Listen here]( Today's big stories - Meta reported strong results, but its weaker-than-usual forecast had investors feeling let down - The sticky-inflation investing moves you can make now – [Read Now]( - Gucci-owner Kering warned investors that profit will probably come in worse than predicted Metadata [Metadata] What’s going on here? Meta was the first of tech’s “trillion-dollar club” to report results from last quarter, and it quickly demonstrated just how hard investors are to please. What does this mean? Investors had high hopes for Meta. They’d sent the share price up 40% this year and 130% over the past 12 months – impressed by the company getting over its advertising slump, cutting costs, and updating its share buyback and dividend schemes. Facebook’s parent mostly delivered: its earnings beat expectations, with profit more than doubling from a year earlier. Sales were better than expected, too, rising 27% from the same time last year and pushing the rate of revenue growth up for the fifth straight quarter. But a weaker-than-usual revenue forecast for the current quarter and higher expected costs were a downer, sending the stock initially plunging more than 10%. Why should I care? For markets: Meta did it better. While some tech companies – ahem, Apple – are drag-and-dropping little AI enhancements into their products, Meta released the third version of its Llama system last week. The open-source large language model is set to compete with the likes of ChatGPT, but it’s costing Meta more than a few pretty pennies – and that’s understandably making investors nervous. That said, the company believes the tech will prove its worth by making users more engaged, scraping their behavioral data, and eventually paving the way for fresh monetization strategies. The bigger picture: What to expect when you’re expecting success. The world’s biggest tech companies have solid track records of growing profit. That doesn’t just translate into high valuations and stock prices, but also extremely elevated expectations. So now, it’s increasingly hard for them to impress investors – as Netflix experienced too when its stock fell 9% despite unveiling relatively positive results last week. Warren Buffett’s words of wisdom might ring true, then: if an investor trusts a company’s fundamentals, he believes they should ignore the short-term bumps and trust the process. You might also like: [How to pick stocks with compounding power](. Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Metadata&utm_campaign=daily-global-25-04-2024&utm_source=email) Analyst Take Three Portfolio Steps To Take While You Wait For Inflation To Fall [Three Portfolio Steps To Take While You Wait For Inflation To Fall]( The surprising stubbornness of [US inflation]( is raising new doubts about when – and whether – the Federal Reserve might start to lower interest rates. The situation has been reshaping the outlook for markets and that should send you a message: don’t just sit there. When the economic climate shifts, it’s time to check that you’re taking the right actions – or perhaps more importantly, swerving anything harmful. That’s today’s Insight: [three sticky-inflation investing moves you can make now](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY VANTAGEPOINT The eclipse is over. Now it’s time for supernovas. [A supernova]( isn’t just a dying star. It’s not just the hit song, featuring Kanye West, that took over iTunes back in 2009, either. A “[stock option supernova](” is, according to VantagePoint, a stock that is just about to explode into something special, but is still resting under the radar – for now. [VantagePoint]( has a track record of finding these soon-to-be stars, and the company clearly believes that sharing is caring. Check out the live trading event to discover the three stock “supernovas”. [Find Out More]( *This content is for US investors only. When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. If you want your brand featured here, [get in touch.]( Rouse Of Gucci [Rouse Of Gucci] What’s going on here? Gucci-owner Kering announced that profit will fall more than analysts expected, as it desperately tries to scrub up its star brand’s démodé image. What does this mean? Kering already warned investors about Gucci’s slow sales last month. But last night, the French luxury group issued a drastic profit warning. Kering now expects profit from the first half of the year to fall around 40 to 45% from the same time last year, even worse than the 24 to 30% that analysts predicted. That’s partly because Gucci’s sales from the first quarter fell 18% compared to the year before. And because Gucci brings in around half of the group’s sales and two-thirds of its profit, that overruled more stable results from Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, bringing Kering’s total sales down 10%. Investors heeded the warning, sending Kering’s stock down by 7% after the news. Why should I care? Zooming in: Gucci needs a style check. Kering hasn’t lost its fashion sense: aware that Gucci’s not-quite-affordable, not-quite-top-end designs aren’t pulling in shoppers like they used to, the group has called for a makeover. In fact, the new creative designer’s first collection started rolling out in February. Problem is, it takes a lot of time and money to refresh a brand, and there’s always the chance that Gucci has simply become passé. The bigger picture: Kering missed the dress code memo. Shoppers clearly still have a penchant for luxury. LVMH – one of Kering’s biggest rivals – pulled sales up by 3% over the past year, and Hermès is expected to reveal double-digit growth. Some may argue, then, that Kering’s decline offers investors a chance to buy into a seemingly stable industry for less than they’d usually pay. Mind you, whether or not that pays off may hinge on Gucci’s rebrand – and that’s hard to judge unless you have Fashion Week regulars on speed dial. You might also like: [The differences between a hot stock and a not-so-hot stock in retail and luxury.]( Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Rouse Of Gucci&utm_campaign=daily-global-25-04-2024&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day "I believe only in art and failure." – Jane Rule (a Canadian-American writer) [Tweet this]( How to invest in crypto [Cryptocurrencies]( are increasingly becoming a part of mainstream finance and traditional portfolios. The digital assets have been easier to ignore in the past, though, so plenty of investors haven’t spent the time getting to grips with [the fundamentals of crypto investing](. But now that bitcoin spot ETFs have made it simpler to invest in the digital realm, it’s prime time to wrap your head around the complexities that come with crypto. So we’ve teamed up with [Grayscale]( – the world’s biggest crypto asset manager with over a decade of experience in related investment funds – to break down everything you need to know before you start investing in crypto. The guide will walk you through the ideal role crypto could play in your portfolio, the different ways you can invest in digital assets, and why you’d even want to take the plunge. So [check out our free guide with Grayscale](, and take the complicated out of crypto. [Read The Free Guide]( 🎯 On Our Radar 1. Reduce, reuse, recycle. We can’t get rid of carbon waste, but we can [use it to help the planet](. 2. Bitcoin's highs have come with some serious lows. [Find out how to invest in crypto]( without the emotional rollercoaster.* 3. Black eyes and burst blood vessels. There’s a few reasons why [Apple’s Vision Pro headsets]( are stuck in the storerooms. 4. Gyms, restaurants, car dealerships. [Celebrities and the ultra-wealthy have been investing in franchises]( for years, and now you can too.* 5. Deep into the Amazon. The [ecommerce titan has as many criticisms]( as next-day delivery products. 🌍 Finimize Live 🤩 Grab your tickets... 🚀 [2024 Modern Investor Summit](: 2pm UK time, December 3rd ❤️ Share with a friend Thanks for reading {NAME}. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend. You stay classy, {NAME} 😉 We’d love to hear your thoughts. [Give feedback]( Want to advertise with us too? [Get in touch]( Image Credits: Image credits: dall-e | dall-e Preferences: [Update your email]( or [change preferences]( [View in browser]( [Unsubscribe]( from all Finimize Emails 😴 Crafted by Finimize Ltd. | 280 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4AG All content provided by Finimize Ltd. is for informational and educational purposes only and is not meant to represent trade or investment recommendations. You signed up to this mailing list at finimize.com or through one of our partners. © Finimize 2021 [View Online](