📦 Drone-delivery race

…and Disney eyes a Florida expansion   Primed for takeoff (Amazon)   Sponsored by Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 38,571 (-0.30%) S&P 500 5,283 (+0.11%) Nasdaq 16,829 (+0.56%) Bitcoin $69,069 (+1.97%) Dow Jones 38,571 (-0.30%) S&P 500 5,283 (+0.11%) Nasdaq 16,829 (+0.56%) Bitcoin $69,069 (+1.97%) Hey Snackers, Warren Buffett had the worst Monday scaries: yesterday morning a glitch made it seem like Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway had [plunged]( nearly 100%. FYI: They trade at about $630K a pop. The major US stock indexes closed mixed yesterday on a shaky first trading day of the month. Manufacturing data came in [weak]( raising some economic red flags. DRONE-IN The FAA greenlights Amazon drones for longer-distance delivery, as retailers bring speedy shipping to the skies Five-pack of TP… in 15 minutes. The FAA has [cleared]( Amazon’s drones to make longer-distance deliveries. Since 2020, Amazon’s drone-delivery biz (Prime Air) has had to follow an FAA rule requiring commercial drones to fly within range of the operator’s view. Amazon had made only 100 or so Prime Air deliveries as of May 2023. To scale up, it’s spent years working on Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) tech, which companies need to get FAA approval for if they want to fly drones beyond a pilot’s sight. It’s a safety thing: BVLOS helps drones avoid planes, helicopters, and even hot-air balloons. - Outta sight: Amazon plans to use its BVLOS approval to expand in College Station, Texas, where it’s been testing drone deliveries for items weighing under 5 pounds. - Top of mind: Amazon has an ambitious goal to drone-deliver 500M+ parcels to Prime customers by 2030. Drones could give it an edge in super-fast shipping as ecomm rivals encroach on Prime territory. - Down the line: It’s possible Amazon could license its BVLOS tech, as it did with its cashierless “Just Walk Out” tech. Deliveries lift off… Thousands of Americans have used drone deliveries for everything from prescription drugs and light bulbs to Chick-fil-A sandwiches. While Amazon builds its own drone tech, Walmart has teamed up with drone-delivery providers to cover more ground. In January, Walmart partnered with Zipline and Google's Wing (both of which have BVLOS approval) to expand its drone delivery to 75% of the Dallas-Fort Worth population. Now Walmart says it has the largest drone-delivery footprint of any US retailer. THE TAKEAWAY The skies can cover a lot of ground… The FAA is clearing the way for more drone deliveries as insatiable demand for speedy ecomm shipments clogs up roads, runs down infrastructure, and pollutes the environment. Last year UPS and Amazon needed 1.5M trucks a day to deliver 11B+ packages, most of which weighed under 5 pounds. From 2021 to 2022, global drone deliveries grew 80%+ to nearly 875K. While it’s still small potatoes, the market’s expected to cross $1B in the coming years. Sponsored by RYSE Less than 2 weeks left to invest in this emerging tech startup What if you’d invested in the biggest tech products as they launched into big-box retail? The Sharks from Shark Tank rejected an offer to buy 10% of Ring for $700,000. A decision they’d regret when Ring secured retail distribution and got acquired by Amazon for over $1 billion in 2018. Today, we can turn our attention to [RYSE]( the brand with the potential to follow a similar trajectory. The founder pitched on Canada’s version of Shark Tank, Dragons’ Den and [received two offers](. It seems the Dragons learned from the Sharks’ mistakes… Distribution deals with Best Buy contributed to Ring and Nest’s billion-dollar acquisitions, and RYSE is mirroring their playbook with its patented smart shade tech now sold in over 100 Best Buy stores. Do it like the Dragons. [Invest in RYSE before their offering closes next week](. A-HYUCK The Disney-DeSantis feud may end with a fifth Florida park as Mickey bets on castles It’s been a roller coaster… but it seems as if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney have tied up their two-year feud in a friendly bow. Florida’s tourism board is said to be working with Disney on a development [deal]( that would allow the company to invest $17B into Disney World over the next decade or two. If approved, it’d also allow Disney to have five major parks in the state (there are now four). It’s sparked rumors that Disney could be dreaming up a fifth Florida park to compete with rival Comcast’s Universal Orlando, which is opening a 750-acre “Epic Universe” 10 miles from Disney World next year. - Happily ever after: The Disney-DeSantis feud began in 2022 after Disney opposed Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. DeSantis took control of the company’s special tax district and even suggested possibly building a prison nearby. The two parties settled a lawsuit in March. - SPF futures: Disney’s been quiet about a rumored fifth Florida park, which would be its first new location in the Sunshine State since 1998. The last new park Mickey opened was the $5.5B Shanghai Disney Resort back in 2016. Magic = money… As Disney’s media biz struggles with cord-cutting and blockbuster [flops]( rides and resorts have kept the company chugging along. Its parks and experiences division brought in 70% of its operating income in its most recent fiscal year — compared to just 11% for streaming, TV, and movies. A decade ago, TV made up over half its operating income, while parks were just one-fifth. Disney tickets aren’t cheap, but the experiences biz saw strong growth last quarter. Disney World alone attracts 50M visitors a year. THE TAKEAWAY Fortify your castle… Everyone has a streaming service, but not everyone has a Space Mountain. That’s why Disney’s doubling down on its specialty: family pics with Donald Duck. As Comcast makes a similar bet with its $1B Epic Universe (complete with a Nintendo World), Disney’s bulking up its towers: it's pouring $60B into its experiences biz over the next decade. What else we're Snackin' - [AIRace]( A day after Nvidia debuted its next-gen AI chips, AMD followed suit with rival products, including PC-powering AI chips. Both Nvidia and AMD have said they plan to drop new AI tech every year. - [Memia]( GameStop spiked more than 30% yesterday after a Reddit account associated with Keith Gill (aka “Roaring Kitty”) posted a screenshot suggesting he owns $116M worth of the gaming company’s shares. - [Vax]( Merck and Moderna shared promising study results on their experimental skin-cancer vaccine. Moderna’s making new jabs (see: RSV vax) as demand wanes for its only commercially available product, its Covid shot. - [Wrapped]( Spotify’s hiking US prices again, bumping individual subs to $12 (a buck more than Apple Music). Spotify’s never turned an annual profit, and the stock popped after investors liked the sound of the plan. - [Grounded]( Boeing’s launch of its Starliner spacecraft was delayed on Saturday in the final minutes. The launch has been pushed for years while rival SpaceX has been flying NASA astronauts to space since 2020. Snack Fact Of the Day Dr Pepper is now tied with Pepsi as America’s No. 2 soda [Read more]( Tuesday - US job openings and labor turnover data for April - National Cheese Day in US - Earnings expected from Bath & Body Works, CrowdStrike, Ferguson, PVH, and Stitch Fix Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Disney, Moderna, Nvidia, Moderna, Reddit, and Walmart Advertiser's disclosures: This is a paid advertisement for RYSE's Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at: [( Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck. 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