🍋 Lulu’s lemon year

…and “House of the Dragon” is a hit   (Sherwood)   Sponsored by Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 38,835 (+0.15%) S&P 500 5,487 (+0.25%) Nasdaq 17,862 (+0.03%) Bitcoin $65,191 (-1.94%) Dow Jones 38,835 (+0.15%) S&P 500 5,487 (+0.25%) Nasdaq 17,862 (+0.03%) Bitcoin $65,191 (-1.94%) Hey Snackers, Brands are using TikTok to market “facial fitness” gum to teen boys as a tool to create jawlines [chiseled enough]( to cut glass. Some teens hope to chew and “mew” their way into looking like Timothée Chalamet. The S&P 500 notched a fresh record on Tuesday as Nvidia [overtook]( Microsoft as the market’s MVPc (most valuable public company). The AI-generated tech boom has the “Buffett Indicator” (aka: the ratio between a country’s stock market cap and its GDP) [going wild]( lately. 💌 We’re moving! Please add hello@snacks.robinhood.com to your email contacts to ensure you never miss a Snacks newsletter (if you want to see how to add a contact, scroll to the end of this email). Stretched Lululemon’s US growth sours as athleisure rivals like Alo and Vuori make strides When life gives you Lululemons… Lululemon is one of the S&P 500’s [worst-performing]( stocks this year (down nearly 40%), and investors are worried that the downward dog trajectory could continue. The hot-yoga staple has been struggling with cold growth in North America, its largest market. This month, Lulu reported flat comparable sales growth in the “Americas” unit, which makes up over 70% of its quarterly revenue (though sales outside America grew 25%). The legging legend gave a weak forecast for this quarter as competition heats up at home. The Alo effect… Lulu was riding high during the pandemic as folks wore its comfy fits for at-home yoga, grocery runs, and work-from-couch sessions. It’s not that workout sets aren’t cool anymore — it’s that there are more cool workout sets. Lulu was the athleisure go-to for years, but now it has some sweat-worthy competition. Since the pandemic, prestige athleisure brands Alo and Vuori have made big gains in the space with #buttery matching sets, which often cost at least $150. - Alo gained trendy status as celebs like Taylor Swift and Hailey Bieber were photographed wearing its leggings. It has enlisted influential brand ambassadors including Kendall Jenner. - Vuori, which hit a $4B valuation after a $400M Softbank investment, made ads starring LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne and has had its men’s apparel sported by stars like Zac Efron. - Too close for comfort: A whopping [90%]( of Vuori stores and 84% of Alo stores operate within half a mile of a Lululemon location. Both are rapidly expanding their footprints. THE TAKEAWAY The middle is inflexible… Not only does Lulu face tough competition from pricey rivals, but it’s also [losing]( market share to dupes (think: $20 leggings you see on Amazon). It even hosted a dupe swap in LA, offering its Align High-Rise pants in exchange for cheaper copycats (hmm). With competition from both sides of the price spectrum, Lulu will have to find a way to regain its prestige advantage — or move downmarket. [Read this online]( Sponsored by RAD AI 📣 Round closing tomorrow: Add game-changing AI to your portfolio Attention investors… RAD AI is closing the current round today. Jump on board the RAD AI train before it closes… and the company gears up for a new phase of growth. The investor advantage: - Market: RAD AI capitalizes on the [$633B content and data industry]( revolution with their "award-winning” AI technology. - Brands: Clients like Hasbro, Skechers, Sweetgreen, and Ro saw up to 3.5X ROI with RAD AI. This is just one reason why RAD AI is beating their competition. - Scale: The company provides AI innovation for some of the leading marketing agencies in the world; over 15 of them work with RAD, and those relationships are growing exponentially. - Buyouts: RAD AI is aiming to acquire marketing agencies that can use its AI technology to deliver more value and differentiation for its clients. The company believes strategic buyouts, powered by RAD AI, will create significant shareholder value. Get in on “the” AI startup that is changing the game — [learn more here]( IRONTHRONE HBO hopes to fire up Max with “House of the Dragon” as streamers rely on hit shows The Greens are coming… and Warner Bros. Discovery hopes not just for Rhaenyra Targaryen. HBO Sunday nights are back: the second season of “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon” premiered on Max on June 16 to nearly 8M viewers — the streamer’s biggest day ever. Warner’s HBO could use a hit: it’s been a while since “Succession” or “The White Lotus,” and HBO has yet to recapture GoT’s success. Max has nearly 100M subscribers, but it’s still lagging Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. Back at HQ, Warner is looking to pay down a debt load of $43B, and its shares have slipped 40% this year after weak earnings. - Promo push: HBO social posts showing Targaryen banners digitally added to major landmarks including NYC’s Brooklyn Bridge went viral. HBO also draped an actual 270-foot inflatable dragon (Vhagar, IYKYK) around the Empire State Building. The tentpole TV era… One survey found that it’s not uncommon for Americans to subscribe to a streamer just to watch one show, and streaming cos have taken that to heart. Amazon reportedly spent ~$1B making its “The Lord of the Rings” spinoff, “The Rings of Power,” for Prime Video. It’s now its most-watched show with four more seasons planned. “Shōgun” has been a breakout hit for Disney’s Hulu, while Apple’s hyping season two of “Severance” for Apple TV+. Meanwhile, streamers are releasing shows in chunks to keep folks subbing (like Netflix splitting up “Bridgerton”). - Subscripturation: As subscription fatigue sets in, there were a record 50M+ subscription cancelations in the first quarter of this year ([see this chart](. THE TAKEAWAY One show doesn’t make a streamer… Subscribers that sign up for a streamer just to see one title may cancel after the finale. During its last earnings call, Warner’s CEO said that “churn is the killer in this business and we’ve been hyper focused on it.” One possible solution: combining forces through bundles. Warner’s teaming up with Disney to launch a Max, Disney+, and Hulu bundle. [Read this online]( What else we're Snackin' - [BNPL]( Apple’s ending its buy now, pay later service less than a year after it launched. Apple said it plans to use third-party BNPL lenders like Affirm to let banks offer the service through Apple Pay. - [Closed]( McDonald’s pulled the plug on its AI drive-thrus (picture: bots taking orders), which it had tested in partnership with IBM. Fast foodies have been trying to automate, but getting the tech right has been a tall order. - [Burn]( Philip Morris halted US sales on Zyn.com after its subsidiary received a subpoena related to whether the nicotine pouches comply with a 2022 ban on flavored tobacco. Zyn has gained popularity as smoke-free alts [soar](. - [Woof]( Nationwide Pet, the US’s largest pet insurer, said it’d cancel coverage for 100K fluffy friends as the cost of vet care spikes (up 8% YoY). Pet owners spent $38B on vet care and products last year, and about a quarter buy insurance. - [Layers]( The US gov’t sued Adobe over accusations that, according to FTC Chair Lina Khan, it made its software subscriptions “absurdly hard to cancel.” Adobe’s sub revenue is up 16x over the past decade. Snack Fact Of the Day On average, US teens spend nearly 5 hours/day on social media [Read more]( Thursday - Summer solstice for Northern Hemisphere - World Refugee Day - Earnings expected from Aurora Cannabis, Accenture, Kroger, Darden Restaurants, Jabil, and Winnebago Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Apple, Disney, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Warner Bros. Discovery 📧 How to add hello@snacks.robinhood.com to your email contacts: Gmail: - [Create a new contact]( for the email address hello@snacks.robinhood.com. Apple Mail: - Mobile: Tap and hold on hello@snacks.robinhood.com, then select Add to Contacts. - Desktop: Click hello@snacks.robinhood.com, which will open an email to us. Click on our email address, and select Add to Contacts. Outlook: - Select the People icon, then select "New contact". Enter the email address hello@snacks.robinhood.com, then select Create. Advertiser's disclosures: *INVESTMENTS IN PRIVATE PLACEMENTS ARE SPECULATIVE, POSSESS A HIGH LEVEL OF RISK, ARE HIGHLY ILLIQUID, AND THOSE INVESTORS WHO CANNOT HOLD AN INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE TERM SHOULD NOT INVEST. NO ASSURANCE CAN BE GIVEN THAT INVESTORS WILL RECEIVE A RETURN OF THEIR CAPITAL. PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW THE [TERMS OF THIS OFFERING]( INCLUDING FEES, RISKS, AND INVESTMENT DETAILS BEFORE INVESTING. Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... 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