🐦 Elon goes shopping

…and Starbucks pivots to its employees [Disclosures](   Send tweet (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)   Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 34,922 (+0.30%) S&P 500 4,583 (+0.81%) Nasdaq 14,533 (+1.90%) Bitcoin $46,437 (+0.03%) Dow Jones 34,922 (+0.30%) S&P 500 4,583 (+0.81%) Nasdaq 14,533 (+1.90%) Bitcoin $46,437 (+0.03%) Hey Snackers, Move over, Lara Croft: Pompeii authorities have tapped a new main character to scrummage through the city’s ancient tombs. Meet [Spot]( a cute but terrifying robot dog from Boston Dynamics. Stocks [closed]( higher yesterday as tech rallied. [Twitter]( shares popped 27% for their best day ever. About that… RT Elon is now Twitter’s biggest shareholder, and the web’s “town square” could be in for an overhaul #ICYMI… Twitter’s favorite CEO-lebrity is now its biggest shareholder. Two weeks ago Elon Musk [asked]( his 80M followers whether Twitter was doing a good job supporting free speech: 70% of respondents said no. Yesterday an SEC filing [revealed]( that the [Tesla]( and SpaceX CEO had owned a big chunk of Twitter shares at the time of the poll. - Musk now owns over 9% of Twitter shares — quadruple that of cofounder Jack Dorsey. - Passive activist: Elon’s stake is less than a 10th, and he’s technically not an “activist” investor. But it doesn’t mean he can’t influence Twitter’s price. - Exhibit A: Twitter shares jumped nearly 30% on word of Elon’s purchase. Itchy Twitter finger… Elon has [called]( Twitter a “de facto public town square,” and he’s famously loud in that square: he [tweeted]( 3K+ times last year. In just the past month, he posted memes of ducks in police cars, “Lord of the Rings” quotes, and that poll about the future of free speech. But tweets have also landed the Technoking in hot water: - Tweet-trouble: The SEC accused Elon of [fraud]( in connection with breaking securities laws on Twitter (think: the infamous 420 [tweet]( which resulted in $20M penalties for both Elon and Tesla. THE TAKEAWAY Seats speak louder than tweets… The Tesla titan looks more interested in influencing Twitter than owning or profiting from it. As the world’s richest man, Elon could buy Twitter seven times over if he wanted. But since Twitter doesn’t have “supershares” that give founders voting control — unlike [Google]( [Meta]( and [Snap]( — some analysts are [speculating]( that Elon’s relatively small stake could lead to a seat on the board. Translation: Elon may have found a way to demand change at the platform he loves to hate even more loudly than before. Steam Schultz returns to Starbucks, suspending share buybacks in a pivot to focus on restless employees Don’t call it a comeback… Longtime [Starbucks]( CEO Howard Schultz is taking back the reins as (interim) chief exec this week — his third time in the gig — and he’s already brewing up big changes. First order of business: halting stock buybacks. (Flashback: former CEO Kevin Johnson [pledged]( $20B in new buybacks and dividends as recently as in October.) Starbucks posted [record]( sales last year as you splurged on venti chai lattes, but the world's largest coffee biz has been struggling with rising supply costs and overwhelmed, unhappy baristas: - Starbucks’ flagship Reserve Roastery in NYC just became the ninth location to unionize. Another 140 stores have filed for union recognition. - Starbucks has spent $1B over the past two years to boost employee wages and incentives — including a new starting wage of $17/hour — but some workers say it isn’t enough. A new era for unions… Starbucks isn't the only biz in the middle of a rising labor movement. Last week [Amazon]( lost a historic fight after NYC warehouse workers voted to form the company's first US union. A tight labor market has spurred demand for higher wages and stronger benefits, and brought union popularity to its [highest]( level since 1965. And it’s even gaining momentum in the famously union-averse food biz. THE TAKEAWAY There are three big ways to spend your spoils… when you’re a profitable public company: (1) give it back to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, (2) reinvest in the biz (think: acquisitions and salary hikes), or (3) pay down debt. Starbucks is moving away from an investor-first mentality to one more focused on workers — a sign the company sees the resurging labor movement as more than a passing trend. But it’s a risky time to pivot from a tried-and-true formula that makes investors happy: Starbucks shares are [down]( 20%+ so far this year. What else we're Snackin' - [Warning]( [JPMorgan’s]( Jamie Dimon wrote in his closely read annual shareholder letter that the global economy is facing an “unprecedented” moment, but said the American consumer is still in excellent shape. - [Tossed]( A judge struck down California’s law mandating diversity quotas for corporate boards, ruling it unconstitutional. CA could appeal, but the decision is a setback for its workplace-diversity efforts. - [Wheels]( [Ford’s]( sales dropped 17% last quarter, with its profit-puppy line of F-series pickups plummeting 31%. Like its rivals, Ford’s been dealing with a shortage of computer chips that still hasn’t let up. - [Windfall]( [Exxon]( said it expects high oil prices to boost quarterly profits by $2.3B. But the gas powerhouse could lose $4B on an abandoned drilling project in Russia. - [Stalled]( Two upcoming Will Smith projects have apparently been put on ice after his Oscars fiasco. [Netflix]( has reportedly moved the thriller “Fast and Loose” to the back burner, while [Sony]( is said to be pausing “Bad Boys 4.” 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. The Snacks Daily Podcast Part of the reason Shein is worth $100B: it knows you’re going to want a pair of zebra-patterned leggings before you do. [Tune in]( to hear how the fast-fashion empire is erasing the line between social media and ecommerce. Snack Fact Of the Day [White-collar workers are spending 250% more time in meetings than they were pre-pandemic]( Tuesday - Earnings expected from: Acuity Brands, Lindsay Corp., Greenbrier Companies, SMART Global Holdings Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Starbucks, Exxon, Twitter, Tesla, Snap, Netflix, Ford, and Google ID: 2111037 Robinhood Snacks newsletters and podcasts reflect the opinions of only the authors who are associated persons of Robinhood Financial LLC (Member [SIPC]( and do not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are for informational purposes only, and are not a recommendation of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any security, digital asset (cryptocurrency, etc) in any account. They are also not research reports and are not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. 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