🎡 Disney... Prime?

…and pet owners splurge on premium chow despite #flation [Disclosures](   Dreaming of Baby Yoda same-day delivery (Chukrut Budrul/Getty Images)   Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 31,656 (+0.46%) S&P 500 3,967 (+0.30%) Nasdaq 11,785 (-0.26%) Bitcoin $20,134 (+0.43%) Dow Jones 31,656 (+0.46%) S&P 500 3,967 (+0.30%) Nasdaq 11,785 (-0.26%) Bitcoin $20,134 (+0.43%) Hey Snackers, It’s no kitten, but it’s surprisingly cute: Wally, a [70-pound alligator]( is the cold-blooded pet who’s warming hearts as an emotional-support animal. Stocks ended yesterday barely changed while oil fell for the third straight day. Investors have eyes on today’s August jobs report. The labor market’s status is likely to inform the Fed’s next moves. Yoda Disney is reportedly exploring a Prime-style membership to cross-sell products and experiences (Yoda voice) “Sell more stuff, you will”… A new force is awakening in the [Disney](. Yesterday The Wall Street Journal [reported]( that the House of Mouse is exploring an [Amazon]( Prime-style membership (a Disney adult’s dream). It could give fans perks and discounts — and give Disney a new way to promote its offerings and boost loyalty. - Expanding (biz) empire: A membership program could tie together Disney’s streaming content (think: the new “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series), products (think: toy lightsabers), and experiences (think: “Star Wars” rides at Disneyworld). - Integrated experience: Disney+ is said to be building tech that lets viewers order products using in-show QR codes. So in the future subscribers could book a Disneyworld trip and buy members-only merch without peeling their eyes off Yoda bae. Membership mania… Disney isn’t the only one taking a page from the Prime playbook: titans like [Apple]( and [Walmart]( have launched subscription bundles in recent years to boost loyalty and sales. Memberships give companies tons of customer data, which helps them to strategically upsell. - Powerful perks: Earlier this month Walmart said it would add [Paramount+]( streaming to sweeten the deal for its $98/year Walmart+ membership program. - Subs for all: Disney already has a membership for superfans ($100-$130/year). But the new program would target more casual customers. THE TAKEAWAY Memberships are peak “flywheel”... Disney CEO Bob Chapek has said he wants to use his company’s “franchise flywheel” to unlock fresh ways to cross-sell products. Translation: make fan-favorite franchises like “Star Wars,” “Toy Story,” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe even more lucrative by converting fans into loyal subscribers — and generate greater consistent monthly revenue. Furflation Petco and Chewy say consumers aren’t trading down on fancy pet food, despite ’flation Kroger canned peas for your uncle... grass-fed lamb and organic sweet-potato kibble for Fluffy. Americans love pampering their pets, but we thought inflation would take that down a notch. While consumers have started trading down from name-brand groceries to generic labels for themselves (think: [Kroger]( bread vs. Nature’s Own), they're still feeding their pets premium chow: - [Petco]( and [Chewy]( said pet owners aren't trading down from fancy foods for their furry friends. Owners continue to pamper pets with increasingly human-ified foods. - Fancy Fido: Petco recently teamed up with Clif to make a version of its power bar for pets and [launched]( a line of frozen human-grade meals for dogs. - It’s the paws for me… Petco’s CEO said that Gen Z and millennial consumers are leading the growing demand for pet health and wellness products. Safeway frozen pizza for Paul… seared salmon for Princess. Petco’s CEO said consumers are increasingly seeking out “fresh, human-grade food for all members of the family” (we’d hope the human ones, at least). Still, both Petco and Chewy saw slowing demand for lucrative goodies like chew toys and leashes and bigger-ticket items like crates and beds. - Chewy stock fell Monday after it reported 13% year-over-year sales growth (lower than expected). It cut its sales outlook as consumers spent less on discretionary items. - Petco also lowered its annual forecast as #flation curbed spending on non-food goodies. THE TAKEAWAY Consumers hate skimping on dependents… Many would rather cut back on personal purchases than trade down on helpless little ones. It’s true for pets and (unsurprisingly) truer for babies. The global baby-care market is [expected]( to hit $59B by 2031, from $38B last year. And despite [Bed Bath & Beyond’s]( [slumping]( sales, last year its prized Buybuy Baby brand saw [20%]( growth. What else we're Snackin' - [Editter]( Yesterday [Twitter]( said it’s testing an edit button that will be released first to Blue subscribers ($5/month) and later to all users. The blue bird’s trying to diversify revenue with subscriber perks. - [Snag]( Chinese EV makers [Nio]( [Li Auto]( and [Xpeng]( saw their stock plunge yesterday. Li's and Xpeng's August deliveries were way down from July after China’s Covid's crackdown hurt supply. Nio reports next. - [Twitchy]( Gatorade's releasing a caffeinated energy drink dubbed Fast Twitch. Last month parent company [Pepsi]( invested $550M in rival bev [Celsius]( as the “functional beverage” market blasts off. - [Adflix]( [Netflix]( said it plans to charge brands top $ for space on its cheaper ad tier. The streamer's recently struggled to maintain paying customers, losing 1M subscribers in the second quarter. - [Thaw]( Yesterday crypto lender Celsius filed to begin returning some customer funds. The company, which at one point held $20B in user assets, [froze]( withdrawals in June and filed for bankruptcy in July. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day It's been more than 100 days since a US company raised over $25M in an IPO [Read more]( Friday - August employment numbers release Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Disney, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Twitter, and Walmart ID: 2408378 Robinhood Snacks newsletters 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. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. 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