🤼 Netflix-WWE tag team

…and companies cash in on clean-energy credits   Netflix and no chill (Matt Stone/Getty Images)   [Sponsored by]( Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 37,905 (-0.25%) S&P 500 4,865 (+0.29%) Nasdaq 15,426 (+0.43%) Bitcoin $39,439 (-0.21%) Dow Jones 37,905 (-0.25%) S&P 500 4,865 (+0.29%) Nasdaq 15,426 (+0.43%) Bitcoin $39,439 (-0.21%) Hey Snackers, The Halley’s comet of bugs is coming to America. This spring, two huge broods of cicadas will [emerge]( from the earth at the same time — something we last endured under President Thomas Jefferson. Expect 1T insects in what’s sure to be the buzzworthy event of the century. Speaking of broods: stocks were mixed yesterday as investors eyed earnings from companies like [GE]( [J&J]( and [3M](. US airlines traded higher in anticipation of this week’s reports, with [United]( leading the pack after its #s came in higher than expected. Netflexing Netflix headlocks in a $5B WWE deal with a mass-market move to gain subscribers Call him John Streama… [Netflix]( [clinched]( a $5B deal to become the exclusive home of the WWE weekly wrestling show “Raw,” along with WWE staples like “Smackdown” and “WrestleMania.” The deal is Netflix’s largest ever for live sports, giving it hours of live KOs for the next decade. The streaming leader is looking to lure wrestlemaniacs as it builds up its subscriber base, including for its new ad tier. - Payoff: Yesterday Netflix said it had gained a Q4 record of 13.1M subscribers, with its ad-supported plan making up 40% of new sign-ups (where it’s available). Sales grew 12% from a year earlier, though profit fell from the previous few quarters. From prestige films to piledrivers… On Monday Netflix parted ways with its film chief, Scott Stuber, who’d ramped up original film production — at one time putting out a movie a week, including from star directors like Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Greta Gerwig (Netflix even bought an iconic Hollywood theater to screen its films). Now that the streamer has shown its red-carpet chops, it appears to be focusing on mass-market content. - Awards ≠$$: While Oscar-winning flicks have had a mixed record at the box office, live sports commands high ad rates that streamers can use to squeeze extra $$ from ad plans (which are already more lucrative than ad-free plans). - Eyes on live: Peacock recently streamed an NFL game to an estimated 23M viewers (with NBC saying it was the most live-streamed event in US history). [Amazon]( paid $1B/year for NFL-streaming rights, while [Apple]( TV+ nabbed MLB and MLS games. THE TAKEAWAY Streamers proved their point… Netflix’s push into prestige films forced Hollywood to take it seriously, opening up a path for streamers to secure top talent (think: Sandra Bullock in “Bird Box”). But now with its cred secured (Netflix got the most Oscar noms of any studio in 2020, ’21, and ’22), it may be looking to grow its biz in more profitable arenas… or thunderdomes. Sponsored by Masterworks Which platform delivered millions to investors in 2023? [Masterworks]( just wrapped up another banner year, selling over $21.9M of paintings in 2023 and delivering the proceeds to investors. Talk about a Happy New Year… So, what did investors do with their cash? Charter a yacht in Ibiza? Finally close on that Alpaca farm? Maybe save a little? Naaah. Either way, Masterworks wants to do the same thing for you. All 20 of their exits have been profitable, and [Masterworks investors have realized median returns of 17.6%, 17.8%, 21.50%]( (respectively) among assets held longer than one year. To kick off the new year, Masterworks is inviting Snacks readers to open a free, no-obligation account today. Use [this exclusive link to skip the waitlist.*]( Cleaner A corporate spending spree for clean-energy tax credits could help fund renewable projects Ridin’ the green wave… More businesses are [cashing]( in on clean energy. Companies generate clean-energy tax credits by investing in renewable projects (think: solar panels, EVs). Credits can be used to lower a company’s tax bills, but eco-friendly cos that typically generate the most credits often aren’t usually profitable enough to fully benefit from the breaks. That’s why in 2022 the Inflation Reduction Act started letting companies transfer and sell their extra credits for a profit. Now a variety of companies, from big banks to energy powerhouses, are spending billions to snag the tax benefits. - [First Solar]( the largest US solar-panel maker, agreed to sell $700M (or 90% of its operating profit) worth of green credits to fintech giant [Fiserv]( in December. - Green-energy developer Arevon agreed to transfer nearly $200M in credits to [JPMorgan Chase](. FYI: once a company buys a credit, it can’t be resold. Clean-energy conundrum… ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing has trended up, but so has the cost of green-energy projects (blame high interest rates and inflation). Wind and solar developers have faced a harder time securing financing because they require high upfront costs. But some estimates suggest the IRA credit-sharing law could open a trillion-dollar floodgate for clean-energy investments. THE TAKEAWAY Sharing is caring… While clean-energy companies could save unused tax credits for years, they earn $$ upfront by selling them right away. Meanwhile, companies with massive tax bills (think: banks, big tech) can save while supporting eco-friendly projects. Clean-energy credit transfer deals have topped $7B since the IRA passed, and are expected to rise into the tens of billions this year. What else we're Snackin' - [Scrub]( Household-products behemoth [Procter & Gamble]( missed sales-growth estimates as consumers cut back on pricier brand names like Charmin TP, Tide detergent, and Downy softener. - [Scoop]( [Oatly]( shares jumped after the biz struck a deal to bring its oat milk to Carvel’s US ice creameries. Similar team-ups (like Impossible Foods and [Burger King]( have boosted plant-based products’ appeal. - [Baby]( Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $700M to settle an investigation by 40+ states into its marketing of talcum baby powder. Thousands of lawsuits (still ongoing) allege the product caused cancer. - [Grill]( United’s CEO said the airline would rethink its plans to use [Boeing]( new plane, the 737 Max 10. Boeing’s boss is set to be questioned by US senators this week after a midair blowout on a Max 9. - [GGS]( [Tencent]( “League of Legends” developer, Riot Games, cut 11% of its staff (530 workers) as gaming’s labor woes dragged on. A third of game devs were hit by layoffs last year as headcounts were slashed globally. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day With 1,203 victories, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer has the most college-basketball wins ever [Read more]( Wednesday - Earnings expected from AT&T, IBM, Ethan Allen, Progressive, Sallie Mae, and Tesla Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Apple, and Tesla *Advertiser’s disclosures: The content is not intended to provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Investing involves risk. “Net Annualized Return” refers to the annualized internal rate of return, or IRR, net of all fees and costs, to holders of Class A shares from the primary offering, calculated from the final closing date of such offering to the date the sale is consummated. A more detailed breakdown of the Net Annualized Return calculation for each issuer can be found in the respective Form 1-U for each exit. The three numbers above represent the ones closest to the median of the 12 exits with holding periods over 1 year. See important Reg A disclosures and aggregate advisory performance [masterworks.com/cd](. 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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