📺 Walmart’s $2.3B TV

…and airlines hike their luggage fees   (Chartr x Snacks)   [Sponsored by]( Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 38,564 (-0.17%) S&P 500 4,976 (-0.60%) Nasdaq 15,631 (-0.92%) Bitcoin $52,194 (+0.79%) Dow Jones 38,564 (-0.17%) S&P 500 4,976 (-0.60%) Nasdaq 15,631 (-0.92%) Bitcoin $52,194 (+0.79%) Hey Snackers, Music producers are “[speedrunning]( the duplication of popular tracks using software. Beat-fluencer “Zestro” recreated the beat for Playboi Carti’s rap hit “Magnolia” in less time than it’ll take you to read this intro: five seconds. Tech stocks led declines yesterday as some investors sold off [Nvidia]( shares ahead of the chip titan’s earnings today. Also today: the Fed will share its January meeting minutes — not exactly the next Colleen Hoover novel, but investors will pore through it nonetheless. 👋 Meet Chartr! The snazzy chart in today’s Snacks is courtesy of the newsletter [Chartr]( which we are thrilled to welcome to the Sherwood Media family. For more of Chart’s data-driven stories, subscribe [here](. Channel Walmart agrees to buy TV maker Vizio for $2.3B as retailers lean on ads to boost profits Clear aisles, full carts… [Walmart]( stock rose yesterday after America’s largest retailer reported expectation-beating sales growth for the holiday quarter (ecomm revenue alone surpassed $100B). US same-store sales grew 4% as shoppers flocked to the grocery go-to. But profit fell 12% as folks pulled back on discretionary splurges like air fryers and laptops. Groceries make up over half of Walmart’s sales, but peas and carrots are low-margin items. - Confirmed: Walmart also [announced]( plans to buy smart TV maker [Vizio]( for $2.3B in cash, hoping to turn viewership into ad dollars. Vizio stock surged 16% yesterday. - Stream on: Vizio TVs offer free ad-supported channels and have racked up 18M+ accounts. Walmart hopes those eyeballs will boost its own $2.7B/year ad biz, which saw sales jump 22% last quarter. The prime effect… Walmart’s Vizio deal could be an attempt to compete with [Amazon]( which earned a whopping ~$47B from ads last year (more than YouTube’s annual ad biz revenue). Retailers are turning to smart TVs (which, fyi, can collect viewing data) to grow their targeted ad businesses: last month, Amazon partnered with [Panasonic]( on a new line of smart TVs equipped with its ad-based Fire TV. In April, [Instacart]( teamed up with dongle icon [Roku]( to see if customers bought a product after viewing a TV ad for it. [Kroger]( used its grocery shopping data to test targeted ads on [Disney]( Hulu (picture: Pepsi promos for frequent soda buyers). THE TAKEAWAY Low-margin businesses seek profitable bets… Grocery giants aren’t known for thick profit margins. What they do have: a treasure trove of customer shopping data, like your gluten-free tortilla habit. Now, they’re using those insights to get into the high-margin ad biz. Retailers have a leg up over ad giants like Meta and Google since people come to them with the intention of shopping. That’s why advertisers are moving billions in spending to retailers. Sponsored by Masterworks Locking in 5% risks missing out on potential 17.6%, 17.8%, and 21.5%* Thanks to last year’s interest rate hikes, investors can finally get rewarded for parking their excess cash. But for those who are really looking to put their money to work, there’s something else you’ll want to consider: opportunity. Like the opportunity to invest with [Masterworks]( an award-winning platform for investing in blue-chip art. So far, each of its 20 exits have delivered a profit, and [Masterworks investors have realized median returns of 17.6%, 17.8%, and 21.5%*]( (respectively) among assets held for longer than one year. With a track record like that, Masterworks’ offerings can sell out quickly. However, Snacks readers can [skip the waitlist to join and claim their free account, with this exclusive link](. Tagged American Airlines raises its bag fees as airline charges continue to creep higher Refreshing TikTok packing hacks… Bad news for your vacation outfit plans: [American Airlines]( is [hiking]( its fee to check a bag at the airport by 33% to $40 for domestic flights. Airlines tend to follow the leader with bag charges, and American’s move follows similar hikes this year by [Alaska]( and [JetBlue](. The rise of the much-hated fees has resulted in some creative solutions, like shoving pants into travel pillows or donning fishing vests bulging with electronics. - Cash in cargo: Airlines made $33B+ from luggage fees (think: checked bags, overweight charges) globally last year, a 15% spike from 2022. Luggage made up about 4% of total airline annual revenue. - Turbulent: Thanks to surging airfare prices, most airlines haven’t raised luggage fees for years (American said it last hiked its checked bag charge in 2018). Airfares are expected to be cheaper this year as the travel boom cools, sending fees to the runway. At least ice is still free… The aviation industry made $118B last year from “ancillary” offerings like premium seats, checked bags, and on-flight cheese boxes — an 8% increase from 2019’s record. At the same time, carriers like Delta have become less generous with frequent flier perks like airport lounges and status points. The extra charges have attracted the attention of the Biden admin as it battles junk fees: the Department of Transportation is expected to release a final version of new transparency rules around airline fees next month. THE TAKEAWAY Fees keep customers loyal… For airlines, fees aren’t just direct money-makers. They also steer fliers toward their loyalty programs and lucrative credit cards (most major US airlines offer complimentary checked bags to their card holders). That’s paying off: Delta’s loyalty revenue grew 22% last year as consumers charged nearly 1% of total US GDP to Delta’s American Express cards alone. What else we're Snackin' - [TurfWar]( Sports streamer FuboTV is suing Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery following the trio’s announcement of a joint live-sports platform. Fubo cited “extreme suppression of competition” in its suit. - [IOU]( Two of America’s largest credit card issuers are shackin’ up. Capital One agreed to buy Discover Financial Services for $35B. If the deal goes through, it would create the US’s largest credit card co by loan volume. - [MadeInUSA]( The US gov’t awarded chipmaker GlobalFoundries $1.5B for US semiconductor production. It’s the first major grant from Congress’s $39B fund (approved in 2022) to reduce reliance on Chinese chips. - [HostusMostus]( HBO is making “Last Week Tonight” more like “Last Week Last Week” by delaying YouTube uploads of the popular show by four days. It’s a push to get John Oliver fans to sign up for HBO’s streamer, Max. - [WarpPipe]( Nintendo shares fell as much as 9% after reports that the Switch 2 may be delayed til early 2025, missing the crucial holiday season. The seven-year-old Switch has far outsold the latest PlayStation and Xbox. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day Attendees of 1 in 4 higher education programs earn less than high school grads [Read more]( Wednesday - Earnings expected from Nvidia, Rivian, Etsy, Lucid, and Marathon Oil Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Delta, Disney, Google, Nvidia, Roku, Snap, and Walmart *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 at [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... [See more]( [Sherwood Terms and Conditions]( • [Our Editorial Principles]( • [Contact Us](mailto:hellosnacks@sherwoodmedia.com) • [Privacy Policy]( • [Advertise with us](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com) [Unsubscribe](