👟 Happy Croc, sad dude

…and Reddit’s r/earnings get upvoted (Kellanova) These boots are made for somethin’   Yesterday's market moves Dow Jones 39,056 (+0.44%) S&P 500 5,188 (-0.00%) Nasdaq 16,303 (-0.18%) Bitcoin $61,467 (-1.36%) Dow Jones 39,056 (+0.44%) S&P 500 5,188 (-0.00%) Nasdaq 16,303 (-0.18%) Bitcoin $61,467 (-1.36%) Hey Snackers, Spies are worried about AI, while also wanting it to do their work (they’re just like us). [Microsoft]( [developed]( a genAI model for the US intelligence community that’s separate from the internet. Doesn’t mean the CIA won’t have to deal with hallucinations. Stocks were mixed yesterday, with investors [taking a step back]( after a four-day hot streak. Meantime, data showed that the rate at which consumers are falling into delinquency because of credit cards and auto loans is cooling.   CROCTACULAR [Hey Dude scuffs up Crocs’ shiny earnings as the ugly-shoe industry marches on]( Sport mode engaged… [Crocs]( comfortably [beat]( quarterly growth expectations this week, announcing it had sold 32M pairs of its holey kicks. The brand’s having a banner year: Crocs’ stock is up about 40%, and its recent Pringles [collab]( sold out almost instantly. But something is cramping its style: Hey Dude, the lightweight slip-on loafer brand that Crocs bought for $2.5B in 2022, is underperforming. Hey Dude sales fell 17% last quarter, and Crocs slashed the brand’s annual forecast, expecting revenue to decline up to 10%. - Hey Dude, don’t make Crocs bad… Hey Dudes, lacking the irony capital of Crocs, have been called tissue boxes, too large, bread-loaf-like, and even “relationship-threatening.” And they cost $40 to $75 a pair. - Take a sad clog and make it better… Aware of its slip-on snafu, Crocs last month rehired former chief marketing officer Terence Reilly (who’d left to help turn Stanley cups into a wrestling-in-Target-worthy sensation) to lead Hey Dude. Camp style… Aside from Hey Dude, Crocs earnings reflected strong loyalty among the Jibbitz-lovin’ public. Crocs-specific sales rose 15%, with international demand leading growth. Its success has spread across the industry as footwear companies capitalize on the ugly-fashion trend. [Birkenstock](’s revenue jumped 22% in its holiday quarter on strong US demand. Mschf’s $350 Big Red Boots sold out in seconds last year (and a Crocs collab version retailed for $450). And New Balance is releasing an already viral “snoafer” frankenshoe this summer. THE TAKEAWAY “Functional footwear” walks a fine line… between appealingly “dad shoe” and unironically uncool. The pandemic trend of comfy-is-cool has persisted, but like Hey Dude, not all comfort-first shoes see success. [Allbirds]( sales have [sagged]( for several quarters and its market cap has plunged from $4B+ at its 2021 IPO to about $100M.   UPVOTE [Reddit sets the tone for benchwarmers waiting to go public, in its first post-IPO earnings]( Good karma… [Reddit]( shares jumped after the social co reported surging user #s and revenue, the first time Reddit’s reported quarterly results since [going public]( in March. Daily users grew 37% annually to a record 83M, as Redditors browsed pages like r/birdswitharms. In between yoked bird pics, users saw ads: revenue grew 48% to $243M, with ad $$ accounting for the bulk of it. - You r/unprofitable: Reddit’s never turned a profit, and its quarterly loss widened to $575M from $61M last year (it cited IPO-related costs). High-intent users… Reddit’s pitch deck to advertisers is a bit different than that of its social-media peers (BTW: [Meta]( and [Snap]( also enjoyed growing ad sales last quarter). Instead of chatting with friends and browsing selfies, Reddit users visit hyper-specific pages like r/Mattress — which could be an appealing ad buy for a home-goods store. Reddit visits are so intentional that it’s become a quasi search platform as users add “Reddit” to the end of their [Google]( queries (picture: “best mattress reddit,” “weird bump on finger reddit”). Reddit doubled down on that symbiosis by cutting an AI-licensing deal with Google that could be worth $60M/year. - One downside: More than half of Reddit users aren’t [logged in]( (they’re “lurkers”), meaning Reddit and its advertisers could lose out on some engagement and data. THE TAKEAWAY Success is contagious… There’s a lot of pressure on little Snoo, Reddit’s alien mascot. Reddit was the first social platform to IPO since [Pinterest]( in 2019, and the 19-year-old company went public during a debut drought. Its share price has yet to dip below its $34 IPO price, and that success could inspire private companies on the bench to hit the public field. Dealmaking may already be [picking up](: 20 US companies went public in April, up from 12 in March.   LINKEDAI [The roles most likely to add AI to their résumé to stay relevant]( It seems like the people in the jobs most threatened by generative AI are also the most likely to add AI to their résumés. In the past six months, non-technical professionals have boosted their use of AI-focused LinkedIn Learning courses by 160%, a Microsoft report said. [Read more at Sherwood](.   What else we're Snackin' - [Pancaked](: Applebee’s and IHOP parent [Dine Brands]( said its profits petered out last quarter, with resto sales declining. The fast-casual slump isn’t unique to Dine as people with lower incomes cut back. - [WTFTX](: FTX said many customers will be fully reimbursed (thanks: recent market gains). The catch: they’ll receive the dollar amount that their crypto was worth at the time of the bankruptcy. FYI: [BTC]( has 3x’d since then. - [Surprise](: [Uber]( swung to a Q1 loss, despite growing ride and Eats demand (partly to blame: settlements and investments). Rival [Lyft](’s bookings and riders accelerated, sending shares up nearly 5%. - [ElectAI](: OpenAI joined a nonprofit setting standards for identifying digitally manipulated content like deepfakes. The issue could get thorny for genAI giants ahead of the US presidential election. - [Slipify](: [Shopify]( shares slid 19% — its worst one-day drop — after the ecomm colossus said it expects growth to cool as it competes with shopping stars Temu and Shein. Still, it had a strong Q1.   Snack Fact of the Day [Just 8% of large US companies with hybrid-work policies require employees to go to the office on Fridays](d   Thursday - Unemployment data - Peabody Awards winners announced - Blues Music Awards - Earnings expected from Warner Bros. Discovery, Six Flags, Warner Music Group, Dropbox, H&R Block, Roblox, US Foods, Hyatt, and Groupon Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and shares of: Alphabet, Microsoft, Reddit, Shopify, Snap, and Uber   [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [Sherwood Logo](sherwood.news) 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 Standards]( [Contact Us](mailto:hellosnacks@sherwood.news) [Advertise With Us](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com) [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy](