Thursday, February 17, 2022
1. There seems to be a shift in consumer demands. Specifically, how the consumer is choosing to curate their meal experience (on the go/at home vs in store). You can see this in a couple of different reports this week. First, though they had big miss this quarter, Wingstop CEO stated that digital sales in Q4 represented over 61%. In addition, future stores will be smaller with fewer in-dining seats and digital sales estimated to account for over 70% of sales. Second, DoorDash’s stock is soaring high on this morning’s revenue beat (….actually missed earnings) along with higher than expected forecast for the next quarter. Up 17% at one point this morning (up 12% as of this writing) as they may have just proven their critics wrong…..maybe they aren’t just another Pandemic era stock. And maybe there actually is some sustainable demand for food delivery amidst a competitive market.
2. And since I mentioned wings, let me ask my all wingmen/wingwomen (see what I did there?) a very intimate question (this is our 7th published thingy so yes…I feel like we’re at the intimate question stage)…..when it comes to chicken wings are you Team Bone-in or Team Boneless? I’ve had many deep discussions and debates on this topic with several people in my life. I’ve lost friendships over this topic. But a person must still stand up for what they believe in. Two important factors for my decision are 1) cleanliness is next to godliness and 2) I used to wear contacts. So naturally…. #TeamBoneless #micdrop
3. When I was in university, I had a roommate who was a Russian foreign exchange student. I would spend hours a week teaching him about the American way, social norms and all of the lessons I had gathered from Rocky Balboa…..heavy emphasis on Rocky IV. He schooled me in the ways of his motherland including all the good, bad and ugly. It turned out to be a match made in heaven. I vividly remember the day he came sprinting back into the apartment out of breath with excitement saying…… “You will not believe what I found out!! Wal-Mart will refund anything you have purchased….even after it’s been opened!!!” That was the beginning of lower profits for Walmart in our small college town. But Walmart has found a way to overcome those headwinds all these years later by topping their earnings expectations that were released this morning. This was of particular interest to see how the American consumer’s habits may have been changing given the rise of inflation. Walmart is apparently a bellwether of inflation as it was able to outperform. They seem to be in a position of strength when it comes to discount conscious buyers. Will it continue in the quarters ahead? As always……time will tell.
4. The Daily Journal’s annual shareholders meeting yesterday was a success in my mind….filled with both golden nuggets and chicken nuggets. Here are some important things said by our great Grandpa Charlie (yes, 98 year old Charlie Munger) along with how I rank each comment from a golden/chicken nugget perspective.
- “We are never going back to a five-day work week in the office.” – Golden Nugget
- “Retail trading apps are creating speculative mess.” – Golden Nugget
- “Meme stock trading is like a drunken brawl.” – Golden Nugget
- “I would argue that venture capital is throwing too much money too fast, and there’s a considerable wretched excess in venture capital and other forms of private equity.” – Golden Nugget
- “I wish [crypto] would have been banned immediately. It’s like a venereal disease or something. I just regard it as beneath contempt.” – Chicken Nugget (so he hates crypto!!!)
- “The safe assumption for an investor is that over the next hundred years the [fiat] currency is going to zero.” – Golden Nugget (so he loves crypto!!!)
Deuces. ✌️