Black Swan Street Weekly Stock Market Summary (April. 15-April. 19 2024)

Welcome to Black Swan Street!

Welcome back to another edition of the best newsletter in the world: Black Swan Street!!

Let’s just dive straight into it:

• Netflix Profits Soar As Subscribers Grow🎥

• The Swan’s Selections🦢

• In Other News🗞️

• Next Week In The Stock Market🔮

• The Swan’s Story Of The Week🦢

Read time: 6 minutes

Netflix Profits Soar As Subscribers Grow 🎥

Background: Everyone thought it was the end for the streaming giant once Netflix began cracking down on password sharing. Users of the platform were so used to leaching off of friends or passing on their information to friends and family, but now the conglomerate was making us pay $6.99 to $22.99 a month to use the platform. Well, it looks like consumers gave in.

The result: Millions of new subscribers as Netflix, still the dominant player in the streaming world, added 9 million subscribers in the past three months, hitting a new record high of 269.9 million subscribers. The company also reported $9.37 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $5.28 for the first quarter.

These are big numbers.

The past: While the current subscriber additions topped Wall Street estimates, the company is still reeling from market reactions to its blowout fourth-quarter report when Netflix only added 13 million subscribers for the entire quarter. This led the company to announce its plans to stop sharing quarterly subscriber numbers in 2025.

Read more on how Netflix has reinvented itself.

Recommended Reading📚

Every Healthcare IT Startup Needs a CTO

You’ve got a brilliant concept for a software-based AI product—maybe even a prototype or MVP. Now, scaling your business requires expertise in navigating all the software engineering and AI challenges. At Ententee, we provide the necessary infrastructure to develop great healthcare software products—engineering, design, AI experts and CTO-level guidance—for your business to successfully launch and scale. If you have the vision for a new AI healthcare product, Ententee has the dream team to help!

The Swan’s Selections🦢

🚗Turbulent Times Ahead For Tesla: The EV maker has laid off more than 10% of their workforce in order to cut costs. This also includes the departure of two senior executives who have been with the company for 8 years and 18 years, respectively.

🏈Dude Perfect Receives $100 Million+ Investment: Popular YouTube channel Dude Perfect scores more than $100 million in investment from private investment firm Highmount Capital. This capital will support Dude Perfect’s new ventures to expand beyond the creator economy, including plans to open a retail store, launch a streaming platform, introduce more lines of toys and games, and open a $100 million theme park.

💸Mark Cuban Pays Record Amount of Taxes: Proud patriot Mark Cuban disclosed the heavy tax bill he received for 2023, publishing the nine-figure metric to X. This large tax payment comes after he sold a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $3.5 billion. Here is the impact of Cuban’s taxes to the US Government.

📈Amazon Pressured Ex-Trader Joe's Employee for Data: A newly released memoir details illegal abuse by Amazon. The conglomerate allegedly hired an ex-Trader Joe's employee to access company secrets and replicate products from the grocer. The Amazon private label department reportedly hounded and pressured the employee to obtain data on Trader Joe’s best-selling snacks and margins for each product that performed well for the store.

🐶New Luxury Airline Announced for Dogs: Bark Air announces that it is launching new luxury flights for dogs and their humans. The world's first jet service for dogs has been announced; however, the airline isn’t cheap. A one-way ticket will cost you $6k.

In Other News🗞

• AI may make IB analyst roles redundant (NYT)

• Credit card delinquency rates were the highest ever in Q4 (BBG)

• US large caps see biggest weekly outflow in 16 months (RT)

• Citigroup's wealth CIO David Bailin will leave after 15 years (BBG)

• US will to file an antitrust suit against Ticketmaster-parent Live Nation (WSJ)

• Powell dialed back expectations on rate cuts (WSJ)

• Planet Fitness named Colleen Keating as new CEO (CNBC)

• Samsung overtook as Apple as top phone maker (RT)

• Caitlin Clark's rookie contract is only $76k (WSJ)

• Jane Street made $4.4B in trading revenue in Q1 (FT)

• Boeing whistleblower said firm ignores safety concerns at Senate hearing (FT)

• Telegram expects to hit 1B users by next year (RT)

Next Week in the Stock Market🔮

Earnings Calendar Next Week:

Economic Calendar Next Week:

The Swan’s Story Of The Week🦢

Consumer Trend Shift To Comfort

From Uggs to work and Crocs to parties, Gen Z has apparently flipped the script on consumer trends.

The desire to wear comfortable clothes and shoes has not gone unnoticed by retailers as they have noticed a consumer trend shift from style to comfort.

It has become very apparent that Gen Z loves casual apparel and footwear and is driving once-stale brands, such as New Balance and Crocs, into the spotlight.

Not long ago, bulky shoes such as New Balance’s were considered “dad shoes” but have now become a fashion staple. Young consumers are prioritizing apparel and footwear that feels good to wear, embracing comfort over fashion and style.

This is causing mainstream brands such as Nike and Adidas, who are used to being market leaders, to race to catch up to rising stars like Deckers Outdoor, Crocs, Birkenstocks, and Sketchers, who are currently dominating the comfort wear market.

Read the breakdown (here)

The Wrap-Up🔄

🎊🎉 That’s it for this week 🎉🎊

Per the usual, let us know what you thought!!⬇️

Black Swan Street Review of the Week🖤