The Best One Yet - “Apple should buy Warby Parker” — Walmart & Microsoft might adopt TikTok. Warby Parker hits $3B. Amazon’s 1st fitness gadget.

Episode Date: August 28, 2020

Since every company you know is trying to buy TikTok, an odd couple is trying to make it happen together: Walmart and Microsoft. Amazon is tired of looking at its Apple Watch, so it whipped up its first ever fitness gadget that has eyes and ears. And our “Unicorn of the Day” is Warby Parker, which we think would look really nice on Apple.$WMT $MSFT $AMZN $AAPLWant a shoutout on the pod? We got the form for Snackers to fill out right here:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is Snacks Daily. It is Friday, August 28th. Snackers, fires are still raging in northern California. We got ourselves a category for hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast. The entire NBA just made a bold statement in support of Black Lives Matter. Jack and I are putting together this pod and we're like lots of heaviness right now. That is not financial news. But it is our pleasure and our honor to still make this a tea boy before the weekend for you. The best one yet. We're thinking to you, Snackers. Jack, first story. What do we got for everyone? TikTok has more news than the rest of the market combined. Oh, and Disney's TikTok guy became CEO? Resigned. Oracle wants to buy half a company. But also, Walmart and Microsoft want to be the new mom and dad of TikTok. Yeah, we're going to focus on that part of the story. For our second story, Amazon just shocked everyone with a new product that makes Alexa look antisocial.

This halo thing straps to your body, judges your voice, and then demands you lose weight. Sounds fun. It's no joke about that. Third and final story, Jack. Nick, throw another horn on the uni. Jack, we got our unicorn of the day. Warby Parker just hit a fresh $3 billion valuation. Super clear. Now, Nick, before we hit those stories, it feels funny talking about this because it's like 92 degrees in both New York City and California.

One second, Jack, there's a third person in the room with us. It's humidity. But we just got a big update about the ski season, which is coming up as early as November. You know Jack and I track stocks, and Vail Resorts is the publicly traded company that gives you exposure to friends. freshies or ice cookies, depending on the conditions. Now, for some reason, this company's ticker symbol isn't ski. No. But it's also the least expensive part of skiing is Vail Resort's actual stock.

We're talking about a company that went full send downward when COVID hit in March as all resorts shut down aggressively. Right. So their business was in jeopardy with COVID, so they spent the entire summer coming up with the plan to how to reopen this fall. Well, Jack and I are proud to announce to you, skiing, it sounds like, is going to happen this winter with a few adjustments. Well, first of all, you literally have to wear a mask to ski.

The good thing here, a helmet plus a gator, plus a parka hood is like an N95 plus mask. Okay, the second rule, only two people are allowed per chairlift in all of their resorts is resorts. Mind the gap and lower the safety bar. No more awkward small talk, which is the one plus. Third, you need to make a reservation before you can even show up in the mountain. Uh-uh, no more Mount Snow got dumped on last night, so let's bomb on over to Dover, Jack. Now, you need to like make sure there's room because of distance. It feels a little more like Disney World now, not in a good way.

The fourth and final update we got for you, you can't dump the kids off at ski school this winter. Well, you can if you're one of the first six, but after that, you better get like a baby Bjorn backpack because you're putting the kiddo in the back. Guess what? Skiing got more expensive. That's the takeaway. Let's hit our three stories. You're tuned in the snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something legal out the way. The snacks about to hear rain food is air candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so you know. We're not recommending any securities. Nope.

It's not a research report or investment advice. Not an offer or sale of a security. Right. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member Fenra slash SIPC. For our first story, the same day that TikTok CEO resigned, Walmart confirmed it's trying to acquire TikTok.

That's right, Nick. Walmart plus Microsoft plus TikTok is a real thing. And it could take on Facebook and Amazon. All right. So first the news here we saw Snackers. Jack and I wake up and boom, CEO of TikTok, been on the job three months. Out, done. Not on LinkedIn anymore.

Boom. First thing we saw up, we're talking Kevin Meyer, who looks like an active NFL linebacker, by the way. Jack, we just say thighs like a Bronco. Kevin Meyer was at Disney for 27 years. He climbed all the way up to number two. So close. But then got passed over for the CEO job. And we're talking about the guy who's got a bad case of the,

I want to be CEO of a global tech syndrome. No vaccine for that, Jack. Yeah. So he took on the CEO job at TikTok. But now the Trump administration is forcing TikTok to sell away from its Chinese owner out of national security concerns. Myers's looking at this. His foot's itching. He's like, I'm a lame duck. What am I going to do? He's already moving on.

And he's one of those guys who's already rich because he's 27 years of Disney shares. And now he's just looking for a position with lots of power, which is not the lame duck CEO of TikTok. All right, so Jack and I were shocked. We called each other crazy news this morning, wild breakfast. After breakfast, things got kicked up a notch. Walmart says it's joining the TikTok sweepstakes.

Can we get an associate to check the price for TikTok? Because I think it's out of Walmart's price range. Price check aisle 5 TikTok by the salary. Now, Snagorees, as a reminder, the weekend that Trump threatened to ban TikTok in the United States, Microsoft immediately publicly acknowledged their interest in acquiring TikTok. So now Walmart wants to partner up with Microsoft in a joint bid because two is better than one apparently. Right. Walmart is in, and this isn't just some PFWTM thing.

Walmart confirmed yesterday they're interested in acquiring TikTok. And Walmart stock ended up jumping 5% yesterday because 100 million Americans use TikTok every single month. Yeah. Also, Walmart acquiring TikTok is just objectively exciting news. How could investors not push up the stock? Honestly, most exciting things since they made their tube socks 390. Now, Snackers, think about it. If Walmart controls TikTok a social media powerhouse and you add in Microsoft's big tech muscle, then they make TikTok an e-commerce power. Jack, what are you thinking on this visually? This is like Batman and Superman like shaking hands and agreeing to fight the Joker

together. A whole thing is brokered by Catwoman. It's like a beautiful image. Now, Instagram, Snackers, is already becoming an e-commerce giant. It's pretty much the digital shopping mall that we swipe through in our spare time every day. Tick-Tock is not, but could become the same thing, powered by Walmart. Right. Maybe Walmart makes it super easy to buy Walmart things just by tapping a TikTok TikTok. And Jack and I were just talking about the other day how they're launching a $98 a year Amazon Prime rival over at Walmart. I think it's called Walmart Plus. It's coming out soon. And maybe purchases that originate on TikTok through Walmart Plus, maybe they're 10% off. Maybe they're free shipping. Maybe they start paying you. But before you get too excited Snackers, we should point out

Oracle, like the random software company, is the other serious bidder for TikTok and a final decision is due next week. Maybe Oracle should call up Target and offer to be mother and father of TikTok, like Microsoft and Walmart. Sounds like the right combo. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at TikTok? This could kill two tech giants with one stone. Snaggers, Jack and I are rooting for Walmart and Microsoft to win the TikTok sweep steak. Say that 40 times. fast because it could be a huge win for competition. Two of the tech giants have effective monopolies and don't want Walmart and Microsoft to win this sweepstakes. There, our buddies over at Facebook, they know that TikTok is the only threat to their social media dominant, they're even

zucking these guys. And with Microsoft and Walmart as owners, TikTok would be an even bigger and stronger threat to Facebook. Jack, let's head a little northeast over to Puget Sound. Amazon knows Walmart is the only threat to its e-commerce dominant. And with Walmart in control of TikTok, Walmart would be an even bigger, stronger threat. Snackers, the simple fact that Facebook and Amazon probably don't want Walmart and Microsoft to win means one single thing. It means society in our economy probably should want Walmart and Microsoft to win. For our second story, this one's wild, Amazon just unveiled a surprise, new and totally different product we'd never even had any idea they were building.

It's called Halo, which happens to be my favorite Beyonce song, but it's also the most intimate and discreet health tracker we've ever seen. Honestly, Jack and I looked at this thing. We're going to cut right to it Snackers. The look, Jack, what are we looking at? It's pretty much an Apple Watchnik, but no screen. No. It's just the sport band with a barely noticeable sensor on the inside of the band.

It's essentially a high-performance scrunchy. They poked a few holes in so they could say it's sporty. Now, you're supposed to strap this thing to your wrist, but there's no screen. So it's kind of weird? No. Amazon claims that's because it will focus on your health only. It won't distract you with a screen. Of course. So that you can focus on your life. It's like mindful level 12. Amazing. Now, you know, Amazon tends to be like low prices. There's things only $99, but hold your horses.

It's only available invite only to Amazon VIPs right now. And the use is they seem pretty standard. At first you got your motion tracking, your heart rate, your sleep. And then you got this like points thing going on, Jack. Yeah. I mean, it's it's all about fitness and health, Nick. So if you're sitting for too long, they're going to dock you points on like your health score. Step on the scale. Step off the scale. Yeah, so it sounds like Ben Stiller in heavyweights. But Snackers, there were two wild features, Jack and I noticed, that make it feel like Alexa is an invisible friend stalking you.

This is an Amazon product you strap around your wrist that also has ears. Yeah, it's listening to your voice and then analyzing your emotions. For instance, if you have an argument with your 2 o'clock phone call with, Ron, it may sense anxiety and you're going to get a push notification on the Halo app on your phone. Hey, Jack, forget about that meeting. Why don't you take a seat? Give yourself five minutes. Do this little relaxation meditation we whipped up for you.

Seriously, it's going to try to be your friend to help you cool down and handle your emotions. Oh, and just because it loves tracking stuff, when you look in the Amazon app, it's going to say from 2 p.m. to 2.30 p.m., Jack was disturbed. Uh, judgmental. Please, I don't like those labels. It feels judgey, feels like an aggressive life partner. Okay, so it has ears, but it also has eyeballs. Yeah, using the Halo app on your phone,

it takes four pictures of your body from all sides of your body. It's going to ask if it can take four pictures of your body. And if you do, it's going to ask you to like get down to just your skivies and take four pictures so that it can scan your curves and estimate the body fat percentage on your frame. Unclear if you're getting all the way down to the boxers or brief situation, but either way, it's looking at the whole thing. Yeah, it's like,

Circe in the Atonement episode when she's walking like from the church to the Red Keep. Shame! Bezos is yelling, shame! Shame! Now, the inevitable question for any new device from Google,

Facebook, or Amazon that has a camera or microphone, you know what's coming. How's this going to affect my personal privacy? So Amazon says every feature is opt-in. It's easy to turn off. It's easy to delete data. They're not going to sell your products

based on anything, you know, all that stuff. Amazon's pretty much like that conversation with Ron that got he to. at 2 o'clock. It's between you, us, and Bezos. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon's Halo? Amazon is missing a 24-7 product that sits on your person. Can we just all agree that on-your-person is our favorite phase ever? It's a great underused technical legalese. You got fitness wearables? That's dominated by Apple Watch and Google's Fitbit. Yep, Google and Apple get to hang out with you every day,

gathering data on your physical activity day and night. It's fun, but it's creepy. Now, phones, Amazon is like riding the bench on this. Their fire phone was their biggest product failure ever. Once again, Apple and Google are the winners here. They're tracking your location, your steps, your calories from your phone sitting in your pocket all day every day. Jeff Bezos loves that you're a primer paying that annual fee, but you're only in the Amazon app for like a few minutes a day, if that. But if Halo goes mainstream, Amazon's going to have the data on Amazonians, the other 23 hours a day when you're, not shopping. For our third and final story, I haven't trouble, I haven't trouble seeing this over here. Nick, you lost your Warby Parker frames. Warby Parker. Just hit a $3 billion valuation. Not too shabby, our unicorn of the day snackers. And we're covering this because we all know you've

splurged the $250 on some Raybans for that top gun luck. Guilty. Did it when I was 23, did it when I was 26, did it when I was 28. This guy just loves Tom Cruise. What can we say? Now, the thing is, Raybands are created by a company called Luxottica, which either makes them in Italy for like 20 bucks a pair or China for like two bucks a pair. Then they sell those two or $20 sunglasses to lens crafters or sunglass hut where they knock them a little up a hundred more bucks. And then you finally get those $20 or $2 glasses for $200 because of all those layers of separation. The four co-founders of Warby Parker walk in the room and they're like, wait a second, too many people in here, we're going to cut out a few middlemen. Let's go direct to consumer. We've talked about Harry's Razors and Casper mattresses on this pod before.

Well, Warby Parker is the Warby Parker of Direct to Consumer, the first millennial brand to literally destroy the middleman. They're replacing the middleman with a really gorgeous website or a store that is so pleasant. Yes. You want to take like your first date out to it. First, not your third, definitely kick things off with this. Now, Snackers, this company was founded in 2010 in lovely Philadelphia selling direct to consumer from their headquarters like out of their business school apartment on Walnut Street. They found a really nice balance really fast by being online and being offline with standard eyeglass frames sold at a uniform price.

So interesting balance here. The online, you select five gorgeous frames. They mail them to you, you keep one you return four. Offline, there's 125 different Warby Parker stores. You've probably seen them if you got to any upscale neighborhood in any city. You walk in and it's comforting like a library designed by Wes Anderson. And some Warby Parker barista with a perfect smile is going to approach you and say, Valencia frames your face perfectly.

have to buy them. And then they start touching your face. But you stay in the store. You stay in the store. It's actually a free face massage. Yeah, profitable company since 2017, despite the massages. And this valuation they just hit shows that they're thriving in COVID because it doubled. This ain't no deadbeat unicorn like we work, Nick. It is profitable. Glasses are a necessity, pandemic or not. Now, what Nick and I find particularly interesting about Warby Parker is the pricing. Warby Parker is a case study in price psychology. because every frame starts at $95 and always has. When this company was created by the original entrepreneurs,

they priced the frames at $45. But then they spoke to a Wharton School of Business Professor who's like, guys, $45, that is just too cheap. People are going to think they're crap frames. And by the way, they retell this story in every single Warden class we can attest to that. So then the co-founder's like, hey, Professor, what if we did $60 or $70?

Feels kind of arbitrary. 60 or 70? Like, what is that? Professor, what if we go up to $100? If you go to $100, it's going to look at like the $1.000. same price as those Exotica, $200 frame? Professor, what if we drop down to $99? You're not QVC. This isn't like four easy payments of $99.99. Professor, what if we go with like $92? $92 sounds like it was precisely optimized by an Amazon algorithm to make Jeff Bezos rich. It kind of does. Professor, what if we do $95 a frame? Nick, that actually sounds just about right. It's not too low end, not too

high, and kind of legit. We got a Goldilocks scenario. That is how Warby Parker ended up at $95. Ironically, this is the same exact strategy as all bird's shoes, which are also $95 each. Advised by the same professor, same years at Warden. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Warby Parker? Apple should acquire Warby Parker. Snackers, we'll let that sink in. Apple has bought consumery brands before at critical moments and at similar values.

Remember Beats headphones by Dr. Dre? made Dr. Dre a billionaire? How can we forget? He's probably listening to Snacks right now. Apple acquired Beats by Dr. Dre in 2013 for $3 billion, which is the same price that Warby Parker would be right now. Oh, and by the way, Snackers, Jack and I noticed that was three years before Apple unveiled AirPods. And what is Apple probably going to unveil in about three years now? They've hinted it would be augmented reality glasses. And what's an affordable, fancy eyeglasses brand that customers love? our good friends over at Warby Parker.

Digital first Warby Parker would give Apple the physical and online store presence for prescription augmented reality glasses. Apple should buy Warby. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us before the weekend, please. Nick, if Walmart can make an offer with Microsoft or TikTok, I think you and I should make an offer to acquire TikTok. Snackers, we got one condition on this. It's got to be renamed Nick Jack.

Second story, Amazon. Amazon's latest wearable device has eyes and ears. It's priced cheap because Amazon wants to be on your person. Third and final story, Warby Parker envisions a world where you buy everything directly from the seller for $95. And Jack and I are envisioning a world in which Apple acquires Warby Parker for more than $95. Now, time for our snack fact of the day. This one tweeted in by Don Burger, who is in a camper somewhere in the world right now. We couldn't tell. Donberger points out that there's a thing in the world called a dark sky reserve, which is a place where lights are banned.

So you can see the stars perfectly at night. Turns out there's a great one in Idaho, and there are only 16 of these things worldwide. Light pollution, man, light pollution. Now, before you go for the weekend snackers, Michelle and Jackson are friends who snack together, which we love. But Michelle, Jackson would like to start dating you. Will you become Jackson's girlfriend? It's an honor.

And remember, the couples that snacked. Together, stay together. Congratulations, Arbentola on a new job over in the Bronx. And Maria and MJ engaged over in Mexico City. Oshka Stevenson and Rajvi met a happy one year of commuting together. Happy birthday Crystal Shue from Hank Show China. And happy 12th, Symmy in Austin, Texas. Sean Teabaggy, happy half birthday.

And a Fieldston Eagle Jack Upton in New York City. Mike G from Seoul, South Korea, Elise Machado in Bakersfield, California. Catherine Bernal celebrating in Denver, Colorado. Pete Patel in Ahmedabad, India, and Mike Kapplinski in San Francisco, California. Arbentola also in the Bronx. Colin Mitchell from Los Angeles, California. Eduardo, happy 23rd in Falbro, California. And happy birthday to Hannah Harstein in Seattle, Washington.

Allison Lever, happy birthday, Antigo, Wisconsin. And Elvin Flores and lovely Santa Barbara, California. Snackers, what a week. This was the biggest pod we've ever done, if not the best. This was the best one yet. If you got buddies you see this weekend who needs a snack, Ask him, HY, HYSD. Have you had your snacks daily?

Nick and I'll see you Monday. We can't wait if you know, you know. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon. Nick own stock of Apple. The Robin Hood Snacks podcast you just heard reflects the opinions of only the hosts who are associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC

and does not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc. Or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a recommendation to buy or sell any security and is not an offer or sale of a security. The podcast is also not a research report and is not intended to serve as the basis

of any investment decision. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.