The Best One Yet - “Hoooooow convenient” — Blackstone’s climate/profit pledge. Stitch Fix’s unraveling. Beyond Meat’s Walmartification.

Episode Date: September 30, 2020

Stitch Fix’s personal styling biz was already slowing - now Amazon’s doing the same thing. Beyond Meat shares surged 9% because this deal with Walmart is way more than just a deal with Walmart. And Blackstone is America’s biggest landlord. Their climate pledge is also a profit pledge.$SFIX $BYND $BXGot a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @TBOYJack @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form: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 Wednesday, September 30th. Snackers, happy international podcast day. That it is, Jack, and a happy international podcast day to you. We don't know what lobbying group was behind this international day of celebration. We're not paying them.

But apparently we're overdue on our dues. Jack, if every snacker tells one other person to listen to snacks, I'm doing the math over here, we double. Snackers find one buddy who doesn't pod and make snacks their first. snack. In the meantime, we're going to make this our best snacks daily yet. For our first story, Stitch Fix knows it's losing the price war and the data war against Amazon. So what do you do? You drop the fix, Jack. You just go with the Stitch. For our second story, Beyond Meat Shares, jumped 10% because Walmart ordered around a second. These guys are moving up the old Adoptor curve, early adopters. For our third and final story, Blackstone is America's

biggest landlord and it is a publicly traded stock. So they're making a charming climate pledge that also happens to boost their penthouse profits. But Snackers, before we hit those three stories on International Podcast Day, we're writing a book on Zuckings. There we are. Actually, we're not writing a book, but we could write a book. Mick, we could so easily spin this off into a dramatic 10-episode HBO series over 18 years of time. It's the only kind of content HBO does. The power of the repackaging. Now, chapters one through nine, honestly, Jack and I, we basically have done the work on this. Facebook copying Snapchat, Facebook copying Tinder, Facebook copying Bitcoin, yada, yada, yada. Yeah, you know how it goes down, which is why Jack and I have to celebrate a different kind of zuck ink that we just noticed.

Snackers, Facebook was just the victim of a zucking. It happened. Last week, Pinterest launched its very own version of Facebook stories. That's right. You can now flash 12 different versions of a brass scons that all disappear within 24 hours. Lovely. And then LinkedIn decided, you know what? We're going to launch our own version of Facebook stories. You know, so you can post that motivational 30-second clip on team-based over. Okay, our synergy is optimizing work-life balance. Stories, though, with SNAP's innovation technically, so Pinterest and LinkedIn, you're stealing already stolen goods. The takeaway here, though, Zuck got Zocked.

That's right, Jack. Like NYPD always warns us, if you see a Zucking, say Zucking. You're tuned in the snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something legal out the way. The snacks are about to hear ain't food. It's ear candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family.

It's all informational just so. You know, we're not recommending any. No. 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 FINRA slash SIPC. For our first story, Beyond Meat just jumped 9% thanks to the old Walmart bump over here. 90 million more Americans now live within 10 miles of Beyond Meat. Hey, Snackers, let's be honest. 2019 was the White Claw summer. You knew it. 2020 is all about the faux meat. meat, the plant-based stuff.

Impossible foods, case and point, Beyond Meat rival over here. It's a sumo company. We are straight up missing out on Impossible until they IPO. In the meantime, Impossible spent the last few months raising over a billion dollars and launching in Trader Joe's and launching in Starbucks and launching in Burger King. And Beyond Meat, it's publicly traded, not soy-based equivalent, just launched sausages this summer. They lowered their prices and retail sales have tripled. Everyone in the plant-based meat space is like really busy this summer.

though about these two top rivals, Impossible and Beyond? Yeah, Jack and I noticed they're both already have partnerships with Walmart. Impossible Foods is in 2,100 Walmarts and beyond is already in 800 Walmart. So when you hear Jack and I talking right now, and you're like, oh, okay, yeah, so beyond me, it's going into more Walmarts, you may just ignore the news. You may not be excited. But Walmart will now reach triple as many Walmart superstores, $1,600 more, 2,400 Walmart's total. You look on your left, you look on your right, you see two Walmarts, one of them is going to have Beyond Meat. The last time we talked about Beyond Meat on this pod was in June.

Remember well. We described Beyond Meat's early adopter curve, and Beyond Meat was stuck just with the early adopters. Because in innovation like plant-based meat, it doesn't become a sustainable business until it passes those key early adopters. Your one buddy who wears like self-walking shoes as the next wearable, that's not enough to sustain Beyond Meat's business. Your buddy Tim is like, but they walk 10,000 steps to the most. themselves. That's why in June, Beyond Meat launched the value pack with 10 meatless patties in one

package. So the goal here was lowering price per a pound. Beyond's basically wanting to become, it wants to become more accessible, wants to become the plant-based meat of the people. Beyond knew that high-income earners were going meatless, but what about the average consumer? Would they go meatless instead of ground beef? So if you're making $100,000 a year, you're going to do the Beyond Meat burger. Yes, you know avocado's extra. Yes, you'll still get the avocado. And you're going to go with the gluten-free bun. But what about the average consumer that's making like 50K? Would they spend more for Beyond Meat? Investors weren't sure. That was the big question. Will they, Jack? So what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Beyond Meat? Beyond Meat just passed

the Walmart test, aka the mainstream test. Snackers, what's most important about this story is that Walmart already had Beyond Meat in 800 stores. So think about it. They would only expand to 2400 stores if things were going really well at the 800. Walmart's that Beyond was already in. So Jack and I are looking at this headline. It says Beyond Meat expands to Walmart, but you have to read between the grill lines on this thing. It also says this headline that Beyond passed the mainstream test

because it was already doing well in 800 Walmart. So Beyond stock jumped 9% Tuesday on Word that Beyond isn't just a niche upper income product that you're going to splurge with the extra avocado on. Beyond meat is Walmart worthy? Oh yeah, and Gwok's always extra. For our second story, Stitch Fix just dropped the fix. It might as well just called self-stitch. It should.

And good timing because Amazon's entering the fix biz. Now, Snackers, Jack and I love you so much that we like to be Guinea Pig products for you, including the first time that Stitch Fix went public. Nick Guinea Pigged, the whole Stitch Fix customer experience on this podcast. I did. He ended up with a box of sweatpants shorts and a short sleeve marge-sized button up. Early takeaway, Jack, the Stitch Fix algorithm doesn't like me. Nick, I promised I deleted that picture and I emptied the track.

Cash can. Nothing looking like a grown man wearing board shorts in a non-pool situation. Stitch Fix Snackers was the pioneer in combining art with science for fashion. You fill out a survey and you basically tell Stitch Fix's algorithm, are you more vineyard vines or more juicy couture? Right. And then their algorithm churns out a bunch of clothes you might like. Maybe. But wait for it. A human stylist selects the winners to put in a box for you. And humans are flawed apparently. But the algorithm is the stitch in this case. The human curated box is the fix. Try before you buy, send back the stuff you don't look good in, everyone's happy. Boom, the hope you don't make a decision, you subscribe to the boxes monthly,

and you never visit them all again, say goodbye to Abercrombie. Now, the pandemic that we're in currently has ruined Stitchfix's profit streak. After years of losses, Stitchfix finally made consistent profits recently and had three and a half million active customers. But last quarter, growth shrank to 3%, and the fix returned to making losses again, unfortunately. Let's picture your work from home. You don't care about the latest. trendy cardigan. It's not a thing. And you want to avoid the fix's styling fee because your job

situation may not be as stable as six months ago. You know what that $20 up front stitch fix fee? That's for the human stylist's time in curating your style and forcing upon you clothes that you shouldn't wear in public. Because of these difficult market conditions, stitch fix is leaning away from the fix. Yep. We need a little more into the stitch. They're moving into this thing called direct buy. Direct buy, aka buying a single item off stitch fix based on the algorithms like, way earlier suggestions on like who you were a year ago. AKA pretty basic e-commerce. Yeah, nothing too special here.

Like, you put something in your shopping cart and it comes to you and you pay for it. It's right above going to Amazon.com and right below like the recommended books. If you like this, you'll like that. You have to decide what you're going to buy, but you avoid the $20 fix fee. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Stitch Fix? You don't want to lose on price and data? Nope. Stitch Fix is losing to Amazon on price and data.

Yeah, yeah, it is. Snackers, yesterday Amazon expanded its own version of Stitch Fix. It's called Prime Wardrobe, and now it's going out to Men 2. Five bucks a month. Uh-huh. And Amazon Style has sends you a box of clothes they think you'll like. You keep what you want, you send back what you don't in a pre-labeled bag. Jack, this sounds a whole lot like Stitch Fix over here.

Now, the reason Amazon might win the Battle of Fix. First, it can lower the price. Because it's Amazon. Yeah, five bucks instead of like the $20 Stitch Fix Upfront Style Fee. That's a big difference. Second, Amazon has more data from you about past purchases that it can use to inform the recommendation clothing that they give you. Jack Kramer, hey, Jeff Bezos here. You bought that Yetty Cooler. Notice you did it on Amazon. I'm thinking you're probably an Arcteric sweatsuit kind of a guy?

Yeah, Yetty Cooler is the aspirational lifestyle for sure. Snackers, if Amazon gains traction with Prime Nation, then Stitch Fix should drop the fix, renamed to Stitch. For our third and final story, Blackstone is one of the big, landlords in the United States of America. And its new climate pledge is also a profit pledge. How convenient for our friends are with Blackstone. How convenient? Blackstone. Must be nice. Snackers, Blackstone, by the way, not BlackRock. This is a park and a driveway drive-in-a-drive-in-a- situation here. Yeah, classic. You get that every now and that. Both are publicly traded stock, same words, opposite meaning kind of a thing. Blackstone is a private equity company in the

subject of this story. It's also ironically a publicly traded stock. Now, Blackstone flex big money from investors and buys entire or parts of companies and buildings. And then it's a pretty straightforward process. Those companies and buildings profits become Blackstone's profits. For example, it used to own Hilton hotels and it currently owns about, I think, 50% of Bumble, the dating app. That's right. Your future Mr. or Mrs. Wright was powered by a private equity firm in Midtown Manhattan. And that private equity firm has the most honest and also least inspirational mission statement we've ever read. Jerry, get over here, bring an eraser. Cut the down. We're going straight forward on this thing. Our mission is to deliver enhanced returns and capital

preservation over the long term. In other words, our mission is to make as much money as we can so that our stock price grows. Facebook connects people. Blackstone brings in boatloads of money. Endeavors to bring a boatloads of money. Now, Blackstone just announced a pledge yesterday to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 15%. See, you hear this. Jack and I weren't blown away by the number. 15% isn't huge. But what's aggressive and interesting is the timeline. Yeah, Amazon's trying to be carbon neutral by like 2050. Blackstone wants to cut 15% in three years. That's pretty quick.

And it's focusing on its real estate portfolio because it's a lot harder to cut carbon out of like a bumble connection. Fun fact, Snackers, Blackstone is one of the largest landlords in the world. And fun fact, for New Yorkers out there, Blackstone owns Stuytown, aka Stuyvesant Town, the largest housing complex in New York City. We're talking 11,000 apartments just blocked. from the original artichoke pizza on 14th Street.

Also the artichoke pizza, their crab pizza, the largest slice of pizza in New York City. Blackstone also owns a giant corporate complex in India that is famous for IT outsourcing. What we're trying to say is if you move and touch one of the walls wherever you are right now, there's a high percentage chance that Blackstone owns that wall. The package that just got delivered to your house

may have been delivered from an Amazon distribution center that is owned by Blackstone in which Amazon leases. But Blackstone, pledged on Tuesday, it's going to make each property less wasteful, more energy efficient, and there's a reason why. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Blackstone? Blackstone is feeding two birds with one scone, the environment and profits. Snackers, your apartments, your commercial buildings, they're all energy hogs. If it's a building, it's hog and energy. Water, electricity, heat, air conditioning. It's a big part of our carbon footprint. Buildings, oh, they're so needy. And that's why Blackstone, a high

finance company is making some unfinancing moves to reach this climate pledge. Yeah, get this. Jack and I were blown away from this. This was in the press release from Blackstone. They're going to be replacing light fixtures. They're going to replace high flow faucets with low flow faucets. Nick, they're going to close the gap between the window and the windowsill so less of your heat like sneaks out in the winter. They're literally going to send in like 21 year old analyst Bobby in his suit and tie and say, Bobby, fix the windows in here. Who knew an Allen wrench was the solution to this climate pledge. Those moves are enough to reduce waste and cut carbon, but interestingly, could also boost Blackstone's profits long term. How convenient energy-efficient buildings can save tenants' money,

which boosts the marketability of those buildings and the apartments and the warehouses. And here's where it's most convenient. Blackstone eventually sells most of its real estate investments, and they probably sell for more money if they're more energy efficient. That's why Blackstone's feed in two birds with one scone. Jack, and you'll whip up the takeaways for us over there, please. Beyondme has passed the Walmart test. Yeah, it's not just for early adopters if Walmart's adding plant-based meat to 1600 more

stores. Stitch Fixes, core biz just got even more encroached on by Amazon. Drop the fix, just go with the stitch. For our third and final story, Blackstone is feeding two birds with one scone. Environment and profits, how convenient.

How convenient, Blackstone, how convenient. Now, time for our snack fact today. This one sent in by Jamie Irvin, lovely Oakland, California, and Roxanna from Cornell's Business School. Last week, in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's passing, we mentioned the gender wage gap that she was trying to shrink through judicial action. Between men and women, it's 79 cents to the dollar when it comes to income. But when you break it down by ethnic demographics, in addition to gender, it's even more unequal than you can believe. Yeah, black women actually make 62 cents to every dollar men make. Latinas make 54 cents to every dollar a man makes, and Native Americans make 57 cents to every dollar of man makes.

And the average Asian American woman makes 90 cents compared to the average man. A lot more unequal when you break these things down. Thank you both for bringing attention to that nuance. Now, Snackers, before we go, we got to say congrats to Dmitro Bohashevsky in Ukraine, who ran a half marathon listening to snacks the entire time. Now, eight episodes of 15-minute snacks would be two hours. Did you do 7, 8, 9, 10, 6? And big tea boy shout out to Miss Rosodi and Mrs. Tartaglia at Trumbull High School in Connecticut.

The whole school is listening daily, apparently. And congrats to Kyle Almed and Chihuahuanke Singh, married on a canoe last weekend. And welcome to Snacks Octavia Aspera, a new snacker just born the other day in Aruba. And congrats to Jim and Sunny third anniversary in Richmond, California. Happy birthday to Cody Frizzell in Surprise, Arizona. And to Dan Moynihan in Stuttgart, Germany. and Ryan Dawkins in Oakland, California, and Taryn Reddy in Hyderabad, India,

and Catherine Adelstein in San Diego, California, and Anna Shepard turning 30 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Terrence Morty, happy birthday in Toronto, Canada, and Ashley Gordon in Miami, Florida, Sean Lauder, Arlington, Virginia, and Damian Dunlop, Panama Beach City, Florida, and Jordan Parham in New York City. And happy birthday, Ashing Singh in Irvine, California.

Happy International Podcast Day, everybody. Finally, we'd love if you shared, snacks and we're going to ask an extra H-Y-H-Y-Y-S-D today. Honestly, this is like the best time to do it. Have you had your snacks daily? Also, we'd love if you left us a review on Apple and followed us on Spotify. Five stars

right here on Apple. If you know, you know. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Beyond Meat. Nick owns a Bitcoin named Ben and I own stock of Blackstone. 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.