🐭 Disney's worst day in months

and Apple introduces something new

Author

Morning Download
May 08, 2024

Good morning investors! Yesterday was a mixed day with the market closing higher but some big names suffering.

Today we cover:

  • Homes are getting out of reach.

  • Disney reports earnings.

  • Apple announces new devices

We’re talking about Boeing, Disney, and more on our Discord channel. Join the conversation!

📊 Economy and News 

Renters’ hopes of being able to buy a home have fallen to a record low

The share of renters who believe that they one day will be able to afford a home, has fallen to a record low 13.4%.

People expect housing prices to increase 5.1% over the next year, nearly double the 2.6% expected figure.

There’s not a lot of good news on the renting front, either. Respondents expect rental costs to increase by 9.7% over the next year.

That’s down from 15% in 2023 and well off the 20.8% series high back in 2014.

Global hits:

Worth checking out: New York tops the list of the 50 richest cities in the world.

📈 Stocks

S&P 500 5,187.70 (+0.13%)
DJIA 38,884.26 (+0.082%)
NASDAQ 18,091.44 (-0.012%)
BRENT CRUDE 82.83 (-0.81%)
* Prices as of May 8th, 12:20 AM UTC

Not all merry at Disney

Disney streaming service actually turned a profit, but Wall Street still wasn’t satisfied, sending shares down more than -9%. It was Disney’s worst stock trading day in 18 months.

Disney’s fiscal second-quarter results shows that the company’s future strategy is fully in effect.

Here are the numbers:

  • Earnings per share: $1.21 adjusted vs. $1.10 cents expected

  • Revenue: $22.08 billion vs. $22.11 billion expected

Streaming: Disney for the first time ever squeezed some profit out of Disney+ and Hulu, to the tune of $47 million. But, ESPN+, continued to shed subscribers and hemorrhage cash, bringing the combined streaming loss to $18 million.

It is a pretty huge improvement over the $659 million loss the collective streaming business reported in the same period a year ago.

Disney said it still expects for the combined streaming business to achieve profitability by the end of its fiscal year, in September.

Subscribers: Disney+ Core subscribers increased by more than 6 million in the second quarter to 117.6 million global customers. Total Hulu subscribers grew 1% to 50.2 million. ESPN+ subscribers fell 2% to 24.8 million.

Parks: U.S. parks and experiences revenue rose 7% to $5.96 billion, and international sales soared 29% to $1.52 billion on increased attendance and higher prices at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

New Apple devices: Apple announced new versions of its iPad Air and iPad Pro tablet computers on Tuesday. They’re the first new iPad models Apple has released since October 2022.

The iPad Pro, Apple’s most expensive and advanced tablet, will come in two sizes, an 11-inch model and a 13-inch model.

The smaller iPad Pro starts at $999, and the larger 13-inch model starts at $1,299 with 256GB of storage.

Apple said the iPad Air will come in two sizes: an 11-inch option that matches older models and a larger 13-inch model. Both are equipped with Apple’s M2 chip. The smaller iPad costs $599 for 128GB of storage, and the larger iPad starts at $799.

At the heart of the new iPad Pro is Apple’s new custom M4 processor, which delivers 4 times the performance as its existing iPad Pro models.

These devices will become available next week.

Electric vehicle wars heating up: Self-driving startup Wayve just raised $1 billion from Nvidia, SoftBank, Microsoft and more. Plus, Chinese companies such as BYD, the biggest global rival to America’s Tesla, are forcing Western automakers to change their approach to electric vehicles if they want to remain competitive in a growing industry.

Sponsored by Ryse

Best Buy has a proven record of placing early bets on home-technology products that go on to dominate the market. For example: 

  • Ring - acquired by Amazon for $1.2B

  • Nest - acquired by Google for $3.2B 

Pay attention, because Best Buy just unveiled a new smart-home product in over 100 stores that has potential for massive returns – RYSE Smart Shades. 

RYSE is poised to dominate the smart shades market (currently growing at 50% annually) and they’ve opened a public offering of shares priced at just $1.50/share. Current shareholders have already seen their value increase 20% year-over-year, with strong upside remaining as they scale into retail. 

If you missed out on Ring and Nest, this is your chance to secure your stake in the smart home market. 

💵 Personal Finance

Protect yourself with insurance – Part I

Insurance helps prepare for the unexpected and ensures you have the means to stay afloat despite challenges. However, let us be clear that insurance doesn’t mean you will face no challenges. It only means that you will be able to come out as a winner because you’d be protected.

Insurance protects your emergency fund and prevents you from emptying it.

Here are some of the main types of insurance policies that you should consider including in your retirement plan:

Health insurance

Health insurance, also known as medical insurance, should be included in your financial plan. In fact, based on your location, it might be mandatory to have some form of medical insurance.

Health insurance protects in case of medical emergencies by covering eligible procedures, including surgery, hospitalization costs, health checkups, and more. Furthermore, it offers tax rebates.

This becomes even more important as you grow older as you’re more likely to fall sick and need medical assistance in your later years. Getting insurance can provide the much needed padding and ensure you can remain mentally and physically fit.

Health insurance costs anywhere from $100 to $2,000 based on your location and the perks included. Sadly, about 20% of Americans have no medical insurance. The number is lower in developing economies. Furthermore, it’s a leading cause of bankruptcy in the US:

  • About 17% of adults in the country with health care debt lose their homes or declared bankruptcy because of it.

  • Around 66.5% of bankruptcies are linked to medical expenses.

Health insurance can be a great way to protect your future and reduce the risk of going bankrupt.

There’s more, wait for tomorrow’s issue and don’t forget to check our latest video below:

💰 Be a Better Investor

"I don't look to jump over seven-foot bars; I look around for one-foot bars that I can step over."

Warren Buffett

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Nothing in this newsletter is financial advice. Always do your own research and think for yourself.