This week, we bring you
- Bill Gates’ TerraPower Begins Construction
- Apple Unveils ‘Apple Intelligence’
- 600K New Millionaires Minted in 2023
- Walmart Rolls Out App-Based Drone Delivery
- BeReal Acquired for €500M
- The AI Beauty Pageant Ushers in a New Era of Influencers
- 3 Stocks To Consider
Thanks for reading.
Wyatt
Table of Contents
Bill Gates’ TerraPower Begins Construction
TerraPower, a nuclear energy startup founded by Bill Gates, has officially begun construction on their next-generation Natrium plant in Wyoming.
This breakthrough nuclear power plant design requires far fewer resources to operate than traditional facilities and can produce carbon-free power at low costs.
Once fully operational, the Natrium plant will generate 350,000 megawatts of energy, enough to power approximately 400,000 American homes.
Apple Unveils ‘Apple Intelligence’
Apple kicked off WWDC by revealing its ‘Apple Intelligence’ AI strategy, partnering with OpenAI to bring a wave of AI integrations to iOS 18, iPadOS, and macOS 15.
The event showcased a next-gen Siri with improved natural conversation abilities, new AI writing tools in apps like Mail and Messages, and an emphasis on privacy with on-device processing and opt-in features.
The OpenAI partnership will allow Siri to leverage ChatGPT/GPT-4 for complex queries, signaling the start of an on-device AI agent boom.
600K New Millionaires Minted in 2023
The US welcomed 600,000 new millionaires in 2023, bringing the total to 7.5 million and outpacing the rest of the world.
This growth is attributed to a strong stock market rebound, increased government spending, and the rise of AI, with America’s millionaires now holding $26.1 trillion, accounting for 30% of global millionaire wealth.
As the ultra-wealthy get wealthier, competition intensifies among firms managing these fortunes, pushing them to focus on personalized services to cater to the unique needs of their high-net-worth clients.
Walmart Rolls Out App-Based Drone Delivery
Walmart is following in Amazon’s footsteps as they too are expanding their drone delivery service, allowing select customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to order items via the Walmart app for drone delivery.
The retailer is engaged in a technology race to build a seamless “Unified Commerce” ecosystem integrating online and offline experiences.
While still in the experimental phase, Walmart’s aggressive moves into digital commerce showcase its proactive strategy to stay ahead of the competition.
BeReal, the Hottest App of 2022, Acquired for €500M
BeReal, the social media app that nudges users to take an authentic dual-camera photo once a day, is being acquired by mobile apps and games company Voodoo for €500M ($537M).
Despite its meteoric rise as an antidote to the curated world of Instagram, BeReal’s momentum faded, slipping down the download rankings. However, the app still boasts an impressive 40 million monthly active users.
The AI Beauty Pageant Ushers in a New Era of Influencers
The inaugural “Miss AI” pageant is showcasing AI-generated models competing for a $5,000 prize and influencer opportunities.
While adhering to traditional beauty stereotypes, the contest highlights AI’s potential as a marketing tool in the rapidly growing influencer market.
As AI influencers like Seren Ay, who helped grow her creators’ jewelry business tenfold, demonstrate the ability to drive brand engagement at lower costs than human counterparts, this new frontier raises questions about the future of authenticity and connection in the digital age.
Read more about the rise of AI influencers
What I’m reading
I get a lot of mail asking where I find all this good stuff. Here are a few of my favorite newsletters, all of which are free to subscribe to:
Daily trading ideas, strategies, and alerts from trading veteran Jeff Bishop.
Daily business news. From Wall Street to Silicon Valley.
The most important tech news and insights. Join 80,000+ early adopters staying ahead of the curve, for free.
Stock ideas
Here are three of my favorites from this past week.
The analysis provided by public.com.
Remember to always DYOR.
Genius Sports ($GENI)
Bull Case:
- Exclusive Data Rights: GENI has secured official data rights to major leagues like the EPL, MLB, and NFL through at least 2028.
- High-Margin In-Game Betting: GENI’s BetVision technology enables in-game NFL bets with 3x higher take rates than pre-game bets.
- Consistent Outperformance: GENI has beaten and raised guidance for nine consecutive quarters.
Bear Case:
- Market Skepticism: The market remains skeptical of GENI’s visibility on rights costs and scalability.
- Dependence on Legalization: GENI’s growth heavily depends on continued legalization and adoption of US sports betting.
Peakstone Realty Trust ($PKST)
Bull Case:
- Superior office portfolio: PKST’s office assets have a long 7.6-year weighted average lease term with only 5% of rent expiring through 2026.
- Attractive industrial exposure: Over 30% of PKST’s EBITDA comes from well-located industrial properties.
- Undervalued relative to sum-of-the-parts: Applying 11x and 20x EV/EBITDA multiples to office and industrial segments yields a mid-$20s target price, well above the current $13.
Bear Case:
- Troubled office fundamentals: The office sector faces challenges from remote work, driving up vacancy rates.
- Small-cap REIT discount: As a smaller, less liquid REIT, PKST may struggle to achieve valuations in-line with larger peers.
iBio ($IBIO)
Bull Case:
- Proven Technology: iBio’s myostatin inhibitor technology is validated by Biogen and Eli Lilly’s successes.
- Aligned Team: CEO Martin Brenner’s background and the addition of Astral Bio’s founder position iBio well to develop myostatin inhibitors.
Bear Case:
- Limited Cash Runway: With only $15 million raised, iBio has cash lasting only until 2026.
- Low Probability of Success: The inherent risk of drug development failure is high, and iBio’s myostatin inhibitor program is still in it’s early stages.
That’s it for this week.
If you write amazing content and want to be featured, please send it through for consideration.
Cheers,
Wyatt
Disclosures
- There are affiliate links above; we’ll get a couple of bucks if you take action after you click.
- Nothing above is financial advice. DYOR, you filthy animal.
