The Euros kick off two weeks from today, and we’re running a fantasy league to celebrate. Winners get swag. Everyone else gets…something else.
Everyone wins something, and the top prize is playing 5-a-side football with Zidane!
Hundreds of investing and finance newsletters hit my (and maybe your) inbox every week. This is the best of the best.
This week, we bring you
- Walmart’s Virtual Shopping Experience
- Factories Inside Shipping Containers
- Elon Musk’s xAI
- Big Tech Targets Hollywood with AI
- Record-Breaking Travel Day
- Orca AI’s Autonomous Cargo Ships
- 3 Stocks To Consider
Thanks for reading.
Wyatt
Table of Contents
Walmart’s Virtual Shopping Experience
Walmart has launched Walmart Realm, an immersive digital shopping platform featuring influencer-curated virtual environments.
Developed in partnership with Emperia, the experience allows consumers to browse and purchase products within themed digital shops like Y’allternative, Go Chromatic, and So Jelly. With gamification elements and giveaways, Walmart aims to bridge the gap between inspiration and commerce in the virtual world.
Factories Inside Shipping Containers
Montreal-based startup Relocalize has raised $5.8 million CAD to build micro-factories that accelerate food and beverage production through robotics automation.
By shrinking factories to the size of shipping containers, they aim to slash transportation costs and emissions associated with moving products from remote facilities to grocery distributors. Relocalize’s technology, validated through autonomous ice cube production, has the potential to significantly reduce the food industry’s carbon footprint.
Elon Musk’s xAI
Elon Musk’s xAI is reportedly planning to build a colossal supercomputer containing 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, aiming to accelerate the development of its Grok AI chatbot.
Dubbed a ‘gigafactory of compute’, the cluster would be at least 4x larger than the biggest AI systems currently in existence. Musk hopes to have the supercomputer operational by Fall 2025, with Oracle floated as a potential partner.
Big Tech Targets Hollywood with AI
Tech giants Alphabet and Meta are in talks with major Hollywood studios to license content for their AI video generation software, offering tens of millions of dollars for partnerships.
Studios are keen to explore cost-saving AI applications while protecting their intellectual property and maintaining control over content usage. While some studios express willingness to selectively license programs, others remain cautious about collaborations.
Record-Breaking Travel Day
Last Friday marked the busiest travel day in US history, with nearly 3 million passengers taking to the skies. This surge in demand, particularly for international destinations, is fueling a robust recovery in the travel industry.
With major events like the Paris Olympics and Euro Cup on the horizon, coupled with the return of Chinese travelers, the sector is poised for record-breaking growth in 2024. Travel is projected to add $11.1 trillion to the global economy this year, surpassing 2019’s $10 trillion record.
Orca AI’s Autonomous Ships
Orca AI, an autonomous navigation startup, has secured $23 million in a funding round led by OCV Partners and MizMaa Ventures.
The company leverages computer vision and AI to enable commercial ships to navigate autonomously, aiming to reduce maritime accidents, reduce fuel consumption, and decrease carbon emissions in the industry.
Read more about Orca AI’s autonomous shipping technology
What I’m reading
I get a lot of mail asking where I find all this good stuff. Here are a few of my favorite newsletters, all of which are free to subscribe to:
Daily trading ideas, strategies, and alerts from trading veteran Jeff Bishop
Weekly strategies to build multi-generational wealth simply and safely.
Your one-stop shop for all things crypto.
Stock ideas
Here are three of my favorites from this past week.
Analysis provided by public.com.
Remember to always DYOR.
BRP Inc ($DOOO)
Bull Case:
- Market Share Momentum: BRP’s North American market share increased from 27% pre-COVID to 37%, positioning the company for expansion.
- Earnings Resilience: BRP’s earnings are expected to be higher than FY2023/2024 levels in the next 3-5 years.
Bear Case:
- Recession Impact: A recession could significantly impact powersports demand, as seen during the Global Financial Crisis when retail sales units declined 40-50%.
- Inflation Pressures: Wage and input commodity inflation presents a risk of margin compression as consumers resist pricing increases.
Tidewater ($TDW)
Bull Case:
- Offshore energy spending recovery: As oil producers increase E&P spending, TDW is well-positioned to benefit from rising demand for offshore services.
- Industry consolidation and reduced capacity: Recent bankruptcies have consolidated the industry and reduced capacity, allowing TDW to capture a larger share of the market.
Bear Case:
- Dependence on oil demand and prices: TDW’s success is closely tied to the offshore oil industry. Major disruptions could derail the company’s recovery.
- Debt and capital return limitations: TDW’s debt covenants preclude capital returns until November 2023, limiting near-term shareholder rewards.
Clarus ($CLAR)
Bull Case:
- Strong Balance Sheet: Clarus’ recent sale of Precision Sport for $175M bolstered its balance sheet, resulting in over $1/share net cash.
- EBITDA Growth Potential: Management has outlined a path to doubling EBITDA to ~$50M by 2026.
- Realizing Brand Value: Clarus has a track record of successfully monetizing brands through strategic sales.
Bear Case:
- Low Valuation: Despite growth projections, the stock trades at a depressed EV of ~$185M, suggesting investor skepticism about achieving 2026 EBITDA targets.
- Negative Sentiment: Clarus’ stock is currently out of favor, limiting near-term upside and requiring investor patience.
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.
