Coinbase’s Big W 🏆

Coinbase bested analyst estimates in a blockbuster Q2 earnings report. 🥳

The company reported $2.03 billion in revenue aided by a $737 million tax benefit derived from its direct listing. Most of Coinbase’s revenue comes from retail investors: more than $1.8 billion of its most recent quarter’s revenue. The remainder comes from staking/blockchain-related revenues ($39 billion), custodial fees ($31.7 billion), and other sources.

Coinbase took home a whopping net income of $1.6 billion (78.9% of their revenue). 

The platform’s total assets fell 19.2% quarter-over-quarter. Coinbase’s institutional holdings have fallen against retail’s, implying that users and institutions either moved their assets from the exchange or sold their positions. Based on crypto’s bizarre performance last quarter, either guess is as good as any. 🤔

Coinbase is currently sitting on a treasure trove of cash. The company reported $4.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Yikes. That sounds like a bit much for a crypto exchange… unless $COIN‘s planning to take out a firm with some fresh fiat. 🥊

Check out Coinbase’s recent report here. We’ll break down more of the points in tomorrow’s Rip, so stay tuned. 👀

Electric vehicle stocks are getting a boost thanks to a Biden executive order and the new infrastructure bill. 🔋 ⚡

Last week, President Biden signed an executive order which set a target for sustainable vehicle sales. The order intends to push plug-in hybrids, hydrogen, and electric vehicle sales to 50% of annual US vehicle sales by 2030. Today, the Senate finally signed its bipartisan infrastructure bill earmarking billions for EV charging stations. 🙌

It’s not over ’til it’s over, especially since the infrastructure bill faces challenges, changes, and delays in the House. Investors, however, are assured that this is a value-add for the EV industry; a number of EV-related names rose on the news. Lightning eMotors (+80.6%) and Fisker (+21.5%) were among the rising trendy names on Stocktwits. Stocks interfacing with the lithium/battery industry, like Lithium Americas (+11.1%), also rose in sympathy with the news.

Days before the news, the New York State Common Retirement Fund (the third-largest US public pension fund) bought shares in a number of EV companies, among others. 🚗 ⚡

Yesterday we talked about the death of cable and the general pivot to streaming/connected TV. According to Statista, on-demand streaming revenue is projected to reach $71.2B. A large portion of that will come from subscriptions to services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The other huge chunk might come from a different place— advertising. 

VIZIO told this story during its March IPO. VIZIO, known for selling TVs and other entertainment devices, has seen significant growth from its Platform+ segment. A ton of Vizio’s revenue comes from advertising. Although Vizio’s growth during the pandemic was stark, the company’s Platform+ segment grew 146% YoY in Q2 2021, booking $65.5 million in revenue… a sizable portion of that was profit.

On a larger scale, Hulu considers its ad-supported business a “secret weapon” in its arsenal. The company’s ad revenue transformed into a beefy, fast-growing line of revenue for its owners, Disney and Comcast. Hulu’s revenue is expected to rise by 30% this year, reaching $3 billion. For comparison, that’s just shy of Disney’s total broadcasting revenue generated from advertising last year. 🤭

To validate advertising prospects in connected TV and streaming, Integral Ad Science ($IAS) will purchase ad-tech company Publica for $220 million. As ad spending transitions from cable to streaming services, ad-tech companies like Publica will collect more from advertisers. By 2026, revenue from OTT advertising is expected to more than double. 🚀

This is great news for ad-supported streaming services and related players. 🤑 We’ll likely see more of these deals in the future. 

After unsuccessfully appealing a verdict, Intel will fork over $2 billion to VLSI Technology LLC. 💸 🔥

In March, jurors found Intel guilty of patent infringement. The two violations cost $1.5 billion and $675 million, and they’ll be awarded to NXP Semiconductors (owner of VLSI).

Intel attempted to toss the jury verdict, claiming the jury “was tainted by erroneous jury instructions and evidentiary rulings.”  Intel’s strategy was unsuccessful. According to Intel, the verdict is the second-largest jury ruling in a patent case. The other three-largest verdicts were ultimately vacated.

The company has been engaged in a legal campaign with VLSI. In April, a jury ruled in Intel’s favor regarding a separate infringement suit.

Unfortunately for Intel, the company will be writing a big check in its near-future. 👎

After some dramatic back-and-forth, the crypto bill is exactly where it was a week ago. 🙄 The Senate rejected a last-minute compromise on its crypto provision and passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill to the House of Representatives today.

Senators Cynthia Lummis and Pat Toomey proposed the last-minute compromise on Monday. Senators have spent the last week arguing over how a “broker” should be defined in the bill, because out-of-touch lawmakers proposed a definition which crypto maxis nearly universally agree is stupid.

Unfortunately, efforts to change the definition were voided by an 87-year-old congressman who plans to retire at the end of his current term.

The bill will define crypto brokers as ‘‘any person who (for consideration) is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.” 

The definition could target miners, developers, hardware manufacturers, and others without customers, forcing these groups to also follow IRS reporting legislation. That’s why some experts are against the umbrella “broker” term, and call it too vague.  ☂️

It’s not every day that stocks fetch double-digit gainz, and it’s even rarer when they more than double. But that’s exactly what Fulcrum Therapeutics did today. 🤭

Fulcrum trended on Stocktwits after the company released positive results from an early-stage clinical study in sickle cell disease. The company’s Phase 1 trial of FTX-6058 for sickle cell disease was well-tolerated and will proceed in its clinical journey. 

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic illness which causes red blood cells to deform, preventing an individual’s blood from effectively carrying oxygen. Fulcrom’s new oral drug aims to reduce the need for blood transfusions in sickle cell patients by increasing production of fetal hemoglobin (fetal hemoglobin carries oxygen better than adult hemoglobin). 

In its earnings report today, Fulcrum confirmed that its cash runway extends into early 2023, eliminating the possibility for an offering in the near-term. That news, alongside the other deets, pushed $FULC over 130% today. 🚀