Neumann Is Back Because Housing Is Wack

Remember Adam Neumann, the founder and former CEO of WeWork? The one surrounded by controversy over his leadership and self-dealing who left the company with a massive payout amid a failed IPO?

Yep, he’s back.

We know, we know, we just did this a few months ago when he raised a ton of money for his blockchain-based carbon credit company, Flowcarbon.

We haven’t heard much about that recently, but this time he’s coming to a home near you with his new residential real estate company called “Flow.” 🏘️

The company’s website offers little details except that it should launch in 2023. However, The New York Times says that Flow is “effectively a service that landlords can team up with for their properties, somewhat similar to the way an owner of a hotel might contract with a branded hotel chain to operate the company.”

While the business is more or less still at the idea stage, it just received $350 million in funding from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. 💰

The firm outlined in a blog post its thesis for its largest single-check investment ever, focusing on the ongoing housing crisis and Adam Neumann’s past success in transforming the real estate space.

Regarding the investment in Neumann, the blog post essentially says that his efforts at WeWork were largely underappreciated and that the firm loves “seeing repeat-founders build on past successes by growing from lessons learned.”

That’s certainly one way to put it.

We’ll have to see if this time is different, but the massive raise ruffled a lot of people’s feathers today (and rightfully so). 😤

Finally, to add to the lols, the cryptocurrency $FLOW shot up on the news. I guess the algorithmic traders’ systems haven’t quite figured out how to differentiate between ticker symbols just yet.

Another win for the efficient-market hypothesis and another saga to watch in the years ahead. 🤷‍♂️

We’ve recapped a few big movers from today’s earnings calendar, so listen up. 👂

It’s been a rough year for shares of grill maker Weber, but investors cheered today after the company cooked up some positive earnings news for a change. 👍

Although its loss per share of $0.41 was wider than expectations of $0.07, it did marginally beat on revenues ($526.9 million vs. $526.2 million). More importantly, however, investors are focused on adjusted EBITDA, which came in at $11 million, well above estimates of $4 million.

On the negative side, gross profit dropped 49%, hit by higher freight and commodity costs, as well as promotional activity. In addition, much like other companies, it’s seeing a weaker macro environment affect demand, and significant currency devaluations impact its sales and earnings. 📉

With that said, the company remains optimistic that its cost-cutting measures can save it at least $110 million in fiscal 2023, leaving it room to weather the economic storm.

Whether or not investors are buying into the turnaround story remains to be seen. But the stock saw a nice pup today, up around 7%. 📈

Ammo Inc. had a rough session, falling 9.70% in regular hours and another 9% after reporting its earnings. 🔻

The stock’s initial selloff began after the company announced plans to separate its ammunition and marketplace businesses into two independent publicly traded companies.

Then after the bell, its decline accelerated when the company released its earnings report. The company saw net revenues increase by 36.6% at a gross margin of 29.8%, with adjusted EPS at $0.09. It also reiterated its 2023 fiscal-year guidance.

The two releases gave investors a lot to chew on today, though they don’t seem too thrilled based on the stock’s initial reaction. 👎

And finally, Tencent Music rebounded a bit today after reporting mixed second-quarter earnings.

The company experienced user declines across categories, partially offset by a boost in subscription revenues and paying users. Like many others, it spoke about a challenging macro environment and the cost optimization and operating efficiency steps it’s taking to offset them.

Shares were up 5.90% during the regular trading session and added another 1.50% after the company reported. 📈

Keep track of all the earnings with the Stocktwits earnings calendar! 📆