It’s Quiet…Too Quiet

Tech companies are getting back to basics in an effort to turn their stock prices around. One of those companies is Airbnb, which sees two obstacles in hosts using its product. 🚧

One, it can be hard to get started. And two, it can be nerve-wracking to have guests in your home.

So, to alleviate those fears, the company is rolling out several new features.

The first is a new service called Airbnb Step, connecting new hosts with experienced ones to help them get started. Second, it’s upgrading its Aircover by tripling its damage protection up to $3 million. And it’s also installing a stronger verification process for guests. 🛡️

But the most interesting part of all this is how the company announced it. As part of this roll-out, the company’s CEO Brian Chesky listed the guest room of his San Francisco home on the site for people to book, just as he did when he started the company.

Whether or not these changes will help boost $ABNB shares over the long run remains to be seen. But in the near term, we can expect some interesting stories to come out of this experience… 😂

The Twitter saga continues and is almost too much to keep up with. But, if you were on the site yesterday, you would’ve seen “#RIPTwitter” trending as people speculated that the site could no longer function after Musk’s mass layoffs.

After cutting roughly half the company’s 7,500-person workforce since taking over, Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to the remaining employees. Either sign up to work for the hardcore “Twitter 2.0” or leave. He gave employees until Thursday at 5 pm to make their choice, and initial reports suggested several hundred folks decided to go. 👋

However, current estimates are that roughly 1,200 full-time employees resigned on Thursday, which leaves about 1,700 remaining.

A 75% decrease in headcount and Musk’s erratic management approach left many Twitter users concerned about whether the platform could continue in its current state. With that said, we all woke up this morning, and the site was still active. So it looks like doomsday will have to wait… ⏳

But besides the juicy headlines the Twitter situation generates, the overall situation is important for more than just Musk-related reasons.

Some proponents of his approach say that tech companies today have too many employees and should operate much leaner. The typical example thrown around is that Craiglist only has 50 employees (or something like that). So, if Elon does manage to pull this transformation off, that will likely prompt investors to question other companies’ headcount levels/approaches. 🤔

In the meantime, we’ll all sit back and watch this situation unfold on none other than…Twitter. 🍿

Yesterday several traditional retailers delivered an earnings surprise. And today, we saw similar action from Foot Locker. 🤩

Let’s take a look…

The shoe retailer reported better-than-expected Q3 results despite earnings and revenue falling 34% and 1%, respectively.

The company’s adjusted earnings per share of $1.27 beat the $1.11 expected. Meanwhile, revenues of $2.17 billion exceeded the $2.09 billion analysts estimated. This quarter’s results helped reassure investors that its inventory mix is in a healthy position and that it’s well-prepared for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

The company also seems to think so, raising its full-year earnings outlook from $4.25-$4.45 to $4.42-$4.50. It now expects total sales to decline by 4%-5% vs. the 6%-7% drop previously expected. And comparable sales should fall by 4%-5% vs. its previous estimate of 8%-9%. 🔺

Like other mall-based retailers, Foot Locker remains in a tough long-term position, especially as the economy weakens. With that said, in this environment, even marginal earnings improvements like those today are a breath of fresh air to investors.

As a result, we saw $FL shares rise nearly 9% today. 📈