Street Talk

YES!

In response to a question about the health of the global consumer, Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu didn’t mince his words.

“Yes. The short answer is yes. We think the consumer is still in good shape.” Vasant Prabhu, CFO, Visa

All Mouth and no Trousers?

It wasn’t so long ago when the “Metaverse” was all the rage. Facebook even changed its name…

Today it’s all about Artificial Intelligence with AI mentioned 57 times on the Meta Q1 earnings call. Fortunately, Unlike the money pit “Metaverse”, AI has legs.

“AI recommendations have driven a more than 24% increase in time spent on Instagram. Our AI work is also improving monetization.” Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman & CEO, Meta Platforms

Music Magic

The music industry continues to go from strength to strength with Spotify recently surpassing 500m active users.

“The outperformance was broad-based, meaning growth was pretty evenly spread across every region without a single market dominating.” Daniel Ek, CEO & Chairman, Spotify

Chocolate Fixes Everything

Hershey’s enjoyed volume growth of 3.3% in the quarter despite price increases of 8.9%.

“While consumers are shopping on tighter budgets, candy and snacks remain an affordable way to bring joy.” Michele Buck, Chairman, President & CEO, The Hershey Company

It’s a similar story for Mondelez, maker of Oreo’s…

“Volume mix for the quarter was more than 3 percentage points, demonstrating the continued strength and resiliency of our beloved brands and categories even in an inflationary environment.” Dirk Van de Put, Chairman & CEO, Mondelez

…Accompanied by a soft drink of course

Pepsico upgraded full year 2023 organic revenue growth to 8% (previously 6%).

“We're seeing both better elasticities than some of the worst-case scenarios we were planning for.” Ramon Luis Laguarta, Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo

Anyone for Mexican?

Chipotle grew same store sales by 10.9% partly driven by exciting menu innovations.

“We responded to a real-time opportunity to support our passionate TikTok fans who wanted Fajita Veggies, and Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette. The results have been outstanding.” Brian R. Niccol, Chairman & CEO, Chipotle Mexican Grill

Anything you can do (I can do better)

McDonalds generated global comparable sales growth of a staggering 12.6% for the quarter.

“It's not that we're disproportionately benefiting from gaining share with low-income consumers. We're seeing share improvement across all income groups.” Christopher Kempczinski, President & CEO, McDonald's

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Leisure travel shows no sign of slowing down as evidenced by Norwegian Cruise Lines.

“Our onboard revenue generation, which is our best real-time indicator of how consumers are feeling financially is performing exceptionally well. Demand and pricing continues to be strong, not only for 2023, but also as we look further out to sailings in 2024 and beyond.” Harry Sommer, CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line

Home Sweet Home

Commentary from a major US homebuilder suggests the worm has turned.

“The Spring selling season is off to an encouraging start. Despite higher mortgage rates and inflationary pressures, demand improved during the quarter.” David Auld, President & CEO, D.R. Horton