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Happy Sunday!

The ghost of Y2K made a surprising comeback this weekend, but this time, it was real.

On Friday, Microsoft faced a massive global IT outage caused by a faulty update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

The fallout was severe: hospitals, airlines, banks, and even 911 call centers were affected.

CrowdStrike quickly rolled out a fix, but as Warren Buffett wisely said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and only 5 minutes to ruin it.”

The impact on CrowdStrike’s stock was immediate, with shares plummeting about 12% following the incident.

Some key data bites from this week that you should know: 

• Stripe’s valuation has climbed to $70B.

• Netflix’s $NFLX subscribers grew 16.5% YoY to 278M.

• TSMC’s $TSM revenue jumped +40.1% YoY.

• Macy’s $M has rejected a $6.9B takeover from private investors.

• China’s Q2 GDP grew 4.7% YoY, below the 5.1% expected.

• Goldman Sachs’ $GS Q2 profits more than doubled to $3B in Q2.

• Activist Starboard Value has built a 6.6% stake in Match Group $MTCH.

• Apple’s $AAPL India sales increased 33% in the 12 months through March.

• The Biden Administration has cancelled another $1.2B in student debt.

• Adidas $ADDYY raised its full-year operating profit guidance from €700M to €1B.

• RayBan maker EssilorLuxottica $ESLOY is buying Supreme for $1.5B.

• Ford $F plans to spend $3B to expand large truck production.

In today’s newsletter:

• 📈 Google’s Revenue Growth & Acquisitions

• 🧔‍♂️ J.D. Vance’s Stock Portfolio

• 🔑 Countries Buying The Most Gold

• 🏎️ Most Valuable Automakers

• 💰 Revenue Per Employee

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is eyeing its largest acquisition ever.

The company is in advanced talks to acquire Wiz, a cybersecurity startup, in a deal valued at $23B.

Wiz has quickly become one of the fastest-growing software startups globally, securing deals with 40% of Fortune 100 firms.

Both companies have yet to officially confirm the deal.

This move follows Alphabet’s recent decision to step back from acquiring HubSpot, whose market cap currently sits at $24B.

Since 2004, Alphabet has made a handful of notable acquisitions.

Android, YouTube, DoubleClick, DeepMind, and Motorola, among others, have helped propel Alphabet into the tech giant it is today.

This week, Donald Trump selected Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his choice for VP in the 2024 Presidential election.

J.D. Vance is known for his public support of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin.

The Ohio senator is estimated to hold between $100K to $250K of Bitcoin, housed in a Coinbase account.

His disclosed investments also include up to $1M in the Dow Jones ($DIA), S&P 500 ($SPY), and Nasdaq 100 ($QQQ) ETFs.

Additionally, Vance diversifies with safe haven assets like Treasury Bonds and Gold, and holds up to $2.3M in cash and CDs.

You should note that while these holdings are from the Senator’s financial disclosure report filed this past October, the figures are from December 31, 2022.

Therefore, his current holdings may differ, but they offer a snapshot of his overall investment strategy.

Gold recently surged past $2,400 an ounce, hitting its highest price ever after a 16% jump this year.

This is in part thanks to investors anticipating a 100% probability of a rate cut in September.

When rates drop, money often flows out of bonds and CDs into assets like gold.

A weakening dollar also boosts gold’s appeal, with the U.S. dollar recently falling to a five-week low.

But perhaps the biggest driver of gold’s rise? Central bank purchases worldwide due to rising geopolitical risks.

According to UBS, central bank buying is at its highest since the late 1960s. 

Furthermore, data from Gold.org found that in Q1, net demand totaled 290 tonnes, marking the strongest start to any year on record.

China, Turkey, and India are among the biggest buyers. 

China, in particular, had a gold buying spree for 18 months before pausing in May.

Meanwhile, the U.S., which leads in gold reserves with 8,133 tonnes, has kept its reserves flat over the last decade.

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Is Tesla losing its grip in California?

In Q2, new car registrations for Tesla dropped 24% year-over-year in the state, marking the third straight quarter of declining sales.

A report from the California New Car Dealers Association also shows Tesla's EV market share falling to 53.4% from 64.6% a year ago.

Overall, Tesla sales in California are down 17% this year.

Despite this slump, the Model Y remains the top-selling car in the state.

Zooming out further, Tesla remains the most valuable automaker globally, with a market cap of $763B. 

That’s well ahead of Toyota, which holds the number two spot with a $271B market cap.

Companies are becoming more efficient and doing more with less.

These days, more companies are generating $1M in revenue with fewer employees.

In fact, S&P 500 companies are now 70% less labor-intensive than they were in the 80s.

Why does this matter? A leaner operation means higher profit margins.

We can also gauge efficiency, cost management, and scalability across different companies by analyzing a company’s revenue per employee.

With the integration of AI on the rise, this trend of doing more with less is likely to continue.

In fact, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman even predicts that AI could soon enable a single person to run a billion-dollar company.

Notable Companies Reporting Earnings This Week:

• Monday (7/22):

  • SAP $SAP, Verizon $VZ, NXP Semiconductors $NXPI

• Tuesday (7/23):

  • Alphabet $GOOG, Tesla $TSLA, Visa $V, Coca-Cola $KO, Texas Instruments $TXN, UPS $UPS, Lockheed Martin $LMT, Spotify $SPOT, General Motors $GM

• Wednesday (7/24):

  • Thermo Fisher $TMO, IBM $IBM, ServiceNow $NOW, AT&T $T, Waste Management $WM, Chipotle Mexican Grill $CMG, Ford $F

• Thursday (7/25):

  • AbbVie $ABBV, Honeywell $HON, Stellantis $STLA

• Friday (7/26):

  • Bristol-Myers Squibb $BMY, Colgate-Palmolive $CL, 3M $MMM

All of the companies that are reporting earnings next week can be viewed here.

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Buys

• Kevin Hern (R)

  • Company: Exxon Mobil ($XOM)

    • Amount Purchased: $2K - $30K

  • Company: Devon Energy ($DVN)

    • Amount Purchased: $2K - $30K

• Sheldon Whitehouse (D)

  • Company: Goldman Sachs ($GS)

    • Amount Purchased: $1K - $15K

  • Company: Microsoft ($MSFT)

    • Amount Purchased: $1K - $15K

Sells

• Kathy Castor (D)

  • Company: Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.B)

    • Amount Sold: $15K - $50K

Buys

• Charles Schwab ($SCHW)

  • Insider: Walter Bettinger (Co-Chairman and CEO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 25,000

    • $ Amount: $1,656,500

    • SEC Forms: [1]

  • Insider: Richard Wurster (President)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 10,000

    • $ Amount: $620,454

    • SEC Forms: [1]

Sells

• Oracle ($ORCL)

  • Insider: Lawrence Ellison (Executive Chairman)

    • # of Shares Sold: 2,250,000

    • $ Amount: $322,049,910

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Nvidia ($NVDA)

  • Insider: Jensen Huang (President and CEO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 480,000

    • $ Amount: $59,317,901

    • SEC Forms: [1], [2]

• AbbVie ($ABBV)

  • Insider: Richard Gonzalez (Executive Chairman)

    • # of Shares Sold: 282,845

    • $ Amount: $49,497,875

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Uber ($UBER)

  • Insider: Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 500,000

    • $ Amount: $35,957,114

    • SEC Forms: [1]

🤝 Review of the Week