🍎 Tim Cook Sells Apple

The weekend is here.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sold 13% of his stake in the company, netting about $41.5M after taxes, in his largest share sale in over two years. Despite this sale, Cook still has around 3.3M Apple shares, valued at roughly $570M. Apple’s stock has surged 39% this year, significantly benefitting stakeholders like Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which holds a stake worth over $170B.

In today’s newsletter:

• 🩴 Birkenstock Is Ready To IPO

• 🔋 Tesla Q3 Vehicle Deliveries

• 📈 Meta’s Insane ARPU Growth

Let’s dive right in!

🩴 Birkenstock Is Ready To IPO

Birkenstock, the renowned sandal company, recently filed an F-1 and is gearing up to go public on the New York Stock Exchange despite a challenging retail environment where nearly all consumers are reducing discretionary spending.

Despite the struggles of some companies in their recent IPOs and a modest projected growth of 2.9% in global footwear sales in 2022, Birkenstock aims to attract investors by boosting sales through its website and boutiques.

The company, which has successfully rebranded itself as a fashionable choice and maintained its popularity through shifts towards casual dressing, plans to sell at least 32M shares priced between $44-$49 each, intending to use the proceeds to pay down debt.

🔋 Tesla Q3 Vehicle Deliveries

This week, Tesla reported Q3 deliveries of 435,059 vehicles, below Wall Street’s 441,000-461,640 Q3 estimate and marking a decline from the previous quarter's 466,140 delivered vehicles. Despite this nearly 7% drop from the previous quarter, the company cautiously maintained its 2023 target of approximately 1.8M vehicle deliveries.

Analysts note that while Q3 results were not great, upcoming ventures like the refreshed Model 3 and the anticipated Cybertruck, whose production and limited deliveries are expected to commence soon, provide a positive outlook. Investors and analysts are eyeing Q4 with high expectations to compensate for Q3's performance, and Tesla will release Q3 earnings on October 18th.

📈 Meta’s Insane ARPU Growth

Meta's Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is a pivotal metric to measure the company’s revenue generating efficiency. The company derives over 97% of its revenue from advertising by monetizing user time and activity on its platforms. Since 2011, Meta has been able to successfully increase it’s ARPU by roughly 700%, an incredible figure.

However, future ARPU growth may be at risk due to regulatory concerns. In response to European Union rules that may limit its ad-targeting capabilities, Meta Platforms is considering introducing a subscription fee for European users who prefer not to have their digital activity used for ad targeting.

The proposed plan involves charging approximately €10 per month for ad-free use of Facebook or Instagram on desktop, and about €13 on mobile, with an additional €6 for each linked account, to navigate around the rules without sacrificing its main revenue stream from personalized ads. The final decision from regulators and the specific pricing and timing details are yet to be finalized and officially reported.

This week, Meta started rolling out generative AI tools to enable advertisers to create diverse content like image backgrounds and text variations, while also enhancing business messaging on platforms like Messenger and WhatsApp. Meta also recently launched "Meta Verified," a subscription service for businesses on its Instagram and Facebook platforms, starting at $21.99 USD/month per platform or $34.99 USD/month for both.

The amount of revenue Meta will generate from all of their recent announcements and offerings will definitely be something to watch as they continue to traverse strict regulations in Europe.

Notable Companies Reporting Earnings Next Week:

• Tuesday:

  • Pepsico ($PEP)

• Thursday:

  • Fastenal ($FAST), Delta Airlines ($DAL), Walgreens ($WBA), Domino’s Pizza ($DPZ)

• Friday:

  • UnitedHealth Group ($UNH), JPMorgan ($JPM), BlackRock ($BLK), Citigroup ($C), Wells Fargo (WFC)

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

Buys

• Asana ($ASAN)

  • Insider: Dustin Moskovitz (CEO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 1,015,000

    • $ Amount: $17,792,950

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Howard Hughes ($HHC)

  • Insider: Pershing Square Capital Management (Director)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 82,400

    • $ Amount: $5,910,552

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Nike ($NKE)

  • Insider: Robert Swan (Director)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 13,072

    • $ Amount: $1,256,611

    • SEC Forms: [1]

Sells

• Apple ($AAPL)

  • Insider: Tim Cook (CEO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 240,569

    • $ Amount: $41,498,284

    • SEC Forms: [1]

  • Insider: Deirdre O’Brien (SVP)

    • # of Shares Sold: 65,536

    • $ Amount: $11,279,673

    • SEC Forms: [1]

  • Insider: Katherine Adams (SVP)

    • # of Shares Sold: 65,536

    • $ Amount: $11,278,365

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Palo Alto Networks ($PANW)

  • Insider: Lee Klarich (CPO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 45,000

    • $ Amount: $10,613,868

    • SEC Forms: [1]

  • Insider: Nir Zuk (CTO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 36,000

    • $ Amount: $8,489,176

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Blackstone ($BX)

  • Insider: Joseph Baratta (Director)

    • # of Shares Sold: 74,565

    • $ Amount: $8,002,567

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Netflix ($NFLX)

  • Insider: Reed Hastings (Executive Chairman)

    • # of Shares Sold: 17,717

    • $ Amount: $6,736,063

    • SEC Forms: [1]