💳 Mastercard Launches Crypto Platform

MARKET UPDATE

Good Morning Investor! Shares of meme stock royalty Gamestop (GME) went bananas, surging over 80% in pre-market trading. The catalyst? The legendary “Roaring Kitty” just revealed he's sitting on a $116 million position in the company, plus 120,000 call options. Meanwhile, shares of Moderna (MRNA) popped over 4%. The reason for this uptick? Exciting news that Moderna, in partnership with Merck & Co (MRK), has made headway with their cancer vaccine. Their latest trials are showing promising signs of improved survival rates in skin cancer patients.

TODAY’S BIG HEADLINES

Mastercard Launches Crypto Payments

Facebook is Quietly Becoming an Ecommerce Giant

Boston Beer Co. Could be Bought Out by Japanese Giant

FINTECH & CRYPTOCURRENCY

Mastercard Launches Crypto Payments 💳

Big Player in Town: Last week, payments behemoth Mastercard (MA) unveiled its shiny new toy in the crypto world: the Crypto Credential platform. Designed to make blockchain transfers as smooth and secure as a silk-lined vault, this platform aims to be a game-changer.

• Users on the Bit2Me, Lirium, and Mercado Bitcoin exchanges can now send and receive cryptocurrency with ease.

• The standout feature? Say goodbye to those clunky blockchain addresses. Crypto Credential introduces easy-to-remember aliases, making transactions as simple as sending an email, and way more secure than scribbling down a 64-character address, promoting broader crypto adoption.

It’s a Small World: According to Mastercard’s press release, the Crypto Credential platform is bridging the gap between Latin America and Europe, with grand plans for global domination.

• Users across Peru, Chile, Portugal, Argentina, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Uruguay will be able to conduct both cross-border and domestic transfers across various currencies and blockchains.

Wallet Watch: Foxbit has jumped on the bandwagon as the latest crypto wallet provider to join the Mastercard Crypto Credential pilot program, teaming up with Lulubit, thanks to its smooth integration with Lirium. This growing posse is ready to shake things up in the crypto wallet world.

Security-Focused Middleman: Just like its traditional payment networks, Mastercard's Crypto Credential is all about security. This platform aims to verify interactions between consumers and businesses on blockchain networks by setting specific verification standards. It also simplifies transactions by using metadata to figure out which assets or blockchains the recipient supports. No more guesswork or mismatched transactions!

Roadmap: Mastercard has big dreams for its Crypto Credential platform. Rolling out peer-to-peer payments is just the first step. The company has its sights set on NFTs, ticketing, and other innovative payment methods. Look out, Live Nation-Ticketmaster, there’s a new player in town!

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARIES

Facebook is Quietly Becoming an Ecommerce Giant🛍️

One Platform to Rule Them All: Meta’s (META) colossal Facebook platform has racked up an astounding 3.07 billion monthly active users (MAUs), up 3% from last year. And while many of these users are still enamored with viral cat videos, they're also diving into much more than just location updates and meme-sharing marathons.

Marketplace Madness: Among Facebook's legion of users, a hefty 40%, or about 1.2 billion souls, are busy shopping on Facebook Marketplace, according to Capital One's shopping report.

• This digital bazaar is now rubbing shoulders with ecommerce titans. Having left Craigslist in the dust years ago with 800 million MAUs in 2018.

• Facebook Marketplace is now hot on eBay's heels as the go-to for second-hand treasures, according to a 2022 Statista report.

The Insta-Shopping Surge: Facebook isn’t Meta's only golden goose. Instagram, a darling among the younger crowd, is flexing its ecommerce muscles.

• Meta's latest earnings call revealed that Instagram now boasts a whopping 2 billion, with about 143.35 million of them in the US alone.

• By the end of 2023, it's projected that 35% of Instagram users will be clicking 'buy now,' trailing just behind Facebook’s 40% and TikTok’s 37%.

• A whopping 15% of American ecommerce shoppers kick off their buying journey on Instagram. With such numbers, it's clear that the picture-perfect platform is making serious waves in the ecommerce ocean.

Silent Powerhouse: Meta might not break down its advertising versus ecommerce revenue in earnings reports, but it's safe to say they're quietly morphing into an ecommerce powerhouse. With the figures stacking up, they're giving even the mighty Amazon a run for its money.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Boston Beer Co. Could Be Bought Out By Japanese Giant🍻

Swapping Hands: The global beer industry continues its game of musical chairs, with Boston Beer Company (SAM) reportedly in talks with Japanese whiskey heavyweight Suntory (TYO: 2587) for a potential sale. This twist in the tale has caused Boston Beer's shares to tumble over 8% on Monday, despite a 22% leap on Friday. The rollercoaster ride comes courtesy of Suntory denying the accuracy of these whispers.

Buzzed and Confused: The beer industry is facing seismic shifts in consumer habits. Hard seltzers, caffeinated concoctions, and boycotts like the one targeting Anheuser-Busch (BUD) for its "woke" advertising campaign.

• Sober Truth: With the boycotts aside, US beer consumption fell to its lowest level in a generation last year.

• Health-conscious living is on the rise, with non-alcoholic beverages surging in popularity. Even the UK, known for its pub culture, is seeing a shift towards running and healthier lifestyles, putting a dent in the nation's pub scene.

Brewing Blues: Boston Beer Company is navigating choppy waters lately, with a 4% year-over-year revenue drop in Q4 of 2023. Its hard seltzer brand, Truly Hard Seltzer, dipped by 1%, while canned cocktails barely made a positive splash. The company's shares have sunk over 14% in the past 12 months.

• Despite the turbulence, a deal between Boston Beer and Suntory seems plausible. The duo formed a partnership back in 2021, blending Sauza tequila into ready-to-drink cans and mixing Truly hard seltzer into bottled spirits. This boozy bromance might just be the spark they need.

MORE NEWS

Additional market-moving events🌎

Better Safe Than Sorry: Toyota has halted sales of three of its vehicles after submitting faulty data during pedestrian-safety tests. (Fortune)

Fintech IPO Incoming: Navan, a fintech company valued at $9.2 billion has just appointed a former NYSE exec as the company’s CFO ahead of its anticipated IPO. (CNBC)

Chip Wars Everywhere: In response to the new Copilot Plus laptops being released soon, Chip maker Qualcomm has teased its new Snapdragon X Elite chips for desktop PCs. (The Verge)

Did Somebody Say Monopoly?: Music streaming platform Spotify is hiking its prices for the second time in just one year for its Premium, Duo, and Family plans. (The Verge)

Cheaper EVs: German auto manufacturer Volkswagen have announced plans to make affordable EVs priced at $21,696. (Fortune)

EARNINGS

This Week’s Earnings Calendar📅

OUR PICKS

Our selections performance👾

On Monday the 11th of March, we released our “two superperformers” stock picks which we believe will provide significant outperformance compared to the S&P 500.

Here’s how the two stocks have performed since then:

• Evolution AB: 1,134.50 SEK (📉-13.60%)

• Hims & Hers Health: $20.34 (📈+40.57%)

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