Good Evening! On Wednesday, the U.S. market experienced a decline following the Fed’s suggestion of a possible halt to its campaign of increasing interest rates in jube, but the likelihood of doing so was low.
The S&P 500 witnessed a decrease of 0.70%, while the Dow Jones fell the most by 0.08%. The Nasdaq Composite experienced a drop of 0.46%.
I WILL HAVE ONE OF EACH PLEASE
The parent company of the well knows KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, Yum! Brands (YUM), released some tasty Q1 earnings! YUM’s successful implementation of value offerings and promotions resulted in higher same-store sales and more!
- Revenue: $1.65 Billion vs. $1.63 Billion Expected
- Same-Store Sales: 8% vs. 5.76% Expected
- Taco Bell: 8% vs. 6.39% Expected
- KFC: 9% vs. 6.74% Expected
- Pizza Hut: 7% vs. 3.27% Expected
- Earnings Per Share: $1.06 vs. $1.13 Expected
Let’s look deeper into the biggest same-store growth(Pizza Hut)! Pizza Hut experienced growth primarily in the U.S., which accounted for 41% of total sales! So, what helped? The company launched “Melts”, a digital-first product aimed at younger consumers. It was released earlier in the year as part of their growth strategy to maintain relevance.
Update for International stores. Mid-April of this year marked the completion of the company’s exit from the Russian market. The company sold the KFC business to a local operator. However, in the report, the company stated that the effects of this transaction will not extend past the first quarter.
IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, JOIN THEM?
Following Chegg Inc. CEO Dan Rosensweig‘s statement during an earnings call on Monday regarding the chatbot’s negative impact on new subscriber recruitment, Chegg’s stock experienced a significant decline of nearly 50%. This is the first known instance of a company acknowledging that ChatGPT has had a negative impact on its business.
So what will they do? Chegg has collaborated with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to create Cheggmate, a conversational AI tool that will undergo testing this month. It is not only them… Duolingo has introduced a subscription level that incorporates an AI chatbot for language practice and an AI-based error explanation tool.
Did you know… Chegg’s cautionary statement regarding ChatGPT is in contrast to companies that use AI as a means to generate investor enthusiasm. According to Insider, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon mentioned “AI” a total of 168 times on their last week’s quarter earnings calls.