โ๏ธ Happy Monday
๐ Swiggyโs debut was rockyโstock finished down 7% by Friday. What weighed on things further is Sensex finishing 2% down for the week.
๐ Global markets will be watching two bigg things this weekโcan the Trump rally sustain, and what does Nvidia have in store for earnings.
Letโs hit it.
1 Big Thing: Mamaearth Struggles To Delight ๐
Mamaearth's sparkle is fading as stiff competition and ever-changing customer preferences take a toll on its business momentum.
The deal: for the July to September quarter, Mamaearthโs sales dropped by 7% year-on-year, a concerning trend for a growth-stage company trading at expensive multiples. Even worse, profits went from โน42 crore same quarter last year to a loss of over โน18 crores this time around.
However, management points to a different issue: the decline apparently was driven by a shift in how Mamaearth sells its products in offline channels, moving from a super-stockist distributor model to a direct distributor model, which led to inventory corrections.
But profitability also dropped, with the companyโs total expenses increasing over 9% during the quarter, and its unclear whatโs causing the stink.
Regardless, markets have spoken, and the stock has been on the shit list so far in 2024. Also, worth noting that in order to keep investing and to stay competitive, Mamaearth had recently sold โน1,763 crores worth of stock, which wasnโt loved by the markets either.
Bottomline: while the addressable market for cosmetic products remains attractive, the Mamaearth and its peers need to do it profitably. Declining top-line makes achieving that objective even harder.
2. Nvidia big task at hand ๐ธ
Nvidiaโs earnings are set for Wednesday, bit later than most of the other Magnificent 7 companies, but far more consequential to the marketโs sanity.
Markets will be focusing on a few key areas, particularly growth in Nvidiaโs Data Center segment, which sells chips to AI buyers.
The big questions will revolve around:
Commentary on big deals of Blackwell GPUs and the delivery pipeline for 2025.
Improvements in margins and the uptake of Nvidiaโs software offerings.
Big picture: market places a lot of weight on โGodfather of AI,โ Jensen Huangโs signals to judge whether AIโs momentum will sustain or if the boom is nearing its peak. This call is important to set the tone for 2025.
3. Who got the bag? ๐ฐ
In India, vehicle intelligence startups Vecmocon raised $10 million from Ecosystem Integrity Fund, as well as previous investors Blume Ventures. The company provides various components for the EV ecosystem, along with software to measure performance. (Story by Entrackr)
In Europe, The Exploration Company raised $150 million. The company plans to offer a European solution for transporting cargo to and from the International Space Station, challenging the current duopoly of solution providers, both based in the U.S. (Story by TechCrunch)
What else are we snackinโ ๐ฟ
๐ฅ Streaming Wars: Spotify is stepping up its competition with YouTube by launching new tools for video podcasts, including creator payments based on engagement.
๐ Missle Milestone: India has joined the elite club with successful test of its first long-range hypersonic missile, surpassing 1500 km range.
๐บ JioHotstar Saga: The JioHotstar saga has finally ended after siblings Jainam and Jivika transfered the domain to Reliance for free.
Thatโs a wrap for today! Donโt let the weekday blues get to you. Weโll be back tomorrow, like clockwork!
If you enjoyed todayโs issue, hit that ๐