Episode 81: Inflation continues to be a major theme
Welcome to May! Inflation continues to be a major theme of the corporate earnings season, with Warren Buffett saying over the weekend that Berkshire Hathaway is seeing "very substantial inflation" across its portfolio of companies.
Warren Buffett became the latest big name to weigh in on inflation, telling viewers of the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting this weekend that he and his team are "seeing substantial inflation." Concern about inflation is growing louder and becoming more pronounced among investors and the general public, even as the Fed and many mainstream economists insist price hikes will be temporary and are not worrisome. "People have money in their pocket, and they pay higher prices... it's almost a buying frenzy," Buffett said.
Female retail investors continue to pile into Robinhood’s platform, almost quadrupling the company’s women customers in February from a year earlier, the company said. Women now make up almost 30% of the company’s active customers, according to Robinhood’s blog post. Female crypto customers jumped seven-fold since the end of 2020. More than a third of the platform’s customers are non-white, compared with other 20% at other brokerages, the company said, citing survey data.
Checking in (all at once)... It's hotel week, with Hilton, Hyatt, Booking, Expedia, Tripadvisor, Starwood, and Wynn Resorts all dropping earnings. A pandemic isn't the best time to sip mojitos poolside, but we have seen "revenge spending." Flight and restaurant sales surged in March, and TSA numbers are notching pandemic highs. But global Covid cases are still soaring, and earnings are expected to be lower than a year ago.
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IPO
ZipRecruiter, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based hiring marketplace, picked May 26 for its direct listing on the NYSE. It reports an $86 million profit on $418 million in revenue for 2020, versus a $6.5 million net loss on $430 million in revenue for 2019, while shareholders include IVP and Wellington Management. http://axios.link/i9Hc