Consumer & Retail Report #7: 8/21 Recap

Summary of the Week in Consumer and Retail

Welcome to our Consumer and Retail recap where we share noteworthy headlines, updates, and insights. Never spam.

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Table of Contents:

1. Company Announcements

2. Corporate Shakeups

3. M&A Updates

4. Financing Updates

5. Insider Buying/Selling

6. Macro Updates

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Company Announcements

• Carnival (CCL) updates COVID protocols, no testing for vaccinated guests (Release)

• Starbucks (SBUX) asks labor board to halt union votes temporarily (AP)

• Walmart (WMT) to offer Paramount+ streaming at no cost (Press Release)

• Electronic Arts (EA) authorizes a new program to repurchase up to $2.6 bln shares of its common stock (Street Insider)

• Apple (AAPL) will make Apple Watch in Vietnam (Nikke)

• Amazon (AMZN) warehouse workers in Albany, NY filed a petition to hold a union election (Bloomberg)

• Home Depot (HD) authorizes a new $15 bln share repurchase program, replacing its previous authorization (Morningstar)

• Madison Square Garden (MSGE) Board of Directors approves exploration of potential spin-off (Businesswire)

• Cineworld Group Plc (CNWGY), the owner of Regal Cinemas, is preparing to file for bankruptcy (WSJ)

• Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) has hired law firm to help it address a debt load that has become unmanageable (Bloomberg Law)

• Wayfair (W) announced a workforce reduction involving approximately 870 employees (SEC Filing)

• DoorDash (DASH) is ending its partnership with Walmart (WMT) next month (Business Insider)

• Jack In The Box (JACK) aiming to sell at least 250 restaurants to franchisees (WSJ)

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Corporate Shakeups

• New York Times (NYT) taps Bank of America amid ValueAct challenge (Reuters)

• Third Point discloses stake of nearly $1 bln in Disney (DIS), pushes for changes (Reuters)

• Home Depot (HD) elects CEO and President Ted Decker as Chair of the Board, effective Oct. 1, 2022 (PR Newswire)

• Foot Locker (FL) appoints former Ulta Beauty (ULTA) head Mary Dillon as CEO (Reuters)

• Starbucks (SBUX) chief operating officer John Culver to exit company as COO position is eliminated (Nation’s Restuarant News)

• Ryan Cohen has officially sold out of Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) and made a crisp $60 million in profit while doing so (SEC - RC Ventures / SEC - Ryan Cohen)

MuddyWatersResearch @muddywatersre

Let us bow our heads and remember that ⁦@ryancohen⁩ likes to complain about short sellers.

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M&A Updates

• Nerdy (NRDY) Acquires Coding Education Startup as Demand for Computer Science Education Grow (Businesswire)

• Reebok owner Authentic Brands strikes $254 million deal for Ted Baker fashion brand (CNBC)

• IKEA to liquidate Russian unit as part of sanctions-led pullout (Reuters)

• Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) says it is not looking to buy Bang Energy maker (Reuters)

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Financing Updates

• Bark (BARK) files prospectus related to the issuance of up to 4.6 million shares of common stock (SEC Filing)

• (Old but interesting) Reborn Coffee aims for $6 million IPO (Seeking Alpha) - **on my radar to investigate as a potential short**

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Insider Buying/Selling

Buys

• FIGS (FIGS) Director purchased 10,000 shares at $12.38-$12.76 worth ~$125k (SEC Filing)

Sells

• O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY)

  • CEO sold 300 shares at ~$750.19 worth ~$120k (SEC Filing)

  • EV Chairman of the Board sold 11,500 shares at $728.13 worth ~$8.4 mln (SEC Filing)

  • Director sold 5,000 shares at $739.38 worth ~$3.7 mln (SEC Filing)

• Dutch Bros (BROS)

  • CEO sold 71,125 shares at $45.73-$47.23 worth ~$3.3 mln (SEC Filing)

  • CFO sold 85K shares at $45.79-$47.25 worth ~$3.9 mln (SEC Filing)

  • COO sold 12,000 shares at $43.74-$45.51 worth ~$538k (SEC Filing)

• Groupon (GRPN) 10% owner, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. sold 498,989 shares at $12.22-$13.74 worth ~$6.6 mln (SEC Filing)

• Trupanion (TRUP) EVP of Legal sold 1,600 shares at $80 worth ~$128k (SEC Filing)

• e.l.f. Beauty (ELF)

  • CEO sold 68,344 shares at ~$38.01 worth ~$2.4 mln (SEC Filing)

  • Director sold 12,852 shares at ~$37.54 worth ~$482k (SEC Filing)

• Kraft-Heinz (KHC) VP, Global Controller sold 26,456 shares at ~$38.63 worth ~$1 mln (SEC Filing)

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Macro Updates

• U.S. Retail Spending Held Steady in July (WSJ)

  • The takeaway - Overall retail sales—a measure of spending at stores, online and in restaurants—were flat in July compared with the prior month’s revised 0.8% increase. But a measure of spending that strips out gasoline and auto sales rose 0.7% last month from June, showing shoppers maintained the ability to spend with much of the spending moving online.

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Until next time,

Paul Cerro | Cedar Grove Capital

Personal Twitter: @paulcerro

Fund Twitter: @cedargrovecm

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