Today's big stories

Twitter reported a weaker-than-expected second quarter
Goldman Sachs thinks the European stock market is all set to outperform its American rival – Read Now
Consumer staples Unilever and Hershey reported strong updates

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Mean Tweets

What’s Going On Here?

Twitter reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Thursday, and investors were quick to make their opinions known – from behind their screens, obviously.

What Does This Mean?

The number of active users on the platform was 34% higher than the same time last year – the fastest growth since Twitter first reported the metric. That was way higher than investors were expecting, as more and more homebound folks tried to stay up to date with the good, the bad, and the ugly of the last few months. But Twitter also felt the effects of the slowdown in advertising spending – driven by both civil unrest and the financial toll of the pandemic – and its revenue fell by a bigger-than-expected 23% versus the same time last year, leading its quarterly profit to miss forecasts too.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Business as unusual.
Twitter’s stock initially rose 6% on Thursday. That might’ve been because investors saw positive signs for the future: more monetizable users, after all, should result in even higher revenues for the company – or at least, it should when advertisers start spending money to win over customers again. But the enthusiasm for Twitter’s stock is also at odds with some potentially more damaging developments: the company’s ban on political ads last year, the US government’s mooted decision to remove lawsuit protections, and – more recently – a major hacking scandal (tweet this).

The bigger picture: Snap out of it.
Snap’s stock fell earlier this week after the company’s quarterly results showed its lockdown-induced boost in activity had already subsided. Investors will now try to work out what Snap and Twitter’s updates mean for Facebook’s earnings next week. On the one hand, its last quarter was better than predicted, and recent boycotts from advertisers aren’t expected to impact its earnings much. But on the other, it’s bigger than the rest of them – so if they're struggling, it might be too.

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2/3 Premium

European Vs. US Stocks: Fight!

What’s Going On Here?

Goldman Sachs is backing the European stock market to beat its American rival – and the investment bank has picked out a few notable sectors that could help it do just that.

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3/3

Comfort Food

What’s Going On Here?

Turns out eating your way through lockdown was more productive than you thought: chocolatier Hershey and Ben & Jerry’s maker Unilever both reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits on Thursday.

What Does This Mean?

US consumer confidence is miles ahead of Europe’s, and that much was clear from Unilever’s update: the European packaged food giant’s sales growth – which barely fell at all compared to major analysts’ pessimistic expectations – was partly thanks to its booming North American business. Even when panic-fueled stockpiling was out the way, Unilever continued to benefit from high demand for its foods, ice creams, and teas – though that was somewhat offset by weak demand from the partly shuttered restaurant sector.

America’s Hershey – which reported a higher-than-expected profit on Thursday – has been going through the same thing, and said it’s predicting US sales growth will increase in the second half of the year when, among other things, it hikes the prices of some of its products.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: Hershey’s kisses.
Unilever warned it’s not out of the woods yet: over half its revenue comes from “emerging markets” like India and Brazil, both of which are very much in the middle of coronavirus – meaning demand for certain products could freeze up. But Hershey isn’t as dependent on those markets – and since the value of the US dollar has been falling against other major currencies, any money the company earns outside the US will be worth more when it’s brought home, potentially sweetening its profits.

For markets: The boring-er, the better.
Unilever and Hershey’s stocks rose 9% and 4% respectively on Thursday, while personal care company Kimberly-Clark – also out with a positive update – saw its shares climb 3%. Good news for earnings doesn’t always end with rising stocks, but the predictability of these so-called consumer staple companies during a downturn clearly seems to be helping them hold their own.

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💬 Quote of the day

“This stardust won’t settle, because none of us should settle.”

– Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister of New Zealand)

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🤓 Pick up where you left off

If you wanted to learn something new during lockdown, but got caught up with the whole “trying to stay sane” thing, now’s your chance to pick up where you left off: we have a bunch of events that’ll show you how to pick stocks, help you invest in your future, and much more besides.

🇿🇲 Zambia: Millennial Investing – 11am Zambia Time, July 25th
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🇬🇧 UK: The Bright Future for Renewable Energy – 12pm UK Time, July 30th
🇺🇸 USA: Money Behaviors 2020 – 1pm New York Time, July 30th
🇿🇦 South Africa: The Impact of COVID-19 on Cryptocurrency – 7pm South Africa Time, Aug 6th
🇬🇧 UK: The Power of ETFs – 12pm UK Time, August 8th
🇭🇰 Hong Kong: Is Fashion Going Out Of Style? – 9pm Hong Kong Time, August 11th

😭 In case you missed it

Here’s some of the most popular Finimize Premium content this week…

Premium Insights:

😎 Goldman predicts how stocks will look in 2030
😓 Zero-fee trading may soon be a thing of the past
🎩 Traditional portfolios might not last much longer either

Packs:
🧐 Here’s how the world’s richest are investing
👜 What’s next for the luxury industry?
💰 Should you save, invest, or trade?

📚 What we're reading

Who needs a cocktail masterclass? (Outside)
You looked great in a mohawk (Vanity Fair)
Graphic novels are tackling inequality too (Electric Lit)

Finimize - 😭 Twitter desperately needs ads

Today's big stories

Mean Tweets

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

European Vs. US Stocks: Fight!

🎁 A treat from Crypto.com

Comfort Food

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

🤓 Pick up where you left off

😭 In case you missed it

Older messages

📈 Microsoft saves tech stocks

🇪🇺 Europe's 860 billion rescue package

💰 Alibaba just got richer

🎟️ New Events: Global Economic Outlook, Financial Risk, & Millennial Investing

📉 Netflix drops 12%

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