TECH

Apple’s Stock Must Be Using One of Those Big Charging Blocks

Apple’s market cap surpassed $2 trillion for the first time yesterday, cementing its status as the biggest company in the world. Its stock, which will undergo a 4-1 split in the coming weeks, has increased over 50% in 2020. 

Apple wasn’t the first to break the $2 trillion valuation mark—that honor goes to the oil conglomerate Saudi Aramco—and it (probably) won’t be the last. Big Tech buddies Amazon and Microsoft are both sitting at valuations around $1.6 trillion.

• A crazy stat: it took Apple 42 years to reach a $1 trillion valuation, but only two years after that to break $2 trillion.  

How’d Apple do it?

Pretty much by just being Apple. The iPhone maker hasn’t released an entirely new product since the HomePod in 2018, mostly focusing on tweaking or updating existing lines. But if there is one thing Apple does well, it’s make money: Despite the pandemic, Apple’s Q3 profits rose 12% while sales of every single product increased. 

But it doesn’t just sell iPhones: Part of investors’ Apple fever has been fueled by CEO Tim Cook’s increased focus on its services business that includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud, and the App Store. In 2017, Cook outlined his goal to double 2016 services revenue by 2020, which he achieved six months ahead of schedule. 

• It was a prescient move. With iPhone sales plateauing worldwide, Cook’s pivot has investors valuing Apple less like a hardware company and more like a software one.

There will always be controversy

After Cook testified in the antitrust showdown with Congress last month, Fortnite creator Epic Games poked the bear by attempting to circumvent Apple’s 30% cut of in-app purchases. But even as other developers have joined in to criticize Apple’s alleged monopolistic control of the app marketplace, investors remain unfazed. 

Looking ahead...Apple optimism continues to abound. The iPhone 12 coming this fall is widely expected to come equipped with 5G connectivity.

TRAVEL

Airbnb's Doing the IPO Thing

A collapsed travel industry, 25% of its workforce laid off...Airbnb swept it all aside like it’s preparing for an 11am checkout.

Yesterday, the short-term home rental company filed confidential paperwork to go public, a big step that’s been rumored for years.

• Things were looking hairy as the coronavirus decimated the travel industry in March/April. However, the company rebounded thanks to increased demand for rural rental properties.
• It’s still a shell of its former self. Airbnb was last valued at $18 billion when it raised money this spring—only about half its valuation in 2017. 

You buying?

C-SUITE

Additional Maserati Parking Space Needed in Southampton

The CEOs of America's largest companies got a major pay bump (14% on average) from 2018–2019, according to a new study from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

Why? The study’s authors say the increase in realized compensation stems from 1) the power CEOs have to set their own pay and 2) stock-based compensation accounting for a major slice of CEO income. That means execs make more $$$ when their company's stock price jumps, rather than hitting other benchmarks.

• The authors expect CEO pay to leap again in 2020 for that reason—they're paid in stock, and the S&P just reached an all-time high. 

Why it matters: “Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality that we could safely do away with,” the authors argue. To take the long view, CEO pay increased 1,167% from 1978 to 2019, but the typical worker's pay grew a measly 13.7% over the same time span, according to the study's calculations. 

Why it hits different in the COVID era: Some economists are forecasting a “K-shaped” recovery, where those at the top get richer and those at the bottom fall even further behind.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

Move Fast and Break Up Conspiracy Groups

Yesterday, Facebook brought the dislike button down on people using its platform to advance harmful beliefs and inaccurate information. The social media giant... 

• Booted 1,950 groups, 440 pages, and over 10,000 Instagram accounts tied to QAnon, the movement associated with the conspiracy theory that a worldwide network of devil-worshipping pedophiles are trying to take down President Trump, among other outlandish and inaccurate theories.
• Facebook also said it would remove 980 other groups related to potentially violent militias and protest movements, including the far-left group antifa. 

The backstory: The social isolation and economic strain caused by the pandemic have boosted QAnon’s following. Activity on the largest QAnon Facebook groups grew between 200% and 300% in the last six months, according to a NYT analysis. 

At a press conference yesterday, President Trump said he didn't know a lot about QAnon except that its supporters "like me very much." 

Bottom line: QAnon’s explosive recent growth was clearly a bridge too far for Facebook to ignore. But by policing dangerous beliefs, it’s proving that it’s willing to...police beliefs, a break from past positions.

AUTO

What Is a Spinoff and Should GM Do It?

GM’s stock got a nice little bump this week after analysts tossed around the idea that the American carmaker could spin off its fledgling electric vehicle division. But what exactly is a spinoff and why might GM be interested?

A spinoff is when a company breaks off a portion of its operations and turns it into a separate entity with its own management and ownership structure. 

• Spinoffs can be helpful because 1) it lets each business focus on what they're best at and 2) in theory, it gives the spun-off asset more room to grow. 
• Morning Brew, for example, could spin off our swag business if it distracted us from writing newsletters and we thought it could eventually go toe-to-toe with Lululemon.

Morgan Stanley estimates GM’s electric vehicle business, which hopes to have 20 fully electric models by 2023, to be worth $20 billion as a standalone unit. 

Call it the Tesla effect: When an all-electric car company is worth 8x as much as you, you take a hint. By spinning off its EV unit, GM might better compete with its suddenly much larger sibling.

GAMING

A Videogame...or a Religion?

If you’re the type of person who starts drooling every time you hear the word “fuselage,” Microsoft just left your roommate a puddle to mop off the floor. On Tuesday, the company released the latest edition of Flight Simulator, its videogame that allows players to take control of a virtual airplane cockpit and fly anywhere on Earth. 

Microsoft’s digital rendering of our planet is incredibly realistic, turning even the most cynical tech writers into philosophers:

• “The game plunged me into sustained meditations on the permeability between the real world and the online one.”—NYT op-ed
• “Flight may provide the most vivid, consumer-friendly demonstration in years of how the bleeding edge of modern technology can provide fundamentally new human experiences.”—Protocol
• “The visual fidelity is expletive-worthy.”—The Air Current

Bottom line: Released in 1982, Flight Simulator is older than Microsoft products Windows, Word, and Office. But perhaps none have aged so gracefully.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Target continued the big box momentum, posting its largest-ever quarterly increase in sales yesterday. 
• Nvidia's data-center business did more in sales last quarter than its core gaming unit for the first time ever.
• President Trump called for a boycott on Goodyear after an image appeared to show a policy that deemed “MAGA Attire” unacceptable. The company said the slide in question was not “created or distributed by Goodyear corporate.”
• Wildfires continued to rage across California, blanketing San Francisco in smoke.
• Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy Momenta Pharmaceuticals, a company working on treatments for rare diseases, for $6.5 billion.
• Instagram released a new feature that could keep you scrolling for even longer.

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BREW'S BETS

Buying crypto is hard: The app Coinbase tries to make it simple, but...is it doing a good job? This article breaks down how Coinbase works and teaches you a lot about app UX along the way. 

New comics: 1) What It’s Like to Lose Your First Language 2) The Great Escape (about Harry and Meghan’s English exit)

Cleaning aisle still sparse at your local convenience store? Try making your own disinfectant spray and all-purpose cleaner. You can even DIY cleaning wipes.

WHAT'S TRENDING TRIVIA

The following chart represents U.S. Google search interest for gin, tequila, whiskey, and vodka over the last five years. Can you pick out which color corresponds to which liquor? 

Neal Freyman/Google Trends

WHAT'S TRENDING ANSWER

Yellow is whiskey, green is vodka, red is tequila, and blue is gin.

H/t to Chartr for the idea