Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for August 16th in 3:06 minutes.

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Today's big stories

Quarterly updates from Disney and Airbnb offered two perspectives on the post-pandemic recovery
Companies with happier employees have higher stock prices, so here’s how to take advantage – Read Now
As US stocks hit record highs, global optimism appears to be lifting the Chinese market as well

Where The Magic Happens

What’s Going On Here?

Disney announced stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings late last week, with all seemingly well again in the Magic Kingdom.

What Does This Mean?

There was a lot for investors to like in Disney’s latest report. Streaming service Disney+ now boasts a higher-than-expected 116 million paying customers – closing the gap on arch-enemy Netflix, which has had a tough couple of quarters (tweet this).

But while the loss-making Disney+ is a bet on the company’s future, its theme parks, experiences, and products segment speaks more to Toontown’s present. And this didn’t just roar back to life last quarter: it returned to profitability for the first time since the pandemic began. Granted, the majority of the segment’s profit came from people buying merchandise, but beggars can’t be choosers – and with Disneylands getting busier, it probably won’t be long until the parks become profitable again in their own right.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: What can I say except you’re welcome?
Disney’s share price rose 3% on Friday as investors booked back into the House of Mouse. While the average Disney+ subscriber may be paying a lower price than predicted, the company is still adding them faster than expected – and that should mean more profit in the long term. Theme parks’ reopenings, meanwhile, promise more profit in the short term too. And since they’re largely an outdoor pursuit, those parks should prove relatively pandemic-proof if coronavirus takes a turn for the worse.

The bigger picture: Be our guest.
Airbnb also notched a better-than-expected second quarter, but it suffered from the flip side of the trends buoying up Disney right now – and its stock initially fell 3% on Friday. With new virus variants still a largely unknown quantity, the online travel platform warned investors that this quarter’s bookings (and cancellations) could lead to disappointing sales.

You might also like: How to spot when it’s time to buy Airbnb’s stock.

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2. Analyst Take

Happy Employees, Happy Life: The Key To Better Stock Market Performance

New analysis has found that shares of US companies with the happiest workers significantly and consistently outperform those with the unhappiest workers.

Employee happiness is likely to be linked to good environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices at the company. Together, these drive earnings growth, attractive returns on capital, and share price outperformance.

The good news is that ESG data is widely available – and with the right approach, you can easily use it to help inform your investment decisions.

So that’s today’s Insight: how you can use worker happiness data to build a profitable portfolio that’s also ESG-friendly – along with tips on which stocks to buy and avoid.

Read or listen to the Insight here

Motley Fool’s “Double Down” Recommendations

Market-beating stock ideas aren’t exactly new to Motley Fool co-founder Tom Gardner.

But every so often, Tom and his team issue a rare “double down” recommendation.

It’s a chance for investors who missed the boat on a promising stock to get in again, and a chance for investors who didn’t to potentially add to their gains.

And they’ve got a strong track record for this type of thing: Netflix, Amazon, Apple – they’re all previous “double down” picks.

Tom’s got three more he’d like to share with investors like you: just sign up to his Stock Advisor.

Sign Up Here