Host 3 (3:37)

Mandeep, another thing that caught my eye is management saying premium, premium rides are growing 35%. Is this becoming a real margin and revenue driver for the company? All I know is when I take Uber Lyft I pick the cheapest option. But I guess some people take the premium ones.

Mandeep Singh (3:52)

Yeah, look, they have segmented the market really well. In the case of Uber, I would say they have done a better job in terms of segmenting the market and layering on subscriptions. You know, for that kind of service, where somebody wants a black suv, then you know, they prioritize the customers who is a subscription user. And in the case of Lyft they talked about, you know, partnering with Chase, Sapphire and you know, airlines to have those sort of alliances and all that is great I think in terms of driving engagement and stickiness because for the most part people used to just compare prices and that's how they were arbitraging, you know, whichever one had the lower cost. When it comes, should somebody choose a

Host 2 (4:42)

particular ride, should Lyft just sell itself? Mandeep it just doesn't feel like they can scale here vis a vis Uber. What do we do with this thing?

Mandeep Singh (4:50)

Well, I think down the line I do expect, you know, one of the platforms, whether it's Tesla or Vemo, leveraging someone like Lyft or even a Doordash which has a partnership right now with Lyft in terms of cross sell opportunities between food delivery and mobility. So DoorDash is a great example of a company that has scaled really well on their delivery side, is making that pivot to agent AI use cases. And so, you know, for them it would make a ton of sense to expand into, you know, ride sharing with an acquisition as they have done with their acquisition of Deliveroo in the uk. So I do think, you know, that combination makes a ton of sense.

Host 3 (5:41)

And we can go to Airbnb because they also raised their full year outlook, but profits still missed because spending jumped. What do you make of the balance they're doing right now? Because I know they're expanding into hotels, airport pickups, and a lot of other add on services.

Mandeep Singh (5:55)

Airbnb's big advantage has been that they get a lot of direct traffic and they are a verb, you know, similar to what Uber is on the ride sharing side. So the problem they're trying to solve for is the saturation in that alternative accommodations market. So they have to expand in new categories. It sounds like hotels and possibly, you know, layering on some ride sharing services or airlines would make a ton of sense, but they also have to cater to this agent take shift that is happening. So I think platform level, there will be some changes, but clearly they have the stickiness when it comes to the host they have on the platform and the inventory they have when it comes to, you know, exclusivity on Airbnb's platform.

Host 2 (6:46)

So Airbnb, I mean, they actually boosted their sales outlook, but Expedia had some problems there. Is that, is that an Expedia specific issue or is that just people doing more on Airbnb, maybe less on Expedia?

Mandeep Singh (7:01)

I mean, they, all these companies have a big catalyst in FIFA World cup, you know, for the second half. And we know these big events drive a lot of demand when it comes to, you know, platforms like Airbnb. Even, you know, Uber and Lyft will get a boost during that quarter. So there's no doubt that, you know, no matter what the macro situation is with higher gas prices and what's going on, the FIFA World cup will be a big event. And all these companies should do well, you know, in terms of catering to that demand.

Host 2 (7:36)

I mean, the Jersey Shore mansion is only about an hour, hour and 10 minutes away from MetLife Stadium. I'd love to visit, check it out.

Host 3 (7:44)

What about. Okay, so airlines and other travel companies are warning about softer demand, but Airbnb sounds pretty optimistic. Why do you think it's holding up when you made the point earlier that they have direct access to these companies, whether airlines or hotels.

Mandeep Singh (8:00)

Yeah, look, I think when it comes to the supply side, Airbnb still has some exclusive supply. Like you could say, you know, I would go across different hotel chains depending on whoever is offering a lower price. But when it comes to price, elasticity around some of the inventory that Airbnb has, which you cannot find anywhere else. That's where Airbnb has an advantage and especially for larger groups. And you know, if you're talking about big events, that certainly should hold up much better. But you are seeing some softness in, you know, travel overall, which is why you see pressure on Expedia and, you know, some of the other travel names.

Host 1 (8:45)

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Sarah Fryer (9:14)

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IBM Sending a file is easy. Making sure your clients understand the file is the hard part. But with PDF spaces in Adobe Acrobat, you can give your clients the full picture with custom intros, audio summaries, and a helpful AI assistant to your docs. So if you want to stop the endless follow ups, do that with Acrobat. Need to make your docs crystal clear. Do that with Acrobat. Want to make sure your clients get everything they need to hear? Do that with Acrobat. Learn more@adobe.com do that with Acrobat.

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Host 2 (10:30)

More earnings we got some more of the restaurant companies reporting earnings here. We want to get to it with Michael Halen, Senior Restaurant and Food Service Analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. Hey Mike, let's start with a name we don't talk about too much. Which is the company or one of the companies that provides the actual food for the restaurants? You see all the trucks double parked as they deliver food to the various restaurants in town. US Foods. Talk to us about that company and what did they report?

Michael Halen (10:57)

Yeah, you know, more of the same. I mean, you Know, this is one of the best run food service distributors in the country. You know, they're looking to grow sales a little bit through M A but also with improved technology for their customers, they're shifting to a 100 commission based sales plan to kind of motivate them to sell certain things, but particularly branded products which can, can boost margins. You know, just a really well company that's taking share slowly and steadily in the food service business.

Host 2 (11:32)

So I mean, again, US Foods holding, this is a company that I rarely look at, but I should because I see their trucks everywhere. $19 billion market cap. It's got about 30,000 employees based in Rosemont, Illinois. But they provide food to a lot of restaurants around the country. Again, the stock's up 14% year to date, up 20% on a trailing 12 month basis.

Host 3 (11:54)

It's a great report actually. Can you talk to us about international growth? Is it becoming a bright spot and can that offset some weakness they're seeing in their business?

Michael Halen (12:04)

So U.S. foods is, is, is 100 U. S based? Yeah, so. So they are. They've done a good job, like I said, of taking share here in the United States. That's been their focus. That's one of the, that's one of the, you know, one reason why investors do like this name because the, the U. S economy has been more resilient than say a place like Europe, especially with the higher inflation that they've seen over there. Also, this company is pretty well positioned in market downturn. So when people tend to cut back, you know, they have a larger percentage of their business that's dedicated to government, education, customers, hospitals and those types of customers have these fixed and dollar cost contracts which, you know, basically are indexed to inflation. So as inflation goes up, you know, margin dollars are protected. And those businesses, you know, that I mentioned typically don't decline when the overall economy declines. So this tends to be a safer bet when, you know, the restaurant industry.

Host 2 (13:17)

F. We had a big debate internally here this morning on Bloomberg surveillance about best french fries. And Wendy's got a lot of support here. Talk to us about the Wendy's profit earnings release they had.

Michael Halen (13:30)

Yeah, Wendy's was a disaster. It's been a disaster all through. You know, throughout last year there was some hopes for a turnaround in results or maybe just, you know, from, from bad to less bad. And it didn't materialize in the quarter. You know, they're saying the right things on the call, but this company has had a lot of negative momentum. You know, chicken was always a big part of their offering. And now everybody's in that game. Discounting is ramping up across the industry. This is the most aggressive I've seen McDonald's in my career. So all of that is going to make the turnaround at Wendy's much more difficult to execute.

Host 2 (14:17)

I'm a big fan of the Baconator too, so I hope they pull through here. One more before we let you go here, Texas Roadhouse. I know. Listen, reading your research from the past, they're trying to strive value here and that seems like a pitch that would work in today's economy.

Michael Halen (14:31)

Yes, you're right. And it does. And you know, you know, the way we look at value is what you get for what you pay. And nobody offers you more value on the plate than Texas Roadhouse. You go there, you get unlimited bread, you get massive portions, all for a reasonable cost. You know, look, management said that they're seeing some people trade down to cheaper cuts of beef or even to chicken and pork. They're cutting back on drinks, but they're making it up in traffic. People are they. They go to Texas Roadhouse because they know they're going to get a great experience. And so they're not cutting back on their visits to Texas Roadhouse. Clearly in the numbers, we're seeing cutbacks to Wendy's and a lot of other restaurant chains and maybe some trade down to the grocery store. But if, if people are going to a Texas Roadhous once a quarter or once every other month, they're not coming back on that visit.

Host 2 (15:24)

Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this.

Host 3 (15:29)

Sending a file is easy. Making sure your clients understand the file is the hard part. But with PDF spaces in Adobe Acrobat, you can give your clients the full picture with custom intros, audio summaries, and a helpful AI assistant to your docs. So if you want to stop the endless follow ups, do that with Acrobat. Need to make your docs crystal clear? Do that with Acrobat. Want to make sure your clients get everything they need to hear? Do that with Acrobat. Learn more@adobe.com do that with Acrobat.

Host 2 (16:01)

Support for the show comes from public Lately it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades, and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth on public. You can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto without all the bugs or the confetti Retirement Accounts Yep. High Yield Cash. Yes again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools and customer support that actually helps go to public.com market and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com market ad paid for by Public Holdings Brokerage Services by Public Investing Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors SEC Registered Advisor Crypto Services by ZeroHash all investing involves risk of loss. See completedisclosures@public.com Disclosures Small businesses are the

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Host 1 (18:17)

Paul, do you go golfing regularly? Is that a weekend thing for you in the spring?

Host 2 (18:20)

Yes. And I'm wearing my Canoe Brook, which is my club shirt. I got the belt from Garden City Golf Club, so I'm all in. Have been all in my life. But golf's not actually now kind of cool and it's growing like crazy again.

Host 1 (18:33)

I know before the pandemic it felt like it was kind of dying a

Host 2 (18:36)

little bit and social media is all over. These influencers are all over the game of golf. Really huge audiences and they're getting huge money. And the PGA Tour notices, the lift

Host 1 (18:46)

Tour notices, although the lift was dying sort of.

Host 2 (18:48)

Yeah. But it was. It was part of the live tour's birth was because of social media.

Host 1 (18:53)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a good point. All right, well, let's talk to someone who's capitalizing on all of that, the rebirth of golf. He is Brian Cox, he's global vice president of Scotch Whiskey at Bacardi and he's here to talk to us about why his brand and other luxury brands are increasingly aligning themselves with golf culture right now. Brian, good to speak with you. What is golf culture and how has it changed? As Paul mentioned, it's now something that lives on in social media. Things go viral in a way that they didn't before.

Brian Cox (19:21)

Thanks for having me. And obviously two passions of mine, golf and Scotch whiskey. I think the luxury brand sector has really paid attention to the evolution of golf. As you alluded to a second ago, it was really the pandemic that grew the built in audience of golf from around 24 million people that followed or played the game in the US to about 40 million today. So it's just a massive inbuilt audience. It's also become the profile of the audience has diversified. It's become younger, young adults, much more accessible. It's also globalized, you're referring live golf for example. But Japan, huge market is booming also in India and these all happen with the US to be great Scotch whiskey and also luxury goods markets. I'd also say at the same time the audience has stayed fairly affluent. So that's why you're seeing luxury and lifestyle brands really lean in. The other factor is of course, as you will well know, Garden City, you've got the famous 19th hole. So golf in particular goes beyond just what happens on the course. So it's really that lifestyle, social connection moment that allows us to really have, have a role in that area.

Host 2 (20:46)

So how are you guys at Doer Scotch? How are you kind of trying to leverage that audience?

Brian Cox (20:53)

Well, we've now in our sixth year, been sponsoring the USGA and the US Open as its official Scotch whiskey. Amazing partners, great tournament, great reach, you know, big TV audience. And we use these kind of tentpole moments, as we call them, to really build integrated marketing programs around. So we have advertising, we have corporate hospitality, entertaining clients and influencers. You were talking about social media a second ago. So that's a really important the whole online digital aspect of golf nowadays and it overlaps between the sport against the lifestyle. We have also some fashion collaborations. We work with Peter Millar, we've worked in the past with other fashion brands and then we run our own promotions. So there's an aspect of integrating retail and country clubs, of course, because every country club pretty much has a 19th hole, the famous bar. So that's very relevant. And every year to celebrate the US Open, we come out with a limited edition, a 19 year old. And then we have also some very innovative serves and RTD's which address a slightly less traditional, you might say, audience.

Host 1 (22:12)

How are you integrating your brand with golf in a way that changes from what it was before the pandemic? I mean, you know, any golf tournament has lots of brands showing up everywhere. But what is, what is Dorza doing that's different? That kind of makes it look like it's 2026 as opposed to 2016.

Brian Cox (22:33)

That's a big difference. Well, for starters, we're about, you know, we play a role as a social catalyst. It's, you know, we've got the heritage of Scotland behind us. And so this way of connecting with consumers, of opening up the game, we partner with organizations such as Five Iron Golf, you've got topgolf and so forth as well. And so you can see how we can animate and activate beyond the actual course itself. We also actually promote the tournament through our advertising. So that's about gaining, I guess, broader awareness for the actual event itself. And then we do things like every year we have the Dewar's Lemon Wedge, which is the official cocktail of the US Open that's served as an rtd, which means ready to drink. In Cannes, we sell about 17. Well, not us, but the venues will sell about 17,000 of those per tournament. We serve around 13,000 cocktails. So it's a way of expanding the use of such occasions and consumptions, which is really cottoning on and that brings in a whole new cohort of fans.

Host 2 (23:49)

Actually, Brian, you mentioned earlier the impact of social media influencers. And again, I maybe I just. My feed, my algorithm just feeds me these guys all the time, but there's a lot of them doing some really great content, getting a list stars to come on their program, whether they're having a round of golf somewhere with LeBron James or something else. How do you play into that?

Brian Cox (24:13)

That's, that's interesting. There's, I think one of the big drivers of the popularity of golf is how other sports people have really lent in. I think there's a huge NFL and NBA following of golf, of players that actually in the time off will, will participate in the game. It's their, it's their hobby, it's their passion point. And something's clicked in this sport in the way that it's, it's very much about, as you will know, playing with or against yourself, but it also connects you to others. So there's a dynamic in culture here. I think that is driving this and it's amazing to see how other sports folks from other disciplines are actually fueling this.

Host 1 (25:00)

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Host 2 (27:55)

Intel up 7.7% today, up 220% year to date. Up 460% on a trailing 12 month basis. For those of us old enough to remember intel in the 80s and 90s and then what happened in between, that's something. And my boy Frank Yeary, my running buddy from Salomon Brothers, he's retiring from as chairman of the board in a couple of days. He's had a heck of a run here to finish up his career. We want to talk to Sarah Fryer, Bloomberg Managing Editor. What's going on at Intel? Have they finally gotten, I guess, the tailwind? It sure looks like it.

Sarah Fryer (28:30)

Well, there's that, but it's actually an even bigger process by Lip Bhutan, the new CEO. He has spent the last year talking to all of these other major leaders in tech and in the world and getting them on his side. Right. So he's formed an alliance with President Donald Trump. The US Is now a major investor in Intel. He has Elon Musk saying that they're going to partner on building factories. Apple has talked about potentially using intel and Nvidia. Nvidia's Jensen Wang has explained that they think that the CPUs that Intel makes are going to be back in demand during the boom. So all of those factors have led to this incredible tear in intel stock where it's back to levels we really haven't seen since the dot.com boom.

Host 1 (29:22)

It is truly remarkable when you look at the advances. I mean the gain in intel has eclipsed the gain in Micron. And you know Paul, you and I talked about how Micron just went on this bananas tear because of the lust for memory chips and intel has surpassed all that. You mentioned, Sarah, that the US government has a stake in Intel. It's a five and a half percent stake right now, the third biggest shareholder after BlackRock and Vanguard, which of course represents index funds. Is the US government an activist shareholder in Intel? I mean, is there pushing by the US Government towards what intel should be doing?

Sarah Fryer (29:57)

Well, I think it definitely adds to the momentum of Intel. I think there's, there's, you know, this sense that if you support intel, you support American manufacturing. And Donald Trump has certainly celebrated himself as the person who struck this deal. But what Ian King's reporting reveals in this story is that it really took some convincing on the part of his allies. He had people in the industry, including Michael Dell, calling Donald Trump, asking him to give Liboutin a chance. And then once the two of them met, Libertin was able to convince Trump to, to really bet on the company in an unusual way. I mean this is very unprecedented. But that led to a lot of these other stakes that helped intel balance sheet now what Ian reveals in the stories is there's the second phase of the turnaround that needs to happen. For all of the optimism, for all of the work that's been done on the external perception that intel can achieve a place of prominence in the AI boom, that, that it really can deliver. Returning to prominence, there's still a lot that needs to be fixed in terms of the quality of its products and the quality of its factories. And that's what happens next.

Host 2 (31:19)

So what is the thinking out there in Silicon Valley, Sarah? Is this something that again one, one could argue that a lot of the stock price appreciation was kind of by the rumor. Now the question is they have to deliver. Is the expectation that they will be able to do that?

Sarah Fryer (31:34)

Well, I think now that Lipitan has, has these allies that are counting on him to do it. He, he's well set up to. But you know, in speaking with us in the first interview he's given as CEO to a news outlet, he, he acknowledged that he still has a lot of work to do. He still has to build his bench, he's still recruiting leaders that he trusts. And what we learned from conversations with current and former employees is the way that he leads is very different than how intel is used. High level thinker. He's not going in on the, on the detailed. He picks people that he believes in and then backs them the same way you might see in venture capital investing. You know, he's on many company boards, he has a long history with that. But that could be risky for a company like, like intel, where the devil really is in the details. The chips need to be at the right quality to sustain those customer deals, to even get those major customers on board, get them to take a bet on the company. So they have a lot of work to, in the actual manufacturing, the actual design to, to not have to outsource it as much as they've been doing to bring it back in house and prove that they can, that they can deliver very quickly.

Host 1 (32:52)

Sarah Lipwood, 10, has only been CEO of Intel for about 1.2 years. Not long at all, but it feels like a long time. How patient are investors willing to be with him?

Sarah Fryer (33:03)

I think as long as what we're hearing about, you know, CPUs in, in the AI boom being really necessary, if that continues, I mean that's going to be definitely a positive boost for them. They just have to really get that business. They have to get it and they can't let it, can't feed its arrivals and then they'll be okay for a little while and will buy him time to get everything else right.

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