The Walmart Recession Indicator & McCormick-Unilever's $65B Spicy Deal

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Brew Markets

Episode: The Walmart Recession Indicator & McCormick-Unilever's $65B Spicy Deal

Date: March 31, 2026
Host: Ann Berry
Co-host: John Cotau

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Episode Overview

This episode of Brew Markets spotlights two major stories reshaping the stock market landscape:

1. The emergence of Walmart’s stock as a potential recession warning indicator.
2. The $65 billion merger of Unilever’s food portfolio with McCormick, forming a global spice and sauce giant.

The hosts analyze these events, what’s driving them, and what investors should watch for next. Additional market headlines are discussed, including activist activity at Snap and innovation in the weight loss drug market.

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1. Walmart as a Recession Indicator

(Main Segment: 00:32–04:55)

Key Points

• Introduction to the Walmart Recession Signal (WRS):

  • Market strategist Jim Paulson (Leuthold Group) has developed the “Walmart Recession Signal,” tracking the share price spread between Walmart (up 10% YTD) and luxury goods companies (S&P Global Luxury Index, down 13% YTD).
  • The wider this spread, the greater the indication that high-income consumers are “trading down” to value retailers, a trend typically preceding recessions.
  • “That peak happened during the 2008-09 financial crisis.” – Ann Berry (03:45)

• Implications for the US Economy:

  • The current spread is approaching levels seen just before major downturns.
  • The WRS historically rises before unemployment does.
  • Quote: “The WRS rose substantially long before the unemployment rate finally surged during the late 1990s.” – Ann Berry referencing Paulson (04:10)
  • University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index is at its lowest point of the year (just over 53).
  • Recession probability upgraded: Goldman Sachs projects a 30% chance, Moody’s at 49% if oil prices continue to rise.
  • Volatility Index (VIX) surges above 31, signaling market stress.

Memorable Moments

• Ann Berry calls Walmart “a tech stock hiding in plain sight,” referencing its evolution and relevance in both technology and consumer sectors. (00:47)
• Contextual links to shifting consumer behaviors and how value vs. luxury stock movements can “mirror” changes in economic confidence.

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2. The McCormick-Unilever $65 Billion "Spicy" Deal

(Main Segment: 04:55–17:26)

Context and Motivation

• Overview: Unilever will spin off its remaining food business and merge it with McCormick, creating a sauces and spice powerhouse worth $65B.
• Industry Backdrop: Food and beverage M&A is accelerating, with other major deals (Pernod Ricard/Brown-Forman, Disco/Restaurant Depot) in play.
• Quote: “What a week for mergers and acquisitions in the food and beverage space. And it’s unbelievably only Tuesday.” – Ann Berry (05:05)

McCormick Profile

• Iconic US spice manufacturer (Old Bay, French’s Mustard, Frank’s Red Hot, Cholula).
• Recent earnings: Q1 adjusted EPS at $0.66 (beat by $0.03), revenue up 16% YoY—but organic sales up only 1%, mostly due to recent acquisitions.
• “McCormick’s share price is down 40% year over year.” – John Cotau (05:54)
• McCormick’s growth is sluggish in core products, driving the need for diversification via acquisitions.

Unilever’s Evolution

• Global CPG conglomerate ($125B market cap), shifting focus to beauty and personal care.
• Shedding underperforming “non-power brands” since activist Nelson Peltz took a stake in 2022. Ice cream division (Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers) already spun off.
• “Unilever has really been doubling down on that particular part of the shopper’s basket…the beauty and personal care.” – Ann Berry (07:38)

Deal Structure & Outcomes

• New company will combine McCormick’s and Unilever’s food portfolios (Hellmann's, Coleman's, Knorr, Marmite, Sir Kensington).
• Unilever shareholders to own ~65% of the new combined food business and receive a one-time $15.7B cash payment.
• Brendan Foley (current McCormick CEO) will lead the merged entity; Unilever appoints 4 of 12 board members.
• “These are not equals. And these are not small numbers either.” – Ann Berry (10:48)
• Legal structure: Technically a “spin and merge” (not a clean acquisition), with significant legal/tax structuring required.
  • “I’m sort of using ‘smushed’...there’s a smushing happening.” – Ann Berry (13:21)

Strategic Rationale & Market Skepticism

• Advertised benefits: global reach, expanded retail power, $600M/year in expected cost savings.

• Historical caution: Of 45 major consumer packaged goods mergers since 2000, about half resulted in impairment charges.

• “Warren Buffett’s track record…Kraft Heinz…shares down nearly 70% since that merger in 2015.” – Ann Berry (14:34)

• Recent deals like Smucker's acquisition of Hostess and Campbell’s acquisition of Rao’s cited as examples of mixed results.

  • “Is this doubling down on weakness, or is this the way through to a brighter future?” – Ann Berry (16:11)

• Initial investor response is negative: McCormick shares down 6% and Unilever down 6% after the announcement.

  • “Shareholders saying this is not the solution. That’s the big takeaway here.” – Ann Berry (17:27)

• Deal expected to close by mid-2027, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

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3. Other Market Headlines

(Segment: 19:04–21:38)

Snap’s Activist Uprising

• Snap (ticker SNAP) stock rose up to 15% after activist fund Irenex took a 2.5% stake and launched the “Save Snap Now” plan.
  • Recommendations: shut down Snap Specs, reduce headcount, focus on AI and advertising/subscription monetization.
  • “Snap stock is down 50% this year…European Commission investigation…still Irenex believes the social media giant has a ‘second act.’” – John Cotau (19:41)

Weight Loss Drug Market Shifts

• Novo Nordisk gains (3% up) after launching a Wegovy subscription program (3–12 months, savings up to $1,200 per year).
• Eli Lilly’s oral GLP-1 competitor expected later in 2026.
  • “Novo may be looking to turn its short-term users into subscribers, actually before that competition hits the markets…subscription businesses…create a bit more stickiness.” – Ann Berry (21:25)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On McCormick's Spicy Expansion:
  • “Between Frank’s and Cholula, McCormick accounts for nearly a third of the US hot sauce market. Talk about dominating a pretty niche vertical.” – Ann Berry (07:02)
• On Consumer Trends:
  • “Innovation has become much more with smaller brands, independent food brands biting the ankles of the big folks by just being more agile…” – Ann Berry (16:31)
• On Deal Complications:
  • “These things are really complicated…there’s all sorts of things at work here…often a lot of structuring around considerations like tax.” – Ann Berry (13:20)
• On Potential for More Activism:
  • “The one I keep coming back to…I keep saying this—when is Campbell going to do something?” – Ann Berry (15:40)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:32 – Walmart as Recession Indicator: Ann Berry introduces WRS and market data
• 05:14 – Deep Dive: McCormick’s earnings and strategic M&A moves
• 07:20 – Unilever’s strategic shift and power brands focus
• 10:32 – Breakdown of new company structure and shareholder impact
• 14:07 – Cautionary tales from past CPG mega-mergers
• 17:15 – Immediate investor response to the McCormick-Unilever deal
• 19:04 – Snap activist action and Save Snap Now details
• 20:54 – Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy subscription program and market competition insights

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Tone & Style

The hosts balance approachable, witty banter (e.g., “Paprika to Paprika comparison” and “smushed”) with in-depth analysis. Commentary is candid—especially around investor skepticism, deal complexity, and consumer trends.

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a fast-paced, insightful look at economic signals and major M&A moves, spotlighting how strategic pivots at legacy brands can spark both risks and opportunities. For investors, the episode underlines the importance of reading beyond the headline and staying tuned for regulatory, shareholder, and market reactions.

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Transcript

[Anne Barry]

K Pop Demon Hunters, Saja Boy's Breakfast Meal and Hunt Trick's Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi? It's not a battle. So glad the Saja Boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

[John Cotau]

It is an honor to share.

[Anne Barry]

No, it's our honor.

[John Cotau]

It is our larger honor.

[Anne Barry]

No, really stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side.

[John Cotau]

Ba da ba ba ba and participate in McDonald's while supplies last

[Anne Barry]

Franks and Frenches and Hellman's. Oh my. We have the latest on a $65 billion plan to combine the brand pantries of McCormick and Unilever. An activist investor wants to save Snap now with its stock down 50% this year. We survey how and Walmart, a jack of all trades from groceries to trampolines to digital ads. It's the Swiss army knife of stocks. So is it now also an official recession indicator for Tuesday, March 31? It's Brew Markets Daily and I'm Ann Ber. More market details to come. But first, Walmart. One of my favorite names to watch, a consumer bellwether and one I wrote five years ago was a quote tech stock hiding in plain sight. So whether it's moving its listing to NASDAQ or fighting with Amazon over groceries, or changing out its CEO, a Walmart headline always catches my eye. This. Now this one was a little different. And this headline is Walmart Recession Indicator flashing red. That's because a market strategist Jim Paulson, former chief investment strategist at 45 year old research and ETF firm Leuthold Group, created something called the Walmart Recession Signal or the WRS for short. It measures the retail giant share price which is up 10% year to date against the S and P Global Luxury index which tracks 80 of the largest publicly traded luxury goods and services companies. That index is down just over 13% year to date. Now this spread between the share price performance of value retail epitomized by Walmart's everyday low prices and then luxury on the other hand runs counter to the narrative of a K shaped economy holding up the United States. That would be high income consumers driving certain spend up and to the right which one would imagine would include and benefit some luxury products. Instead, the relative stock prices are mirroring a trend of those high income consumers trading down to find value at the likes of yes, Walmart. And Paulson believes that the sharp rise in the WRS could in fact warn of a potential recession or economic slowdown, which was the case in the run up to the past four US Downturns. The WRS is now close to its highest recorded level. That peak happened during the 2008-09 financial crisis. While Paulson suggests that this may also have implications for lagging labour market insights, he highlights in his recent substack notes that the WRS quote rose substantially long before the unemployment rate finally surged during the late 1990s, which would imply, if history is to be repeated, that the recent rise in the WRS may not be fully reflected in unemployment figures quite yet, meaning the labor market indicators could be behind. Well, the wrs, by the way, is not alone in flashing some warning signals. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell to just over 53 in March, its lowest level this year. That's as consumers grapple with uncertainty and the impact of the Middle east conflict. Goldman Sachs now sees a 30% chance of a U.S. recession within the next year. That probability up by 5 percentage points. Moody's is at 49% odds more if oil prices continue to increase. And the Vix, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, has spiked to just above 31. Readings above 30 have historically been associated with market panic and stress and yes, recessionary fears. So lots of data is going to keep coming at us. We've got to see what happens with these oil prices and inflation fears. We're going to keep on watching while switching gears. What a week for mergers and acquisitions in the food and beverage space. And it's unbelievably only Tuesday. Well, yesterday we talked about a merger between Pernod Ricard and Brown Forman, which would bring together spirits brands like Jack Daniel's whiskey and Absolut vodka. And then there's Disco's acquisition of Restaurant Depot, which combines the number one food distributor in the United States with a leading cash and carry company. So lots, whether it's food distribution or beverage manufacturing, food mergers, food and beverage mergers all over the news. And more today with word that Unilever will spin off what remains of its shrinking food portfolio and merge it with McCormick Co. A deal that would create a giant sauces and spice behemoth valued at $65 billion. Well, we're going to get into this saucy deal or spicy deal in a moment and whether or not investors had the appetite for yet another mega food tie up. But John, let's talk about the players involved in this one.

[John Cotau]

Yeah, let's start with McCormick and company.

[Anne Barry]

Let's start there.

[John Cotau]

And broadly, that's the spice company with the red caps seen at the grocery store. Founded in 1889 in Baltimore, Maryland. I love their old bay on my crabs ticker. MKC on the New York Stock Exchange market cap of billion. And this morning, unrelated to the merger announcement, McCormick reported Q1 earnings. So just some numbers to start with the context for the deal. McCormick adjusted earnings per share of 66 cents, beat estimates by 3 cents. Revenue of $1.9 billion in the quarter was an increase of 16% year over year. But this is not a Paprika to Paprika comparison.

[Anne Barry]

You've been waiting all day to say yes, okay or paprika.

[John Cotau]

McCormick acquired McCormick to Mexico in January, which contributed 13% of that 16.7% year over year drive. Organic sales only increased 1%, driven primarily by price. And McCormick's share price is down 40% year over year.

[Anne Barry]

So it's that organic growth rate that really catches the eye and sort of speaks to why this deal perhaps is something that makes a bit of a bit of strategic sense, such minimal organic growth. Something that's been going on for a while. And we've talked in the past, I believe John, about how the company has been trying to look at diversifying away within the spices of category. Not just to have product on the shelves of grocery stores, but to look at food service as well.

[John Cotau]

Yes.

[Anne Barry]

And to look at that. That being distribute, distributing spices to go into restaurant meals and whatnot. While there's been more diversification, again reflecting the weakness of the core category growth rate. In 2017, the company spent over $4 billion for brands that include French's Mustard and Frank's Red Hot Sauce. So moving into condiments. And then in 2020, they spent $800 million. I remember this deal for Cholula Hot SA this print.

[John Cotau]

One of my favorites.

[Anne Barry]

One of your favorites? Well, between Frank's and Cholula, McCormick accounts for nearly a third of the US hot sauce market. Talk about dominating a pretty niche vertical.

[John Cotau]

Yes, exactly. And there's been talk about them wanting to get into that hot sauce. But hot sauce is less than niche as time goes on.

[Anne Barry]

Yeah, fair enough.

[John Cotau]

People are spicing up their food.

[Anne Barry]

Yeah.

[John Cotau]

So now over to Unilever. It's a London based company traded as an ADR in the New York Stock Exchange market cap of $125 billion. So nearly 10 times the size of McCormick and Ann. When I hear Unilever. Unilever, I think soap like Dove. I've seen Unilever on soap Ads my whole life.

[Anne Barry]

Yeah, absolutely. That's what it's known for, personal care. And actually for a few years now, Unilever has really been doubling down on that particular part of the shopper's basket. It's been getting rid of those slower growing food brands and focusing on home products and beauty and personal care. And it's interesting, I've spent the last two days, as you know, at this beauty summit for C suite executives in the sector. And there's just a lot of activity going on in the space. We keep talking about beauty deals. We see the Estee Lauder pooch, potential marriage. And so this is a sector beauty, personal care that's shaking up. And so to have that shaking up and have food shaking up as well, it's sort of understandable that Unilever is trying to just pick one lane to be shaken up. Shaken up in. Well, in 2022, the activist investor Nelson Peltz took a stake in Unilever and called Focus and specifically focus on 30 quote power brands that together represented more than 70% of its sales. So really saying, look, keep your eye on the prize, reserve your energy for that which moves the bulk of your business since then. So again, since 2022, two CEOs have exited. It's pretty much a revolving door. And Unilever has jettisoned underperforming non power brands. So there's power brand rationalization in its portfolio. Some of those non power brands to get the boot tea labels got sold in 2022 that included Lipton and PG Tips. I have a point of view on that. I'm a big tea fan. And then late last year, Unilever spun off its ice cream division which included Ben and Jerry's and Breyers brands. So really, this McCormick tie up for the spices and the sauces does sort of reflect a continuation of a pattern that's been several years in the making now.

[John Cotau]

Yes, they're trying. You can see that McCormick is building up its profile in spices and Unilever is jettisoning theirs. And this deal will be the largest of those spin offs that you've been talking about. We'll see McCormick incorporating the remainder of Unilever's food business, including those brands like Hellman's Mayo and Coleman's Mustard Nor soup mixes and Marmite. Do you have a familiarity with Marmite?

[Anne Barry]

I do. Marmite is very British and, and it's known, I think as Vegemite in Australia. For those who've maybe been to Oz, but not to the United Kingdom, I'm so interested that you called it nor. So there was this very cheesy ad that used to run. I grew up in London and it was can they've got that know how. Do you remember that? Did that make its way over here?

[John Cotau]

If I'd ever seen that ad, I would have known how to pronounce it. I've only ever said it in my head.

[Anne Barry]

Yes, well, there you go. So these are really, these Unilever brands are in their own way, pretty iconic. I mean, Hellman's mayo, Coleman's mustard. Right. Every single French fry order I have ever placed in the United States has been presented to me with those two condiments plus ketchup, which is Heinz and totally different, but you get the point.

[John Cotau]

Yes, exactly. And. But they also own Sir Kensington ketchup. So if you're looking to switch.

[Anne Barry]

Posh one.

[John Cotau]

Yes, exactly.

[Anne Barry]

Posh one. Yeah, exactly.

[John Cotau]

So the combined company would be worth about $65 billion, including debt, with expected annual revenues of $20 billion. And that implies an enterprise value for Unilever's food business of about 45 billion and an enterprise value of McCormick of approximately 21 billion. So these are not equals?

[Anne Barry]

No, they're not equals. And these are not small numbers either. So just if you're listening to this right now and you hold Unilever shares or you hold McCormick shares, the question is, well, what does this mean for you? Right, so let's just walk through that. This is very high level because the specific terms of the deal, these are always complicated. You end up having to wade through piles and piles of very complex legal documents. But if you break it all down, Unilever shareholders. So if you're a Unilever shareholder now, you are expected to own about 65% of the new combined food business. Unilever is also going to receive a one time $15.7 billion cash payment. Right, I need to dig in. I don't know how much of that may make its way out as a dividend to Unilever shareholders. So let's assume for now that's still tbd, but we know that Unilever shareholders are expected to own about 65% of the new combined company and some. And we'll also see that there's going to be some overlap in management. Brendan Foley will remain Chairman, President and CEO of McCormick.

[John Cotau]

Where he is now.

[Producer/Announcer]

Right.

[Anne Barry]

Where he is right now. And Unilever isn't contributing the CEO clearly, but is going to appoint four of the 12 members of that new combined company's board of directors. So there's going to be oversight.

[John Cotau]

Yes. And I know there's, this is a broad view that we're talking about, but maybe you can help me understand. Unilever is going to spin off and then merge.

[Anne Barry]

I would think about it this way. Right. You've got McCormick, which is a standalone public company today is about to absorb this enormous carved out portion of Unilever's business. Right. So Unilever is spinning off or getting rid of these food brands, but it's going to those food brands brands are going to get smushed into an existing public company in return for which you, a Unilever shareholder, are going to get again 65% of the, let's call it the newly enlarged and smushed version of McCormick. Yes, right. But you'd call that new code because it's fundamentally going to change. Does that, does that kind of make sense?

[John Cotau]

Absolutely.

[Anne Barry]

So rather than think about it as McCormick operating the business, think about it as the newly enlarged and smushed new company which is going to have McCormick's existing CEO as the quote, new CEO. And then ultimately the management of the underlying again new Smashed and large company is going to be a combination of the two individual companies. Today's sets of executives.

[John Cotau]

Right. I find that.

[Anne Barry]

So that's a lot of words. Nobody.

[John Cotau]

But it's slightly different. It's not as simple as some of the headlines that came out Today of saying McCormick acquires this or this is the new company. So that's very helpful.

[Anne Barry]

Yeah. And you, and you know, you all have sort of overlapping shareholders at a point in time. These things are really complicated.

[John Cotau]

That's what we're discovering.

[Anne Barry]

You know, it's not just being able to explain, it's really complicated. There's all sorts of things at work here. Usually when there are spin offs, there's all kinds of consideration. So it's not just as simple as McCormick buys it. And the reason I'm sort of using smushed and he's obviously very non technical technical terms. There's often a lot of structuring around considerations like tax. Yes, right. And so as a result the legal entities themselves can be pretty complicated. So it's not necessarily technically true that the pre existing entities survive the deal. That's why I'm trying to avoid being too prescriptive. But conceptually you sort of get it. If you look at the underlying operations, there's a smushing happening.

[John Cotau]

Yes. And I was reading today that, that, that's exactly right. They didn't sell it because then they would be subject to tax and there was no capital taxes.

[Anne Barry]

Yes. Oh, this is a throwback to my first job out of college as an M and a bank emergency acquisitions banker. This is good training, actually. Yeah.

[John Cotau]

Well, the big question for investors is, will this work? Both companies are touting the benefits of the deal, of course, including expanded global reach and increased retail power. They expect a combination to generate $600 million in annual cost savings. But I saw today an analysis at a BNP Paribas that of 45 major consumer packaged good deals since 2000, roughly half resulted in significant impairment losses and the five largest all failed to deliver on promises.

[Anne Barry]

This is such an exercise of what looks good on paper doesn't always materialize in real life. I mean, the big one. And one of the few big blights in Warren Buffett's track record. Right. Shares in the combined Kraft Heinz and Buffett really was instrumental to getting the the merger of Kraft with Heinz Dunn. Those shares down nearly 70% since that merger was done in 2015. Then we saw 2023. I remember this deal clearly. I followed this one. Schmuck has acquired hostess brands for $5.6 billion. And just roll forward to last year. So that's call it two and change. Years later recorded nearly a $2 billion impairment charge. And that was tied to decline in the Twinkies business.

[John Cotau]

And then I've got a couple more. In 2024, Campbell's Soup acquired Rao's pasta sauce parent for $2.7 billion. And the share price of Campbell's is down nearly 50% since then.

[Anne Barry]

I would just chime in though. Rao's is one of the few shining spots in Campbell. So in acquisition of Rao's didn't cover the sins in the rest of the business. That's how I think about that one.

[John Cotau]

And last September, activist investor Elliott Management started agitating for change at Pepsi, arguing that the company's portfolio had become too complex. That's what we keep hearing about. More complexity. More complexity.

[Anne Barry]

Yeah. These fit. And the one I keep coming back to is I keep saying this. When is Campbell going to do something? Right. It's now got activists. Well, if they're not in there yet, I think they're going to come. But their last earnings, which is tremendously disappointed. I like the people there very much. But Campbell's, I'm looking at saying you've got to do something. And when I saw this headline About Unilever and McCormick, the first thing I thought was, I said it before about Campbell's. Really true. Now they've Got to do something because you don't want to be the last person trying to figure out what to buy. Right? You don't want to see other people scooping up the good assets and you're left trying to make a strategic pivot with only the less interesting assets left. So got to get with the program. Campbell, if you're listening, there's also just lots of different trends going on with the consumer inflation hurting on the one hand, GLP1's changing tastes and preferences, lots of complexity and headwinds with these food brands. And then the other thing I would say is that innovation has 10 become much more with smaller brands, independent food brands biting the ankles of the big folks by just being more agile and being more on point when it comes to staying up to date on again, those very rapidly changing consumer foibles. So one of the things I would just say here is, John, you just raised this when you've said that so many of these don't work out just to go back. And again, look at the Perno Ricard Brown Foreman deal. Investors sort of making up their mind still, is this doubling down on weakness or is this the way through to a brighter future? Estee Lauder and Pooch investors saying, is this doubling down on weakness or is there something good on the other side? Again, I've just been at this beauty summit and the general view is that could really be doubling down on weakness. And then here, McCormick Unilever, we'll have to figure this one out.

[John Cotau]

Yeah, shares in McCormick started down 10% for the day and closed 6% down eventually throughout the day. And then shares in Unilever also dropped about 6% after the announcement. They're down 17% year over year.

[Producer/Announcer]

Year. Yeah.

[Anne Barry]

Both boards though have approved this deal. So this is, this is really, really far along. Is expected to close by mid-2027, pending approval from McCormick shareholders and from regulators. So again, I would just say McCormick down today, Unilever down over the trading session today. We'll see where it closes out. But shareholders saying this is not the solution. That's the big takeaway here. Let's take a break and when we come back, we'll take a look at the headlines that were moving the markets today. Hey, John, do you ever try to help people save money?

[John Cotau]

I gave my nephew a piggy bank with my face on it. Does that count?

[Anne Barry]

Absolutely. You and Vanguard have that in common because they help financial advisors help their clients keep more of what they earn.

[John Cotau]

Low fees are a great thing. They can give Vanguard's skilled bond managers more freedom to maneuver as they pursue the best outcomes for their clients. This is a fixed income team obsessed with consistent outperformance.

[Anne Barry]

Go see the record for [e-mail] impact that's vanguard.com impact all investing is subject to record risk.

[John Cotau]

Vanguard Marketing Corporation Distributor this episode is

[Producer/Announcer]

brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast Smart move Being financially savvy Smart move Another smart move having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vast vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.

[Anne Barry]

There it is, the closing bell 4pm on the east coast and the market's wrapping up for the day. Well, we don't have a ticker tape, so instead let's throw it over to our human ticker, our producer John all

[John Cotau]

the major indices were up dramatically today on optimism over a winding down of the conflict in the Middle East. The S&P 500 finished up nearly 3%, the NASDAQ was up 3.8 10 of a percent and the Dow finished up 2.5%. For the day. Some of the market headlines, including more activist investor action shares in social media company Snap Ticker Snap rose as much as 15% today after Irene Capital Management, a one and a half billion dollar firm, announced a 2.5% stake in the company and laid out a plan to drive a share price increase from $4 where it started this morning to over $26. As part of the quote Save Snap now plan, Irenex said Snap should shut down its smart glasses initiative. Snap specs reduce headcount and lean into AI to sell ads and subscriptions. Snap stock is down 50% this year and just last week the European Commission launched an investigation into whether Snapchat failed to protect children who use the app. But still ironic believes the social media giant has a quote quote second act.

[Anne Barry]

Interesting thing about those Snap glasses because this comes just as Meta launched two new Ray Ban prescription smart glasses. Again, that's just a day expanding what's been a successful line of wearable tech. Something by the way, that's been pretty long time in the making. And then finally from prescription to subscription. That's because shares in Novo Nordisk gained over 3% today. That's after the pharmaceutical company launched a subscription program for its Wegovy drug drugs. Eligible patients can choose between subscription plans ranging from three to 12 months. So that can include the injection or the newly launched Wegovy pill. Longer plans offer lower monthly pricing, like a lot of subscription plans in Novo expects that subscribers to save up to twelve hundred dollars a year on the injection and as much as $600 a year on that pill.

[John Cotau]

I'm not a doctor obviously, but it seems like inevitably, eventually a patient would plateau or reach their weight loss goal. So I'm curious how a subscription in this space would work.

[Anne Barry]

Yeah, I think there's still a lot, a lot to be whether folks need to stay on the drug to sustain or maintain the weight loss that they've actually achieved. Eli Lilly Just another note, expected to launch its own oral GLP1 later this year. So that would be a direct competitor for Novo's WeGovy pill. We know that it's been a real war to try and get oral treatments. Novo may be looking to turn its short term users into subscribers, actually before that competition hits the markets. We know subscription businesses often create a bit more stickiness, although the GLPs there's been a bit of to and fro, so we'll have to keep watching for that specificity. That's it for today's Brew Markets Daily.

[John Cotau]

Brew Markets Daily is hosted by Anne Barry and produced by Jon Cotau, Jakob de Latif, Amelie Laroya and Emily Milian. Technical direction by Uchenawa Ogu. Brittany Ditako is our audio engineer and the President of Morning Brew Inc. Is Devin Emery.

[Anne Barry]

Wake up tomorrow with the Morning Brew newsletter and tune in to Neil and Toby on Morning Brew Daily. See you back here tomorrow, same time, same place.

[John Cotau]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying Big Wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Anne Barry]

of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms at Mint Mobile.

[Producer/Announcer]

Com.