While Best Buy's CEO complains about Taylor Swift, 'Barbenheimer', & 'funflation' hurting sales, GameStop has Apes holding down the balance sheet in an economy facing headwinds and rallying around 'Oppencohen'!
Non-paywalled: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-buy-ceo-blames-taylor-170000068.html
“’Funflation,’ Taylor Swift… those experiences are really where people are willing to pay,” said Best Buy CEO Corie Barry at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit last week. “[B]igger ticket items in electronics are not right now where people are interested.”
What is 'Funflation'?:
"Funflation" is the term du jour to describe the surge in consumer spending on entertainment and experiences, leading to increased costs for such activities. This trend has been influenced by major events such as record-breaking tours by celebrities like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, and the widespread popularity of movies like 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' or 'Barbenheimer' for short from the summer.
Headwinds for Consumer Spending:
Recall, in August consumer credit decreased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.8 percent. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 13.9 percent, while nonrevolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 9.8 percent.
Consumer spending is a major factor in the U.S. economy and its GDP (total value of goods and services produced in a country over a specific period). When consumers spend more, businesses sell more goods and services, which can lead to increased production, more hiring, and overall economic growth.
While taking on debt allows consumers to spend beyond their immediate earnings (for instance, buying a house with a mortgage or purchasing goods with a credit card), there's a limit to how much debt is sustainable.
However, as we have previously covered, expectations for future credit availability deteriorated in August, with the share of respondents expecting it will be harder to obtain credit in the year ahead increasing.
Additionally, the Fed's Beige Book August 2023 shows "Some Districts highlighted reports suggesting consumers may have exhausted their savings and are relying more on borrowing to support spending."
So growth could slow if folks continue pile up too much debt and are then forced to cut back on this spending but boy are they still piling it on!
“[B]igger ticket items in electronics are not right now where people are interested.” - Best Buy CEO Corie Bary
While Best Buy faces headwinds, the almost 900,000 Apes of r/Superstonk continue to celebrate big ticket purchases from GameStop, over the last month folks have celebrated each other's bigger ticket electronic items, such as:
Heck, Apes are even working out how to incorporate other fixed spending via GameStop!:
TLDRS:
- While Best Buy's CEO complains about Taylor Swift & 'funflation' hurting sales, GameStop has Apes holding down the balance sheet in an economy facing headwinds.
- The almost 900,000 Apes of r/Superstonk continue to celebrate big ticket purchases from GameStop.
- Apes are even working out how to incorporate other fixed spending via GameStop.
- Consumer spending may slow in the broader economy but the dedicated group of Apes continuing to buy from GameStop no matter what is HUGE!
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