Hi, we've got 3 charts for you today:
Oat milk as a service
This week Swedish company Oatly debuted on the Nasdaq, with shares jumping on its first day of trading — valuing the company at ~$13bn. That's a pretty frothy valuation for a company that sold just $421m of oat milk last year, making a not-so-refreshing $47m operating loss while it did so.
Data from Google searches reveal how interest in oat milk has exploded in the last 3-4 years, and explains why investors have been scrambling to invest in Oatly. Before 2019, oat milk was searched for significantly less than rivals soy milk and even rice milk — with almond milk king of the "alternative milk" market by some distance.
As consumer concerns about the sustainability of cow milk have intensified (a glass of dairy milk reportedly produces~3x more greenhouse gases than plant-based milks) some climate conscious consumers have begun to search for alternatives. That's been greatly to the benefit of oat milk producers, pushing oat milk quite comfortably into the position of second most popular alternative milk thanks to aggressive marketing campaigns from Oatly (and others).
As we write this we're drinking a glass of oat milk and would describe it as a bit like drinking a thick version of the color beige, which is quite nice. But $13bn for a company that essentially combines oats and water (at a loss)? That's quite a lot.
Data snack: Check out how searches for alternative milks spike every January in the chart. New Year's resolution? Dry January?
The pace of US COVID vaccinations has slowed down substantially, according to the latest data from the CDC. Average daily doses administered in the US have fallen to ~1.5 million in the last week, down from a peak of more than 3.1 million a day in mid-April.
The US slowdown is consistent with trends in the UK, Israel and other countries that were quick to roll out vaccines. With more than 275 million doses administered in total, that translates into roughly 50% of the US population that have had one dose (>60% of adults), and ~38% that have had two.
With a decent proportion (25-30% according to this study) of the US population reluctant to get a vaccine, it's likely that the rate of vaccinations will continue to drop, as the pool of willing people begins to thin out. That could mean the US tops out at 70-80% national vaccine coverage, probably with some quite extreme variability between states, cities and even neighbourhoods.
It's a good time to be in the DIY business. This week home improvement retailer Home Depot reported that revenues in its latest quarter were up 33% on this time last year, which is a pretty remarkable result for a company that's used to growing at 5-10% in a decent year.
It's no secret why home improvement has become more popular. Lockdown was the perfect excuse for people to take on home renovation projects that they'd previously not had the time to do — and with movement restrictions that meant they had to do the improvements themselves. Chuck into the mix a wave of folks building home offices or workstations and you've got the perfect cocktail for the home improvement industry.
The I word
As well as getting a lockdown bump, Home Depot President Ted Decker was quick to mention the "I word" — that inflation played its part in the Home Depot revenue numbers — citing higher lumber prices as a factor (something we wrote about here).
1) The CEO of the Colonial Pipeline has confirmed that the company did pay a $4.4m ransom to the ransomware hackers that shut the pipeline down two weeks ago.
2)Internet Explorer is finally, actually, being shut down in 2022 after more than 25 years of service. We charted the decline of Internet Explorer last year in this newsletter.
3)Bitcoin is down ~20% in the last 7 days, after Chinese regulators announced a crackdown and US tax authorities announced that cryptocurrency transfers worth $10k or more would have to be reported to the IRS.
4) Comfortable sweatpants that are actually stylish enough to be worn anywhere? Sign us up. Check out Public Rec's All Day Every Day Pants.**
5)Blue Origin, the space exploration company owned by Jeff Bezos, is auctioning off its first available seat on a spaceflight, with the top bid currently at $2m.
6) At last a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict after 11 days of fighting.
**This is sponsored content.
