John Street Capital

To put $AAPL's ~15.0bn transaction run-rate in perspective in $PYPL's 4Q earnings they reported 12.4bn transactions in 2019 which was +25% YoY representing $712bn in TPV.

6/ As people talk about $AMZN & $FB & $GOOGL play for dominance with their moon shot projects, $AAPL has gone about things more deliberately but now has a vibrants payments business & a fledgling content business and the cash to compete with all of them.

5/ Wearables hit an ATH # and Tim Cook said it's now the size of a Fortune 150 company, Apple Pay is well on it's way with 15.0bn tx run-rate, & we're in the earliest innings of Apple TV+. They also have $207bn cash pile that they can justify spending partially on content.

4/ While some are critical of the multiple expansion claiming $AAPL is still a hardware company pointing to the in-line service print it's important to note the slowly changing mix-shif and traction in these emerging categories....

3/ According to some reports Apple TV+ has 33.0mn subs compared to 23.2mn for DIS. $AAPL refused to disclose #s on the earnings call & given the fact that they gave away a 1-year subscription to anyone that bought a hardware device its hard to extrapolate from the service rev #

2/ Also on services several sources are reporting that $NFLX & $AAPL are in preliminary talks about an MGM Studio acquisition which most notably includes the James Bond franchise. $AAPL is sitting on $207.0bn of cash and the content would immediately help the Apple TV+ library.

1/ As we think about the future of digital payments here in the US it's tough to see how the incumbent hardware providers ($AAPL, Google, Samsung) don't win which is different than Asia where the apps have clearly dominated utilizing QR Codes especially with AAPL's installed base

0/ On $AAPL's earnings call they noted that Apple Pay transactions & revenue more than doubled YoY with a run-rate exceeding 15.0bn transactions/year. They note early traction in the usage of Apple Card which is surely helping those metrics. Apples installed base is now 1.5bn.

1/ We're most constructive companies like @usealloy in the KYC / AML space, @finxact in banking core, @DriveWealth in custody / clearing, and a number of other companies across distribution, exchanges, middleware, and payments.

2/ There's some semblance of predictable / recurring revenue over the lifecycle of the contract, and some belief that athlete networks (e.g., position, school, pro team, conference, etc...) can become a stickier part of a brand

1/ We've seen a strong wave of consolidation in the RIA space which has historically been viewed as a "service" oriented / relationship business that doesn't deserve a high multiple yet they are trading for 6x-7x sales / 12-15x EBITDA. Maybe the same is true of sports agencies?

0/ Some M&A in the world of sports agency with @KlutchSports acquiring Revolution Sports adding 16 current and 6 prospective NFL players to their roster. Klutch has a strong brand name in NBA circles but has shown the desire to lean into the NFL here.

2/ "We continue to ship updates to our podcast experience, and now have more than 500,000 podcast titles available on the platform. Q3 saw the launch of 22 original and several other exclusive titles from Spotify Studios such as The Ringer: The Hottest Take."

1/ During their 3Q earnings report Spotify highlighted the exponential growth in "podcast hours streamed." They highlighted podcast adoption has reached almost 14% of total MAUs. Podcast engagement is clearly a growing global phenomenon.

0/ The @WSJ is reporting @Spotify & @ringer are in M&A discussions. While @ringer reportedly has >100mn downloads / month it would be a small acquisition for Spotify w/ @ringer estimates of ~$15.0mn in revenue but interesting for Spotify to continue to lean in on podcasting.

As @Mets & @nyjets fans it'd be great if Adam Gase was also caught in a cheating scandal...

2/ Marcus is a great product but definitely the most basic foray into consumer finances. Closer integration with @claritymoney will also be interesting to watch if GS becomes a leader in Autonomous Finance or Self Driving Money.

1/ It'll be interesting to hear from senior management their plan on this business at the investor day & if they expand beyond the basic savings account & consumer loans into brokerage functionality, or look towards an acquisition of a firm such as US Bank.