Barclays just hosted its 2017 Eat, Sleep, Play Conference, focusing in on a number of restaurant players. Jeffrey Bernstein, Senior Restaurant Analyst at Barclays was with us to discuss the biggest takeaways from the event.
Despite believing that Shake Shack is head of the class in the better-burger category, Bernstein is maintaining his "Equal Weight" rating for the stock. The analyst points to the fact its shares trade at much higher valuations than its peers. However, he says this is mostly justified because of the rate Shake Shack is opening up stores and growing revenue.
Bernstein also touches on Domino's Pizza and how the chain stacks up against Papa John's and Pizza Hut. Recently, Papa John's said sales were impacted by the kneeling in the NFL. Bernstein says Domino’s was not willing to make a comment like that. He adds Domino's is still bullish on advertising in big sports events because it is still generating a return for them. They are, however, starting to do a lot more online marketing, says Bernstein.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
