Five interesting things that Hodges Capital research analysts discovered this week...

#1 THE BEST PART OF WAKING UP: According to the National Coffee Association’s Spring 2024 report, 67% of American adults had coffee in the past day. That is more than any other beverage, including tap or bottled water. Unsurprisingly, the youngest adults lag behind the other generations in their coffee consumption as energy drinks have grown in popularity.

#2 AI FOR THE FUTURE: According to CBInsights, Artificial Intelligence startups raised $42.5 billion in 2023, with generative AI attracting 48% of that pie. Funding for AI startups fell by 10% y/y in 2023 but fared much better than the overall decline in venture capital funding of 42%.

#3 THE WORLD’S LARGEST INVESTOR: Established in the 1990s to invest the surplus revenues of the country’s oil and gas sector, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, with $1.6 trillion in assets at the end of March. According to CNBC, 71% of the investment fund is in equities, a total of $1.1 trillion spread across over 8,800 companies in over 70 countries.  

#4 UNCRUSTABLES: JM Smucker Co. purchased a prepackaged PB&J company called Incredible Uncrustables in 1998 from two Fargo, North Dakota, fathers trying to market their crustless novelties to Midwestern school cafeterias. According to an article in Fast Company, JM Smucker Co. paid just $1 million for the company in 1998 and sold almost $700MM worth of crustless sandwiches in 2023. Smucker produced a million Uncrustables sandwiches daily in 2015, three million in 2022, and almost five million last year. To keep up with demand, a third factory costing $1.1 billion is under construction in Alabama. The Company expects to reach $1 billion in sales for the PB&J sandwich in the next few years.

#5 THE COST TO INSURE: According to the Daily Upside, the cost of auto insurance increased by 22% in the past year and nearly 50% since January 2020. Modern, high-tech cars are expensive to repair. Fixing a new Toyota Camry following a head-on collision costs 43% more than a pre-2018 model. The number of accidents has also increased. Almost 41,000 people died on US roadways last year, up 13% from 2019. Meanwhile, the industry may be short around 800,000 mechanics to meet demand in the next five years, according to a study from the industry group TechForce Foundation. To make matters worse, electric vehicle repairs are twice as pricey as regular cars, and there is a bigger shortage of EV mechanics.

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