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

#1 MOBILE GAMING: Mobile gaming revenue is expected to decline for the first time ever. According to market research conducted by Ampere Analysis, 2022 mobile gaming revenue is set to fall by 6.4% or roughly $6B. Lower revenue is likely due to less ad revenue streaming from Apple’s (AAPL) new privacy settings that make personalized ads less effective.      

#2 CONSTRUCTION SPENDING: Non-residential construction spending in November 2022 increased 7% year-over-year, fueled by solid activity in manufacturing and civil infrastructure. (U.S. Census Bureau Data)    

#3 HIGHER EDUCATION: According to the New York Times, colleges whose prices have increased dramatically in recent years are now struggling with lower demand. Furthermore, the number of potential students to recruit is declining due to shifting demographics in recent years, resulting in the absolute number of graduates forecasted to peak in 2025 at 3.9 million.      

#4 HEALTHCARE ETF FLOWS: Recent data from Strategas ETF Research showed that in 2022 healthcare ETFs experienced record annual inflows of new money as investors sought a more defensive positioning in equities. Furthermore, the health sector’s weight in the S&P 500 hit a 50-year high of 16% at year-end.    

#5 EGG SUPPLY WOES: The HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) has impacted 43.3-million-layer hens in the U.S., representing roughly 13% of the standard layer population. The most recent government statistics indicate that layer hens are down 6% year-over-year to 308 million, materially affecting the domestic egg supply.    

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