Five interesting things that Hodges Capital research analysts discovered this week...
#1 SUPER BOWL LVII: Super Bowl in-game advertising spots first cracked the $1 million mark in 1995. This year, according to an article in Front Office Sports, brand marketers will pay a record $7 million for in-game slots during Fox Sports' telecast of Super Bowl 57 on Februaryy 12th. The cost of a Super Bowl commercial is staggering. However, there is no bigger audience an advertiser could reach, with roughly 100 million viewers last year.
#2 ELECTRIC VEHICLE SALES: Electric vehicle sales jumped more than 60% last year in the U.S. but still only make up 6% of new vehicle sales. – Motor Intelligence via WSJ
#3 CORPORATE TRAVEL: The hotel data analytics company, TRIPBAM, collects and analyzes future corporate hotel bookings. The Company recently noted that bookings continue to recover but are still 32% below 2019 levels. TRIPBAM estimates that corporate travel will recover to 80% of pre-COVID levels.
#4 "BE ALL YOU CAN BE": In 2022, the number of new Army recruits was -25% below its end-of-year goal. According to Army officials, this was partly due to a lack of youth who met the fitness requirements. Only 23% of those ages 17-24 fulfill the fitness, health, and educational requirements and do not have a criminal record. In response, the Army has developed a new pilot program: The Future Soldier Preparatory Course. The class helps previously ineligible youths lose weight. Students may enter the program at up to 6% above the Army's weight threshold and have 84 days to lose the extra pounds. 850 students have passed through the program, and all have hit their goals. 87% of this group graduated in three weeks and lost an average of 1% of their body fat per week. – Hedgeye Risk Management and the Economist
#5 BUYBACK MACHINES: Since 2007, S&P 500 companies have repurchased $8.3 trillion worth of stock and paid $5.5 trillion in dividends. Recently, energy giant Chevron announced plans to buy back $75 billion of its shares, five times the oil giant's current buyback plan, along with an increase in dividend payouts, according to Chartr. Although technically illegal in the U.S. until 1982, buybacks have become the preferred way for companies to throw off cash. According to the Harvard Law School, the SEC adopted Rule 10B-18 (the safe-harbor provision) under the Reagan administration to combat corporate raiders.
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