Morning Glory < 30 Seconds: Topgolf Sold to Great Buyer, Wrong Owner

Morning Glory < 30 Seconds

October 28, 2020

By Cliff Oxford

Daily Deal—Sports equipment empire, Callaway Golf, bought Topgolf yesterday, giving the U.S. driving-range fast-food operator an equity value of about $2B. 

Wall Street ran a double-reverse on deal last night, slightly increasing share price of Callaway, sucking in all the new traders, and on second thought this morning dumping the stock price by more than 20%. Topgolf founder Steve Jolliffe found the right buyer. Wrong owner. Taking candy from a baby.

Side Deal—Could have heard it from Long Island. Harley-Davidson stock price surging 22% yesterday after the motorcycle company beat expectations. Harley’s quarterly sales fell 8% compared to a year ago, but profit spiked 39%. 

Harley’s new CEO Jochen Zeitz threw the "millennial strategy” in the trash and saved an awful lot of money by cleaning house on consultants. Back to boomers and bandannas, biceps and tattoos, and high-margin T-shirts. He also made hard decisions over the heads of his senior team.

• Pulled the plug on underperforming dealerships.
• Optimized sales—cut around 30% of Harley’s least profitable models (hardcore).
• Wants customers to pay full price for two-wheelers. They are selling like hot cakes.

Dodgers won the World Series but MLB baseball brass is as happy that season is over than Joe Biden will be next Wednesday. 

Major League Baseball lost roughly $3.1B during the 2020 season. The league’s EBITDA ran this morning showed a loss of about $2.7B. 

Back to negotiation table with player association and TV networks ratings down. TikTok.

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IPO Glow—Root, a New York-based car insurer, raised $663.7 million.

Entries/Exits—Apple acquired Vilynx, a Barcelona-based AI company analyzing video content. 

How many Apple Shares. 

Jon Stewart is heading back to TV—Apple TV+—in a new current affairs series. The late-night legend signed a multiyear deal to host, produce, and have full creative control of the show. 

Critics are pounding Stewart’s last movie he created and directed, “Irresistible,” about a Democratic political consultant helping a former marine run for mayor in a small right-wing town. Stewart, a brilliant sharp-edge performer, made a mistake trying to do what amounted to light political satire—like Nikki Charm trying to do light porn. Stick with what you know.