Three Data Points on Insta-Twitter, RH, Inflation Worth Sharing This Week Ending 5.26.23
Data + Data = Data
Can Instagram move into Insta-Twitter? Data says maybe…
Restoration Hardware earnings call speech data. The term value used more times than ever?
Real-time inflation pushes below 3%
RUMOR IS INSTAGRAM IS BUILDING A TWITTER-LIKE APP. WILL THEY SUCCEED?
This week, there were rumors that Instagram is working on a Twitter-like app. This makes sense, as Twitter's usage has been declining over the past six months.
Our latest data shows that hours spent on Twitter are down 8% year-over-year, while Instagram is up 15%. The big question is whether Instagram can successfully take market share from Twitter. Currently, Instagram has 4-5x the number of users as Twitter. If Instagram can create an engaging user interface, we believe it has a high probability of success.
RESTORATION HARDWARE USED THE WORD "VALUE" 43 TIMES YESTERDAY
After listening to Restoration Hardware's earnings call yesterday, we analyzed the numbers. The company mentioned the term "value" frequently throughout the 2-hour call.
This was a clear outlier when compared to previous earnings calls. This is likely because the company has been forced to become more promotional than it would like, given the weakness in the luxury housing market. RH is being impacted less by its own actions and more by the environment, however speech-text data is sending a clear message.
REAL-TIME CPI BELOW 3% FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2020.
Today, we have the latest inflation reading from Truflation. Truflation uses over 40 sources and 10 million data points to measure real-time national prices. With a much more precise measurement, we are happy to see that the current reading is now below 3% for the first time since 2020, and nearing the Federal Reserve's stated goal of 2%.
While we recognize that the Federal Reserve uses lagged data as a proxy, we do feel that more voices are converging with our view that real-time inflation was hotter than the Federal Reserve realized two years ago, and is slower than currently observed.
Disclaimer: Not a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities mentioned. This is for educational purposes only.