Optimal Advisory Cost Factor – All measured Tickers and Industry Indices down w/w. After a blip higher last week, another steep w/w decline in energy costs as 24/32 measured commodities overall flat/down w/w. Cost Factor…

Please see the full attached 41-page Briefing Book. Our upcoming virtual client meetings, contact us with questions:​ •Fine Dining & Hospitality / Luxury that Cares – Virtual Meeting with Jose Andres Group CEO – 1/20…

Consumer Velo soft again, but the softening is stabilizing a bit … shorter-term spending declines at -1.7% y/y (this metric was running +4% in August and +3% in September) while longer-term is now down -0.2%…

In this updated report, we analyze both mix and inflection of digital traction with the key 18-34 year old consumer cohort. We calculate and examine these trends both across and within subsectors.  Callouts include: SHAK,…

Consumer Velo softened further last week … shorter-term spending trend decline is now at -1.7% y/y (this metric was running -0.5% y/y prior week, +4% in August and +3% in September). Our analysis of the trailing…

Optimal Advisory Cost Factor – All measured Tickers and Industry Indices down w/w as input costs move lower. Steep declines in energy cost over the last 2 weeks are outweighing bottoming in other input commodities….

In this December report, we update our November analysis across 89 consumer names (see Figure 1). We calculate both the relative (a) inflection of AI-driven traffic and (b) importance of AI engagement within the context of digital engagement of consumers. AI platforms are increasingly driving consumer choices, though we note…

1.     “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Agentic/AI Commerce Matters.” Moving from AI assisted search to AI purchase & delivery could create a huge realignment of spending, customer acquisition and disintermediation across products & channels….

Consumer Velo softened further last week … shorter-term spending declines now below -1% y/y (this metric was running +4% in August and +3% in September). Our analysis of trailing 4-week moving average of sales at…

Optimal Advisory Cost Factor – Input costs down w/w off energy moves, with natural gas declines helping all manufacturers. Cocoa has jumped ~10% off the bottom but still the most notable input tailwind. Input declines…

Please see the full attached 44-page Briefing Book. Our upcoming virtual client meetings, contact us with questions:​ Agentic AI Commerce & Stablecoin / Crypto – Impacts in 2026 & Beyond – Virtual Meeting – 12/19…

Optimal clients are invited to a virtual meeting hosted by David Schick featuring Joshua Orenstein. Josh is the former Head of Consumer Legal at Stripe, Inc., where he helped develop new global payment products, including a…

Announces ambitious 2026 guidance early.  Last night, after a comprehensive board review, Pepsico announced slightly better than expected 2026 guidance for organic revenue growth (+2%-4%) & core EPS (+5%-7%).  This includes plans for select price…

Yesterday’s disappointing Magnum debut suggests opportunity.  Yesterday, shares of the Magnum Ice Cream Company, newly spun off from Unilever, first traded on multiple exchanges. Shares were valued (12/8 close) at roughly 8x its apparent “as…

Consumer Velo is still softening … the run rate is now 80 bp slower than just one week prior and has turned negative y/y. Shorter-term spending trend further decelerated last week. Our metric is now…