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Greetings N2K reader!

Pick a winner for this week’s world famous News Haiku™ competition down below…

Now let’s talk about the news you need to know!

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• Starbucks halts 2-year sales slide at last

• Trump cuts tariffs on China after meeting with Xi

• Samsung reports 32% rise in operating profit

• Universal Music partners with AI song generator

• The pure profit enterprise of movie rereleases

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▼ 0.05% ) $DJI ( ▼ 0.65% ) $NDX ( ▲ 0.13% )

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$SBUX ( ▼ 1.21% )  $SSNLF ( ▲ 56.02% )  $UMGP ( ▼ 2.13% )  $DIS ( ▼ 1.68% )  

Starbucks halts 2-year sales slide at last

Starbucks $SBUX ( ▼ 1.21% ) has managed to halt a two-year slide in sales, marking progress in its turnaround strategy, but costly improvements are taking a toll on its profits. In the fiscal fourth quarter, the Seattle coffee giant reported a 1% increase in global same-store sales compared to last year, driven by international markets where sales surged by 3%. Domestically, U.S. sales were flat, like your white. Or whatever.

CEO Brian Niccol, who joined Starbucks a little over a year ago and is being paid an outlandish amount of money to work remotely from San Diego and commute occasionally via private jet, credited the improvements to operational changes, including upgraded hospitality standards, store redesigns, and smarter staffing for peak hours. “We still have a lot of work in front of us, but it’s clear we’re moving in the right direction,” Niccol said during an investor call. I’m sure he’s relieved.

Niccol also noted that new technology has cut average in-store wait times to just four minutes at 80% of U.S. locations — an impressive feat during high-volume days.

I used to be a Starbucks barista and prided myself on short wait times. That said, I’m a reasonably high quality newsletter editor now, and y’all can all wait until 6:30 every morning for it.

However, such changes have come at a cost. Starbucks incurred $755 million in restructuring charges during the quarter, resulting in an 85% drop in profit. The company remains optimistic about long-term success, with Niccol saying: “I believe we’re best-positioned to provide the best customer experience in the industry.”

Private jet commuting, though, eh?

Song of the day: Pets, “Hush Hush”

The Pets are a new Brooklyn trio featuring electronica, saxophone, and guitar — but not half as annoying as that sounds.

Trump cuts tariffs on China after meeting with Xi

President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced measures to ease trade tensions between the two global superpowers last night. The U.S. will cut tariffs on Chinese goods from 20% to 10%, bringing the combined tariff rate down to 47%. China, in turn, agreed to loosen its export restrictions on rare earth elements and resume buying American soybeans.

Trump described the meeting as highly successful: “I guess on the scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” he said. This is how I often describe a night of lovemaking, which in turn is why I don’t get to do that very often.

The presidents also discussed exports of advanced U.S. technologies, such as computer chips, with Nvidia beginning talks with Chinese officials. Trump expressed optimism over a potential trade deal: “I could sign a trade deal with China pretty soon,” he said.

Chinese state media reported Xi’s sentiments, urging for long-term cooperation between the nations. “Both sides should take the long-term perspective into account, focusing on the benefits of cooperation rather than falling into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation,” Xi said, with all the charisma of stale Shredded Wheat.

Craig Singleton, of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described the situation to the Associated Press as “short-term stabilization dressed up as strategic progress.”

Which is also how I often describe a night of lovemaking. Et cetera.

Today on the ‘gram: I’ll buy some shares…

Post of the day: “I went to rehab two years later.”

Quote of the Day

Samsung reports 32% rise in operating profit

Samsung $SSNLF ( ▲ 56.02% ) reported a remarkable 32.5% rise in operating profit for the third quarter, driven by surging demand for its semiconductor products and mobile phones. The South Korean tech giant reached a record high in quarterly revenue, increasing nearly 9% to $60.4 billion.

“The semiconductor market is expected to remain strong, driven by ongoing AI investment momentum,” Samsung said in a statement. Basically, it’s slinging a ton of AI chips.

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👎️ 

Meh.

Universal Music partners with AI song generator

Universal Music Group and AI song generation platform Udio are going to create a new music creation and streaming platform. Their collaboration follows the settlement of a copyright infringement lawsuit. Previously, Universal had been suing Udio.

Universal and Udio revealed the agreement, which includes “compensatory legal settlement” and licensing arrangements for recorded music and publishing. These new deals aim to “provide further revenue opportunities” for Universal’s roster of artists and songwriters, including stars like Taylor Swift, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo. Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, emphasized the importance of supporting artists and adapting to the rapidly evolving music landscape. “These new agreements with Udio demonstrate our commitment to do what’s right by our artists and songwriters, whether that means embracing new technologies, developing new business models, diversifying revenue streams, or beyond,” Grainge said.

Set to launch next year, the AI-powered subscription service promises to “responsibly train” its tools on licensed music, giving users the ability to customize and share music. Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez shared his excitement. “This deal empowers artists and fans and unites AI and the music industry in a way that truly champions artists,” he said.

I’d like ChatGPT to create my version of the new Taylor Swift album, please. Only I want it to make the songs good and listenable and not tired and jaded and sorta blah like she’s marrying a famous football player now after endorsing the losing candidate in the 2024 elections. Can you do that, ChatGPT?! Eh?

The pure profit enterprise of movie rereleases

This is the latest in Grant Keller’s weekly guest column on the business of movies.

In 1997, “Star Wars” was the 5th highest grossing movie of the year. Before you start “um actually”-ing me that “Star Wars” came out in 1977 and was the highest grossing movie of its year — I’m talking about the re-release.

George Lucas remastered and put his world-changing classic back on the big screen in January of ‘97, and audiences rushed to it like they didn’t already have a well-loved copy of it on VHS at home. It, along with the rereleases of “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” the same year, grossed over $250 million at the box office. Even with the few millions put into the revamps, rereleasing the sci-fi trilogy on its 20th anniversary was pure profit for Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox.

Poll of the day: Choose a winning haiku!

The theme of this week’s competition is that the FBI’s NBA probe has put sports betting firms in the spotlight, rather than, you know…basketball. This is a bit of a shame, especially considering the start of the 2025-26 season so far. Here are the best (imho) of last week’s entries for us to choose from. Thanks to all who submitted, and you were many — and for that I am grateful. “Poetry is the only true thing,” as I read in fun book last night. Agreed!

Poll of the day result: You’re skeptical

We asked: “Do you think Grokipedia will be better than Wikipedia?”

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Hell yeah! (42)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Hell naw! (632)

674 Votes

via @beehiiv polls

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