Speedwell Research's News Update and Weekly Recap
Two Ends of the Strategy Spectrum, Coupang's Power of Adding More Selection, Google's 3 Big Risks
Welcome to Speedwell Research’s Newsletter. We write about business and investing. Our paid research product can be found at SpeedwellResearch.com. You can learn more about us here.
This is a weekly recap, where we summarize recent content you may have missed.
Table of Contents:
Speedwell Releases & Upcoming
Spotlight
Coverage Updates
Sharing Links
1. Speedwell Releases & Upcoming.
Research.
In case you missed it, we’ve released several business updates this earnings season: Coupang, Airbnb, Meta, Evolution, Constellation Software, and CoStar Group.
The Synopsis Podcast.
We released an article episode called Two Ends of the Strategy Spectrum. This is the second part of our Consumer’s Hierarchy of Preferences series. Listen or read below!
Upcoming.
Podcast
Coming soon: our +3 hour Airbnb Company Episode!
We are also working on a Dialogue episode on Copart and Constellation Software.
Research
We are now working on LVMH as our next in-depth research report!
Coverage
We will release a business recap on RH’s latest earnings.
Become a Speedwell Member today to get access to all of our research updates and our in-depth research reports!
2. Spotlight.
Below are select quotes from our various writings and podcast.
Memo. Google Shut the Door on Competition, AI Swung it Back Open.
The 3 Risks That May Burn Google: “You may think of the first two risks—product encroachment and changing form functions—as kindling. Every year there isn’t a fire, the kindle keeps piling up and getting drier. AI is like a heat wave: it’s not impossible, but it seems unlikely that something doesn’t catch fire. And similarly, once a fire is lit, it tends to spread everywhere.”
Read the full memo here: Google Shut the Door on Competition, AI Swung it Back Open
The Synopsis Podcast. Two Ends of the Strategy Spectrum.
Meet More Preferences, Create More Surplus: “Companies that meet more conditions of a consumer's Hierarchy of Preferences, beyond the point that the consumer would have already satisfactorily purchased the item, are effectively increasing the consumer surplus.”
(Share this quote on Twitter/X)
Coupang 1Q25 Business Update.
CPNG’s Power of Adding More Selection: “As we noted in our original research report, just adding more selection was sufficient to spawn more consumer purchasing—and that is exactly what we’ve seen. Relative to other growth vectors—like launching in new markets—this is sort of a high probability growth vector for further growth in spending per customer.”
Read the full memo here: Coupang 1Q25 Business Update
Company Report Snippet. AppFolio
The Sharing Surplus Growth Lever: “Their key to success was focusing on the customer. CEO Donohoo noted on their first earnings call in 3Q15, “word of mouth marketing from happy customers… is a powerful tool and a tremendous competitive differentiator that fuels our growth.”
(Share this quote on Twitter/X)
*This is an excerpt from our latest company report on AppFolio.
If you are a Speedwell Research Member, read the full report here: AppFolio
If you are not already a Speedwell Research member, you can purchase it here: AppFolio Individual Report
3. Coverage Updates.
RH
RH reported 1Q26 earnings this week, and the stock initially reacted by jumping +20% after-hours.
Revenue grew +12% y/y.
Gary Friedman highlighted RH’s strong international demand in England and Germany.
"Demand trends at RH England, with the gallery up +47% in the first quarter, and online demand at +44%.”
We will be releasing a business recap on RH, so keep an eye out for that!
Meta
Meta announced a $14.3 bn investment in AI firm Scale.
Part of this deal was the initative of Scale CEO Alexandr Wang to head Meta’s “superintelligence team.”
This move by Meta highlights Zuckerberg’s aggressive push into AGI.
4. Sharing Links.
Check out Speedwell Research’s Drew Cohen’s YouTube Channel. It is focused on general investing and business content.
Other Links.
A Letter a Day: Danny Rimer and Bill Gurley (1998) (link)
Francois Rochon Value Investor Insight Interview (2015) (link)
Christopher Tsai on The Power and Challenges of Compounding (link)
And a special thank you to Matthew Harbaugh for helping put this weekly recap together!
The Synopsis Podcast.
Follow our Podcast below. We have four episode formats: “company” episodes that breakdown in-depth each business we write a report on, “dialogue” episodes that cover various business and investing topics, “article” episodes where we read our weekly memos, and “interviews”.
Speedwell Research Reports.
Become a Speedwell Research Member to receive all of our in-depth research reports, shorter exploratory reports, updates, and Members Plus also receive Excels.
(Many members have gotten their memberships expensed. If you need us to talk with your compliance department to become an approved vendor, please reach out at info@speedwellresearch.com).
