A finance newsletter about Disney and Fortnite. Interesting one. If you’re young enough to like Disney and Fortnite, what are you doing in the working world? If you’re old (and blessed) enough to work in finance, you should have real hobbies like real ale and WWII. Go on, pick a side.

The lowdown

• 🚢 Maersk shares slide after suspending share buybacks amid Red Sea disruption.

• 🇨🇳 China's consumer prices fall the most since 2009 as deflation risks rise.

• 📉 Alibaba shares sink after it shelves IPO plans for two of its units.

Flex your finance muscle 💪

Like-for-like sales

Last week we went through the key metrics to look at when banks report their numbers. With earnings season rumbling on, today we look at retail stores.

The figure to look at is like-for-like sales, also known as comparable-store sales, comps, or same-store sales. This metric makes sure you’re comparing “apples with apples”. For example, it could only track branches that have been open for two years or more. This means the data isn’t skewed by expansions or closures.

To put that into practice: if a retailer has high like-for-like sales growth and a high total revenue growth, it’s a sign that established stores are driving growth. Whereas if the company has an average like-for-like sales growth rate but high total revenue growth, it suggests new stores or products are the growth engine.

Featured story

Disney to invest $1.5 billion in Fortnite maker Epic Games

Disney is acquiring a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games ($), the maker of Fortnite. The deal means fans will be able to play Disney characters in Fortnite beyond existing avatars based on Star Wars, Marvel, and Indiana Jones characters.

Disney CEO Bob Iger called it the company’s “biggest entry ever into the world of games”. Disney shut down most of its game operations in 2016 after struggling to develop successful titles in-house. Now it licenses properties to developers like EA and Sony instead.

Epic Games is no stranger to a big brand tie-up. The holding company that controls the Lego Group invested $1 billion in Epic in 2022 to build online experiences using its brand. Last year’s Lego Fortnite was a hit, attracting as many as 2 million people shortly after its debut.

The content we're consuming today

• Insider: The sweet, sweet life of America’s DINKs

• RealLifeLore: Why Norway is becoming the world's richest country

• Vox: TikTokers are competing to coin the next viral term

Off-balance sheet items

• Do you go through an endless cycle of buying fresh basil only to watch it wilt? I feel you. Here’s how to store fresh herbs.

The bottom line