Good morning. In this edition:

• ⛽ Retail chains embrace fuel pumps
• 📈 Nvidia earnings
• 🌕 Australia vs. the Moon

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.78-minute read (1,005 words).

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"An approximate answer to the right question is worth a great deal more than a precise answer to the wrong question."

–John Tukey (1915-2000)

Gas stations = the new oil rush. In recent months, US retail giants have accelerated their ongoing push into the auto fuel business, with new gas stations gradually popping up next to stores across the country.

While traditionally not a place to find pumps—outside of the shoe aisle—these retailers are hoping to increase customer loyalty with member discounts, draw in more foot traffic, and help fill up their bottom lines.

Examples include:

• Walmart last month kicked off a five-year strategy aimed at significantly growing the number of gas stations next to its stores, targeting 10% growth to 450 stations by the end of this year.
• Dollar General’s test run of a single gas station in Alabama has now expanded to 40+ stores, primarily in the South.
• Sam’s Club launched extended hours at 90% of its gas stations across the US last month.

Follow the leader: Costco is the unquestioned king of retail gas stations, with its 719 such locations accounting for ~12% of all company revenue last year. The big-box chain is pursuing further growth in this area and recently extended its gas station opening times across the US by at least 1 hour/day, CEO Rob Vachris said in Costco’s March earnings call.

The retail push comes as gas is getting cheaper. Average US prices for the Memorial Day weekend stood at $3.08/gallon, according to GasBuddy. It marked the lowest list price for the holiday since 2021, and the lowest inflation-adjusted price since 2003.

Looking ahead…Gas prices are projected to remain around that level through Labor Day—even with the switch to more expensive summer blends—amid rising US crude output and upcoming OPEC+ supply bumps.

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Semiconductor giant Nvidia yesterday reported strong quarterly results that came in above analysts’ expectations, despite headwinds to its China business.

The good: Demand for AI-powering semiconductors is *checks notes* still high.

• Revenue came in at ~$44.1 billion, up 69% YoY and above Wall Street’s expectations of ~$43.3 billion, largely powered by the company’s data center division, which saw 73% YoY growth and accounted for 88% of total revenue.
• Net income was $18.8 billion for the quarter, up 26% on an annual basis.

The not-so-good: CEO Jensen Huang said the $50 billion Chinese market is “effectively closed” to the company due to export restrictions implemented by the Trump admin in April. Sales took a $2.5 billion haircut in Q1 as a result, and its Q2 revenue guidance of ~$45 billion would have been ~$8 billion higher without the new restrictions, Nvidia revealed yesterday.

Zoom out: The numbers from Nvidia, the last of the Magnificent Seven to report on Q1, caps off a strong quarter for megacap tech stocks—which, not including the semiconductor slinger, reported an average earnings increase of 28% YoY compared with 9% for the rest of the S&P 500.

It’s near impossible to browse modern social media without stumbling across a “get ready with me” video.

And this experience isn’t unique to adults—GRWM clips are also drawing massive viewership from tweens (kids aged 10-12), fueling a recent surge in beauty spending among that age group.

Peeling back the layers

Households with children 12 and under spent $2.4 billion in 2023 on skincare and makeup—up 27% on an annual basis and more than that of households with teenagers, according to the latest Nielsen data.

• Social media is widely seen as a major driver of the trend, with popular teen influencers like North West and Penelope Disick often seen using beauty products in brightly-colored packaging with names like strawberry smoothie and bubblegum cleanser.

Why target tweens? Experts say their brains are still very much in the development stage, making them less able to recognize ads and targeted content compared to teens or adults. The problem is exacerbated by online creators, especially teen influencers, routinely failing to tag their skincare and makeup posts as advertising per a recent CBS News analysis.

In semi-related news: E.l.f. Beauty, which has seen its growth skyrocket over the past few years amid a popular TikTok marketing campaign targeting younger consumers, yesterday acquired Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode for $1 billion in a bid to reach more higher-income beauty shoppers.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🚫 The US Court of International Trade blocked President Trump's reciprocal tariffs, ruling he doesn't have the authority to impose them under the 1977 law he invoked.
• 🚗 Stellantis named Antonio Filosa, a 25-year veteran of the company, as its next CEO.
• 🤖 Elon Musk tried to block OpenAI's data-center deal with the UAE unless his xAI company was added, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Wantable

• 🏆 Tickets punched: The OKC Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves last night to clinch the series and earn a Finals berth. | In the NHL, the Florida Panthers topped the Carolina Hurricanes to notch a place in the Stanley Cup Final.
• 🎭 Broadway’s 2024-25 season generated $1.9 billion across all productions, an all-time record and 23% increase from last year.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Smokey Robinson filed a counter-suit against four women who sued the singer for $50 million this month alleging sexual battery, assault, and false imprisonment. | Influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate are facing a combined 21 new charges in the UK, including rape and human trafficking.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🚀 China launched its robotic Tianwen-2 spacecraft that aims to retrieve samples from a near-Earth asteroid.
• 🤖 Anthropic has begun rolling out a voice mode for its Claude chatbot (so now it can blackmail you sounding like Jack Nicholson from The Departed).
• 🕷️ Researchers in Germany created the world's first spiders that are genetically modified using CRISPR technology.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Wild

• 🇨🇳 The State Department will begin “aggressively revoking” visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the CCP or studying in critical fields, per Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
• 🏛️ The DOJ is investigating whether a California law allowing trans athletes on female sports teams violates federal civil rights law; the probe was revealed a day after President Trump threatened to withhold federal funding to California over the issue.
• 🧑‍⚖️ A federal judge blocked Trump's executive order targeting law firm WilmerHale over its relationship with former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

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☝️ The annual cheese rolling competition in Gloucestershire, UK, took place on Monday; hundreds of runners sprinted and tumbled 200 yards down a steep pitch chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese; German YouTuber Tom Kopke won his second-straight men’s event.

🤔 Did You Know? Australia is wider than the Moon. The Land Down Under stretches ~2,485 miles from its westernmost to easternmost points, while the Moon is ~2,159 miles in diameter.

📰 Worth a Read: The strange business history of the Ouija board

🖱️ Clickbait: The world’s longest train journey is epic—but nobody's ever taken it

Yesterday we covered how President Trump is reportedly considering new sanctions on Russia in the coming days, as his frustration with Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine continues to mount.

❓ Our question to you: In your opinion, how should the US approach the Russia-Ukraine war?

• Mostly or fully support Ukraine: 57%
• Try to reach a middle ground peace deal: 18%
• Mostly or fully support Russia: 5%
• Stay out of it entirely: 9%
• Other: 5%
• Unsure: 6%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 1,960 votes and 216 longform responses.

What's the longest commercially scheduled flight in the world? (In terms of time spent in the air)

🥤 Coca Cola introduced a "reverse vending machine" that recycles used plastic bottles to help boost plastic collection efforts in East India. 

🏃‍♀️ Canadian runner Stephanie Case recently won an ultramarathon—while still maintaining her breast-feeding schedule six months postpartum. 

🐼 Hong Kong unveiled its first locally born giant pandas, who were named Jia Jia and De De following a contest that drew 35,000+ entries. 

New York City (JFK)—Singapore, an 18 hour and 50 minute route