Episode 506: Neal and Toby recap the fallout of tech shares plummeting after Chinese AI startup DeepSeek came onto the scene with its comparable performance to OpenAI but at a fraction of the cost. Then, Starbucks rolls out a slew of new changes that go back to its roots. Also, tax season is here. Find out what some of the newest changes are this year that could affect your returns. Meanwhile, Toby looks at the trend of fast walking, less talking. Finally, a roundup of the latest headlines from the day. Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Download the Yahoo! Finance App (on the Play and App store) for real-time alerts on news and insights tailored to your portfolio and stock watchlists. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here: https://link.chtbl.com/MBD Watch Morning Brew Daily Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What caused the drop in tech stocks?
Yeah, I mean, the idea is to remind consumers of the, quote, old Starbucks. All these changes are very vibe-based. They're not efficiency-based. The idea is to create shorter lines, that cozier feel, a more thoughtful service environment, because a lot of what Nichols is doing is undoing uh, previous Starbucks is CEOs kind of focus on efficiency.
Um, the, a CEO who predated nickel was from a consulting background. A lot of what they were doing was looking at, Oh wait, our condiments bar, this is a choke point. It's not good for people. Let's have the baristas do this, have the baristas customized drinks. And while it might make sense in, in terms of a dollars and cents and efficiency perspective,
There are certain things when it comes to getting a coffee that go beyond just efficiency. There are vibes that are very important. So you saw it in some of the marketing materials that Starbucks has unrolled over the last week. They showed a video of their baristas writing people's names in Sharpies on cups.
So it is very much a return to that old feel and that old kind of nostalgic coffee house aura that Starbucks is trying to recreate.
Meanwhile, Starbucks is going to report its fourth quarter earnings today. Sales have declined for three straight quarters, and they're expected to continue to decline this quarter, perhaps not as much. And the spotlight certainly will be on this guy, Brian Nickel, who came over from Chipotle. He's considered the messy of retail, and he's turned around Chipotle.
He's turned around Taco Bell, and he's trying to turn around Starbucks.
Starbucks as well and he's getting paid very very handsomely for it he has already been awarded about 96 million dollars in compensation that's compared to his predecessor who got 22 million and the person before that got 62 million so this is a ton of money that Starbucks is throwing at him a lot of that is to make up for the shares of Chipotle that he voided by coming over so this guy is one of the highest paid CEOs around and we'll see what he has to say later this afternoon about his strategy
for rejuvenating Starbucks. Okay, I can't withhold this news any longer. Tax season started yesterday and runs through April 15th. Can I get a woot woot? Exciting, exciting times. Not to sound like a parent, but hey. The earlier you file, the earlier you can get your refund.
And taxpayers who file electronically and choose direct deposit should get their payments within 21 business days, the IRS said. It's not a small chunk of change either. Last year, tax refunds averaged more than $3,100. That's a pretty good ROI for the 13 hours and $290 it takes the average taxpayer to prepare and file.
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