TSOH Weekly Roundup (05/29/26)

Welcome to another edition of TSOH Weekly Roundup, which is sent on Friday at 11am ET. Each update features a Chart of the Week and a brief discussion on three news items relevant to the TSOH investable universe.

Chart Of The Week (from “BJ’s Wholesale: Mind The Gap”)

Three Notable Items

“VALUExBRK 2026”

Guy Spier and the team at VALUExBRK were kind enough to post the full recording from their event in Omaha, with commentary from Bill Ackman, Tom Gayner, Tom Russo, and others. (Personally, the two presentations I found most interesting were from Eric Markowitz and Adam Mead.) Note that the video is five hours long; if you are unfamiliar with YouTube’s “Ask” feature, I’d recommend using it to find sections or topics that are of interest to you.

Adam Mead (43rd minute): “The theme through Berkshire’s history is a willingness to bet big when it makes sense to; big acquisitions and large positions in stocks / bonds.”

“Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp Subscriptions”

While Meta’s sizable and growing AI investments will largely be monetized through improved core FOA business outcomes (increasing time spent, improving ROAS, etc.), they’ve also demonstrated interest in subscriptions. I’ll be curious to see how these various offerings evolve in the years ahead.

“Consumers subscribing to Instagram Plus ($3.99 per month), Facebook Plus ($3.99 per month), or WhatsApp Plus ($2.99 per month) will gain access to extra features, like profile customization, super reactions, and story insights. Meta’s head of product Naomi Gleit noted that ‘more fun features’ will be added in the future… New plans don’t replace its existing offering, Verified, which is focused on verification, impersonation protection, and extra support.”

“How Barnes & Noble Became PE’s Most Radical Retail Experiment”

An article about the resurgence of Barnes & Noble, which sheds some insight on how brick-and-mortar retailers can add value for customers in the modern world. While price is clearly an important component, there’s more to the consumer value proposition than minimizing the cost of the contents inside a cardboard box on your doorstep (some examples: experiential, treasure hunt, etc.). Finding the retailers who can thread that needle, particularly if Mr. Market is somewhat unconvinced that their competitive position will prove sustainable over time, is likely to be a path to attractive investment returns.

“Before James Daunt took over in 2019, the company was beholden to a far more rigid display shape: the block. The setup was an emblem of Barnes & Noble’s transactional practice of making sweetheart store-placement deals with major publishers, in which books were stacked with the contractual precision of real estate developers maximizing air rights. Among the many drawbacks of this one-size-fits-all arrangement was that it failed to sell books effectively. The unsold books had to be returned to publishers, which meant fewer sales of other, more attractive books, wasted store space, lost employee time and eroded margins… Barnes & Noble’s return rate to publishers has dropped from more than 25% to ~8%. The merchandising shift is an example of Daunt’s idiosyncratic approach to corporate bookselling: Behave less like a big-box behemoth and more like a book lover.”

TSOH Updates

Here’s the updated TSOH research list for the past six months:

Monday’s research report will be an update on Dollar Tree (DLTR).

Have a great weekend!

NOTE - This is not investment advice. Do your own due diligence.

I make no representation, warranty, or undertaking, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or reasonableness of the information presented in this report. Assumptions, opinions, and estimates expressed in this report constitute my judgment as of the date thereof and are subject to change without notice. Projections are based on a number of assumptions, and there is no guarantee that they will be achieved. TSOH Investment Research is not acting as your advisor or in any fiduciary capacity.