It's official

MARKETS

• Markets: “The S&P 500 turned positive for the year”—something we would never have believed in March but did in fact happen yesterday. Plus, the Nasdaq closed at an all-time high.

WORK

Work From Home Becomes Work From Anywhere

In what is believed to be a Morning Brew first, we're going to lead today's newsletter with an earnings report by an RV company—Thor Industries, to be specific, which makes Airstream and other brands.

Tl;dr: It's a grand time to be an RV company.

• "Despite this being one of the most unusual quarters I have ever experienced," CEO Bob Martin said, "I am pleased to report that we were profitable and generated positive net cash from operations."
• "One new trend we are seeing is an evolution from 'work at home' to 'work from anywhere' as RV buyers use their new RVs as their office wherever they are, or wherever they want to be."

Thanks for the transition, Bob

Many white collar workers, freed from the confines of their office, are realizing they don't actually have to work from their literal home, either. And their wanderlust is giving a boost not only to RV companies, but to vacation rental platforms that were decimated by lockdowns.

Take Airbnb, which cut 25% of its workforce last month. Now, it says more U.S. listings were booked between May 17 and June 3 this year than the same period in 2019.

• "Work from home is becoming work from any home," CEO Brian Chesky told Bloomberg, adding that Airbnb has more listings now than before the pandemic.
• The surprising rebound in demand means Airbnb is not ruling out an IPO this year—something that seemed inconceivable in April.

What do companies think? There doesn't seem to be a true consensus yet. Some Silicon Valley heavyweights like Twitter have embraced the "work from anywhere" approach. Others, like Cisco, are slowly bringing employees back to the office, albeit with elaborate tech to keep them safe.

Embrace debate: Portfolio manager and Bloomberg Opinion columnist Conor Sen writes RVs are the "new commercial real estate." Do you agree?

ECONOMY

All Streaks Must Come to an End

Like saying "Chick-fil-A sauce is overrated," a committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research decided to state the obvious yesterday. After a record 128 months of expansion, the economy officially entered a recession in February.

• How obvious was it? The NBER usually takes over a year to look at economic data before declaring a recession. This time, it...did not take that long.
• The NBER's working definition of a recession is a "decline in economic activity that lasts more than a few months."

Zoom out: Economists from other agencies decided to join in and rip off the Band-Aids in one sitting yesterday.

• A survey of business economists predicted that U.S. GDP will decline 5.9% in 2020—the biggest drop since 1946.
• The World Bank predicted a 5.2% contraction in the global economy this year and a 7% decline in advanced economies. The report also said emerging market economies would shrink as a group for the first time in 60 years.

Looking ahead…the technical recession could be relatively short as states lift pandemic restrictions and resume activity. However, a full recovery (especially in the jobs market) will take longer.

IPO

Is That a Pan of Chili's Signature Sizzling Fajitas?

Nope, it's just the U.S. IPO market. Yesterday, SoftBank-backed "insurtech" startup Lemonade filed to go public. The $2 billion millennial-focused company, which sells renters and homeowners insurance, hopes to keep the IPO ball rolling after the busiest week for U.S. public offerings since the Before Times (February).

Let's talk about those new faces

• ZoomInfo cashed in on some naming juju. Shares of the business-intelligence platform have more than doubled since its IPO last week, turning both founders into billionaires.
• Nikola Corp. makes hydrogen- and battery-powered trucks that don't look like they belong in a cyberpunk dreamscape. After shares gained 104% on its third day trading on the Nasdaq, the company is now worth $26 billion—and Elon is definitely looking in his rearview mirror. (Maybe they should just merge to form Nikola Tesla?)
• Warner Music Group also had a successful, if less eye-popping, IPO last week.

Bottom line: After disappointing IPOs from Uber and Lyft last year, it looked like investors had finally soured on money-burning startups. But, even during a global pandemic, they’re back again. Except for Warner, all the companies listed above are unprofitable.

+ More about Lemonade: Last year we invited CEO Daniel Schreiber on an episode of our podcast Business Casual. Give it a listen.

HEALTHCARE

Hospitals Get Their Own Checkup

Hospitals and money—two words that rarely combine in a feel-good story. Now mix in some pandemic relief funds...

In March, Congress approved a $175 billion package for hospitals to cover costs and lost revenue tied to treating COVID-19 patients. According to a NYT analysis, 60 of the largest U.S. hospital chains collected $15 billion.

Where it gets controversial

At least 36 chains laid off, furloughed, or reduced pay of employees. And grant recipients included nonprofits and publicly traded firms (like HCA and Tenet Healthcare) with tens of billions in emergency cash reserves.

A Kaiser Family Foundation study suggests formulas used to calculate grants were based on patient revenue (benefitting hospitals serving wealthier, privately insured patients) and didn't take into account financial need.

• The Department of Health and Human Services says it had to get money out fast, and accounting for need would've slowed things down.
• Hospitals didn't have to apply for grants, though it was encouraged they use them to pay and protect doctors, nurses, and other workers.

Big picture: Many big hospital chains are taking a hit. But their rainy day funds can survive a hurricane, whereas most smaller and rural hospitals only have 30 days of runway.

TECH

Protesters Find Allies in Map Apps

There's no better feeling than shaving a few minutes off the Google Maps ETA. But less competitive users have spotted some map updates relevant to the ongoing protests over racial injustice.

• Apple Maps quickly patched the satellite view of Washington, D.C. to show the Black Lives Matter mural commissioned last Friday by Mayor Muriel Bowser. You can see it in the screenshot above.
• Google Maps also relabeled the portion of 16th St. covered by the mural as “Black Lives Matter Plaza” to reflect Mayor Bowser’s official renaming. It updated the software in a matter of hours.

Even Snap Map, the under-the-radar Snapchat feature, has proven to be a valuable tool for protesters. "Heat maps" show large congregations of Snap users, while Snap stories give real-time, on-the-ground updates. Snap Map was also used to visualize the school walkouts protesting gun violence in 2018.

+ While we're here: Google Maps is rolling out COVID-19 alerts, including reminders to wear face masks on public transportation, to help people navigate cities emerging from pandemic restrictions.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• IBM is getting out of the facial recognition business and called on Congress to address systemic racism in the U.S.
• The WHO: It's "very rare" for asymptomatic individuals to spread the coronavirus.
• Dunkin' franchisees will hire up to 25,000 employees.
• BP, however, will cut 10,000 employees before the year's out to adjust to lower oil prices.
• ARMY, the fanatic fanbase of K-pop group BTS, raised $1 million for Black Lives Matter 24 hours after BTS and Big Hit Entertainment pledged $1 million to the cause.

KIWI TRIVIA

Yesterday, New Zealand reported no active COVID-19 cases and lifted the vast majority of social distancing restrictions. To celebrate the country’s victory over the virus, here are five questions about New Zealand.

• What side of the road do they drive on?
• What is the name of New Zealand’s most populous city?
• New Zealand’s official languages are NZ Sign Language and ______
• What is the nickname for the New Zealand national rugby team?
• If you ordered a hokey pokey in New Zealand, what would you be getting?

KIWI TRIVIA ANSWERS

1. Left
2. Auckland
3. Māori. English is the de facto language, but not official. New Zealand became the first country to declare sign language an official language in 2006.
4. The All Blacks
5. A flavor of ice cream