Spotify 2Q'26: Pressing the Monetization Lever

Spotify reached 300 Million Premium subscribers milestone in 2Q'26. Getting from zero to 100 Million took over a decade, 100 to 200 Million took 15.5 quarters, and 200 to 300 Million took roughly 14 quarters. While premium subscriber number was above management’ guide, Monthly Active Users (MAU)

FICO FY 3Q'26: Welcome to "Gaming"

FICO 3Q’26 revenue increased +26% YoY, but this was actually slightly below the consensus estimates. I don’t quite think a slight revenue miss was the reason for FICO stock being down ~24% since they reported earnings last week. I will expand on the primary culprit behind the paywall.

Meta's "True" ROIC, and Some Notes from Meta and Alphabet's 10-Qs

Over the weekend, I realized that the way I was calculating Meta’s ROIC somehow masked its “true” ROIC. So, I updated my process around calculating its ROIC and wanted to share the updated number since it is noticeably different from the one I shared earlier and I think reflects

Floor & Decor 2Q'26: Tentative Green Shoots

Programming Note: Even though every Sunday I tend to write my personal musings, I’m skipping that this week given I have some earnings coverage left to catch up. For the first time in more than a year, Floor & Decor (FND) reported a quarter and did not cut its

Hyperscalers vs AI Labs Debate, and the Moving AI Frontier

I thought I would cover Microsoft’s earnings today, but let me first respond to a tweet by SouthernValue and then I will share some thoughts on the state of AI models. I recommend you read his pushback to my yesterday’s piece before you read the rest. I will

Amazon 2Q'26: AWS Gets the Love

In 1Q’26 earnings coverage of Amazon, I mentioned AWS would likely grow by ~35% in 2Q’26. AWS did slightly better than that as it grew by ~37%! For a $169 Billion run-rate business, AWS growth certainly seems mind boggling. I will talk more about AWS later, but

Meta 2Q'26: Not Amazing, Not Bad, and Still Compelling

2Q’26 wasn’t the quarter that propelled Meta out of the penalty box. While revenue came ahead of estimates, operating earnings fell short due to one-off expenses such as legal and severance related costs. I believe market was smart enough to see through that, so it’s the

DoorDash: The Infrastructure of Local Commerce

Programming Note: MBI Deep Dives will be off tomorrow, and the regular cadence of daily posts will resume on Thursday when I expect to cover Meta’s 2Q’26 earnings. You can listen to the Deep Dive here The very first Deep Dive I ever wrote for MBI Deep Dives

The Fleet Owners' Push for Aggregating Demand

Last week, Financial Times reported that Waymo notified Uber that it intends to launch its own app in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028. These were the two cities where Waymo’s robotaxis have been exclusive to Uber’s platform after the two already unwound their Phoenix pilot earlier this

"From an era of proof scarcity to an era of proof abundance"

Programming Note: As a reminder, every Sunday, I write pieces that are predominantly based on personal experiences which may or may not be loosely connected with investing. If you are reading MBI Deep Dives everyday, I think it would be rather useful for my readers to understand my personal lens