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23andMe Runs Out of Lifelines
đ§ŹDNA company 23andMe files for bankruptcy a few years after going public.
Silver banana goes toâŚ
In this issue of the peel:
đ¸ Markets are bouncing back after Trump softened his stance on tariffs.
âď¸ EV stocks, including Tesla, are roaring back on positive tariff developments.
đ§ŹDNA company 23andMe files for bankruptcy a few years after going public.
Market Snapshot
Banana Bits
The nasty board battle is taking place at DNA testing company 23andMe.
One of Berkshire Hathawayâs employees wins $1 million in Warren Buffettâs March Madness Bracket Challenge.
Trump seems to be backtracking on tariffs, and markets are clawing their way back to positive territory.
Teslaâs stock surges after Elon Musk pleads with investors to hold on.
Travelers are set to pay more for those comfy airport lounges as United Airlines raises fees.
Korean company Hyundai just announced a $20 billion investment in the U.S. Maybe this tariff strategy is working after all.
US business activity rises in March as warmer weather brings people back outside.
BOXABL officially reserved NASDAQ stock ticker symbol BXBLâŚ
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Most houses take seven months to complete. BOXABL can put one out of the assembly line every four hours, including electrical, HVAC, and plumbing! Now, the company is raising funds and has made shares available to the public but the round is closing soon on StartEngine!
Currently, shares are being offered at $0.80 per share. With a $1,000 minimum investment, you can join 40,000 investors to help solve the housing crisis.
Time is running out the closing date 3/29 is day to invest in BOXABL on StartEngine.
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*Reserving a Nasdaq ticker does not guarantee a future listing on Nasdaq or indicate that BOXABL meets any of Nasdaq's listing criteria to do so.
Macro Monkey Says
Optimism With a Side of Caution
Americaâs service economy is looking decent again after a pretty long, rough patch. The S&P Global U.S. Services PMI tracks business activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors.
The results came in at 53.5 in March, up from 51.6 in February and hitting a 6-month high, suggesting the sector is expanding at a decent clip. While manufacturing is taking a little bit longer to recover, the services economy looks to be moving forward.
Behind the scenes, new orders surged, business confidence rebounded, and hiring picked up speed. This recovery follows a weather-affected February that saw storms freeze both sentiment and spending in parts of the country. Now, as the sun returns, so do consumersâwith their wallets.
Despite the upbeat data, business leaders are starting to worry about two big things: the potential impact of tariffs and looming federal spending cuts.
Both could weigh heavily on demand and disrupt the fragile momentum businesses are trying to rebuild. For now, optimism remains, but the storm clouds arenât far off.
Input costs are also on the rise againâespecially in the labor market. While inflation isn't soaring, itâs not backing down either, keeping pressure on the Fed to maintain a hawk-like posture.
The Takeaway?
The U.S. service sector is stretching its legs again, but trade tensions and budget cuts could trip it up. Itâs a recoveryâjust donât call it a comeback (yet).
Career Corner
Question
How to be memorable at a networking event?
Answer
Try to find something personal to connect on. Networking does not equal just pitching yourself hard and only seeming to care about yourself.
Networking also means being with everyone; donât ignore those whom you donât find relevant. The industry is s as you work into it over time, and skill sets mix and people end up in multiple places.
Head Mentor, WSO Academy
What's Ripe
Tesla (TSLA) 11.9%
Teslaâs shares are starting to recover following an internal all-hands meeting where CEO Elon Musk spoke to (begged) investors. He reignited enthusiasm around Teslaâs self-driving and robotics roadmap. Luckily, Tesla also got a reprieve from the administration taking a softer stance on tariffs, which boosted optimism for the EV space as a whole.
Riot Platforms (RIOT) 9.7%
Shares are up after the cr*pto mining firm signed a long-term hosting agreement with Texas blockchain infrastructure company Rhodium Enterprises. The deal adds a ton of extra power capacity for Riotâs operations, strengthening its position as one of the biggest B*tcoin miners in the U.S.A., a powerful plug-in to profits, if you will.
What's Rotten
23andMe (ME) 59.2%
23andMe hit a new low that even the most pessimistic investor couldnât have seen coming. Shares, which were already trading sub-$1.00, plunged another 59%, down to $0.73, after officially filing for bankruptcy and announcing that its CEO was stepping down. Straight up embarrassing.
Embraer (ERJ) 6.1%
Shares of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer fell after Wolfe Research downgraded the stock, citing its ârecord valuationâ and looming tariff risks from a potential Trump administration. Investors are worried that the companyâs aircraft could become way too expensive for US buyers and hurt Embraerâs competitive positioning globally.
Thought Banana
23andMe Headed to Bankruptcy Court
Once a poster child of the direct-to-consumer biotech boom, 23andMe has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The genetic testing company went public through a SPAC in 2021, giving investors a 21% pop on its first day of trading. After edging investors for nearly four years with the promise of massive growth and new products, theyâve officially accepted defeat.
The company confirmed its bankruptcy filing along with the resignation of co-founder and longtime CEO Anne Wojcicki.
A ton of factors led to this moment: declining consumer interest in at-home DNA tests, privacy concerns about genomic data, a very public board fight for power, and a business model that never quite evolved beyond the novelty phase.
Once a customer gets their DNA tested, what more does a company like 23andMe really offer? They tried to shift toward health-focused data licensing and partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, but that pivot wasnât enough to keep things afloat.
Whatâs especially noteworthy is that 23andMe was once seen as a disruptor, democratizing access to personal health data and ancestry insights. But scaling that visionâand monetizing it consistentlyâproved much tougher in practice.
The Takeaway?
In the startup world, being first to market doesnât always mean staying there. 23andMeâs fall is a reminder that novelty fades, privacy matters, and no company is immune to market realities.
The Big Question: What lessons can other direct-to-consumer health startups learn from 23andMeâs failure to scale and diversify revenue streams?
Banana Brain Teaser
Previous
A researcher plans to identify each participant in a certain medical experiment with a code consisting of either a single letter or a pair of distinct letters written in alphabetical order. What is the least number of letters that can be used if there are 12 participants, and each participant is to receive a different code?
Answer: 5
Today
David has d books, which is 3 times as many as Jeff and ½ as many as Paula. How many books do the three of them have altogether, in terms of d?
Send your guesses to vyomesh@wallstreetoasis.com
You make most of your money in a bear market, you just donât realize it at the time.
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Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit & Patrick