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NEWS
Market Goes Green For St. Patty’s Day

The market brushed off some negative comments from Treasury Secretary Bessent and Baidu’s cheap AI model rollout over the weekend and came into Monday ready to cement a two-day win streak. Big tech failed to catch a bid, but the rest of the market found its footing and rebounded as investors await Wednesday’s Fed meeting. 👀 

Today's issue covers Pepsi’s bet on Poppi, the BNPL fintech battle heating up, Robinhood’s prediction markets rollout, and more from the day. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 11 of 11 sectors closed green, with real estate (+1.76%) leading and consumer discretionary (+0.16%) lagging.

And here are the closing prices: 

COMPANY NEWS
Pepsi Bets On A Post-Merger Pop(pi) 🫧 

Multinational food and beverage companies aren’t typically the lead story in markets because, quite frankly, they’re usually boring. Slow growth, boring business. But every now and again, we have an opportunity to talk about them…and today’s one of’em.

The beverage market is a high-margin business but also one that goes through its phases. One of those phases has been the prebiotic soda boom, and Pepsi is betting that its popularity will continue as soda consumption continues its downward trend and beverage makers like itself look for new growth drivers. 📊 

Pepsi will acquire upstart Poppi for $1.95 billion, with the net purchase price coming to $1.65 billion after $300 million in anticipated cash tax benefits. It will also make additional payments if certain performance milestones are met.

By 2023, Poppi’s annual sales had reportedly crossed $100 million, and with two straight years of Super Bowl ads, the company seemingly had deep pockets and a thirst to reach a wider audience for its products. 📺️ 

However, it’s a competitive market, with rival Olipop recently valued at $1.85 billion in its latest fundraising round and Coca-Cola launching its brand, Simply Pop. As a result, Pepsi is hoping to use its size and economies of scale to supercharge the brand and establish a dominant market share in the space.

The Stocktwits community is seemingly skeptical of the move, with sentiment remaining in ‘bearish’ territory after the news. With Celsius and other high-growth beverage brands taking a hit over the last year, bulls are staying cautious. ⚠️ 

Recession fears and concerns about the U.S. consumer could also be weighing on the stock. Retail sales rose just 0.2% MoM in February, with overall spending less than expected. A New York Fed survey found that more Americans expect credit requests to be rejected. And Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy, the latest in a string of retailers.

It’s a rough environment to be a U.S. consumer-related company. Pepsi has the benefit of global diversification, but Poppi may not be the catalyst bulls have been looking for. Time will tell. 🤔 

SPONSORED
The Best Bargain in Crypto – Here’s Why Institutions Are Buying

Markets are a roller coaster with Trump’s policies fueling uncertainty, but history proves volatility breeds opportunity.

While crypto has lost $1T in market cap, DeFi Technologies (OTC: DEFTF) still holds $750M in AUM—proving demand remains strong. Last month alone, they attracted $11.4M in net inflows, marking their 4th consecutive month of 8-figure investments.

See Why DeFi Tech is the Smartest Crypto Play Right Now

📉 Crypto down $1T, yet inflows are accelerating

💰 $98.6M invested in DeFi Tech in just 4 months

🌎 Global expansion into Asia, Africa, and the Middle East

 🔥 Institutional-grade crypto products with 8-figure monthly inflows

Major Holdings (Staked & Growing):

• Bitcoin (BTC) – $223M AUM

• Solana (SOL) – $227M AUM

• Cardano (ADA) – $63M AUM

• XRP, ETH, SUI, DOT, AVAX – $121M+ AUM combined

Even in turbulent markets, institutions continue to bet big on DeFi Technologies.

Are you positioned before the next breakout?

*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here.