Hey hey Flux fam 👋

We got here - Happy Thursday

Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories: 

🚗 Flight Centre is preparing for profitability

👔 Netflix new subscribers are booming thanks to one special someone

🍞 Johnson & Johnson sees sales rise thanks to the COVID vax

Oh and get this...

Google’s latest ad transparency report has revealed that Clive Palmer’s political party spent $1.2 million on Google in just under a year. These numbers are way bigger than all other political parties.

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We're dropping exclusive content  to help you whip your credit score into shape - and smash your financial goals.

After 18 months of pain, Flight Centre can see sunshine again

Background: Lockdowns and travel restrictions have really hurt Flight Centre. They saw a pre tax loss of $602m in the 2021 financial year. That has REALLY gotta hurt. 

What happened: Flight Centre is feeling optimistic again. NSW plans to reopen international travel and Queensland plans to reopen its borders by Christmas (baby steps QLD, baby steps).

What else: And recently, flightcentre.com.au recorded its largest day of online sales since June. They're targeting a return to monthly profitability and told investors that it can reach break-even point even sooner.

So what's the key learning? 

💡A break-even point is the point at which the total costs in the business and the total revenue for the business are equal. At this point, the company has not yet made any profit. 

💡Knowing the business’ break-even point can help a business set product pricing, set sales budgets and help create the basis of a business plan.

💡For Flight Centre, they are aiming to get to that break-even point this financial year. 

Netflix subscribers are boomin and it's all thanks to Squid Game

Background: Netflix is counting its lucky stars for the breakout success of Squid Game. That’s because it added 4.4m new subscribers in the last quarter. Who knew children's games with murderous endings were SO popular?!

What happened: This is the first time Netflix has reported subscriber gains in the past six months. It brings the total count of Netflix accounts to 214 million. That means Netflix would be the fifth biggest country in the WORLD - just behind Pakistan).

What else: When you're the fifth biggest country in the world, it becomes hard to continue growing. So Netflix is going to keep looking abroad to continue adding more subscribers.

So what's the key learning?

💡To build a global audience, you need to build a product that works in many markets. Tiger King might be good for an English-speaking audience, but tigers on a safari might not work for people in Spain.

💡Recently, Netflix has been making more international shows to get better audience penetration in markets that matter. It started with La Casa de Papel (aka Money Heist) and more recently Squid Game.

💡And this has helped Netflix acquire new users in South Korea and Spain but it has also helped them grow their user base globally. In fact, Squid Game has been ranked Netflix's top show in 94 countries. Hats off to Gi-hun.

Move over baby shampoo, there's a new sheriff in town for Johnson & Johnson

Background: Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 would ya believe?! They develop medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods.

What happened: In March this year, Johnson & Johnson rolled out its COVID vaccine across America. And now, they're expecting $3.3 billion of vaccine sales this year. Pretty good - but nothing compared to Pfizer's $44 billion of expected COVID vax sales. 

What else: J&J has been selling its vaccine at not-for-profit pricing of ~$10. But they will start 'commercial' pricing of their COVID vax by the end of this year and chase a bigger piece of the total addressable market. 

So what's the key learning?

💡Total addressable market, or TAM, describes the size of a revenue opportunity for a product or service. It’s kind of like a quick way to measure an opportunity's potential.

💡The total addressable market for ...say… COVID vaccines is pretty much the entire world. And that's a laaarge market to be going after.

💡 With booster shots expected, a pricing increase and sales in new regions, it's not surprising that J&J has increased its profit forecast for next year.