Avory - Markets and Investing

Sean Emory, founder and CIO at Avory & Co., breaks down Meta Muse after its first week at number one in the App Store. He walks through what Muse actually is, a personal agentic app that plugs into Meta's ecosystem across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp and delivers on what Zuckerberg has been calling personal superintelligence.

The viral use cases are real. People are sourcing cheaper auto insurance quotes, canceling forgotten subscriptions, and getting hundreds of dollars of value back in the first week. Sean explains why the product actually works, and why Meta's computer use approach, running secure virtual browsers on a per-user VM, outperforms the older connector-only stack.

The core thesis: an agent needs three things to be useful. It needs to know you, it needs to reach you, and it needs to act for you. Meta is the only company at consumer scale that has all three natively. Sean walks through his own scheduled Muse tasks, including a monthly cheapest-per-ounce seltzer run across Instacart and Amazon, and a daily baseball-schedule check for his son that quietly adds new games to his calendar.

He also gets into the piece nobody is talking about, the brand inflection. Consumers just handed Meta access to their bank accounts, calendars, and payments. That is a shift the market has not priced. The ripple hits ChatGPT and Anthropic. ChatGPT is going to start looking a lot more like Muse. Anthropic has a real on-ramp problem if the consumer market gets split between Meta and OpenAI.

Chapters
00:00 Muse goes viral
01:28 What Muse is
02:58 Money-saving use cases
04:11 Why it actually works
07:24 Why Meta wins
11:53 My personal workflows
13:18 Brand trust shift
15:11 Competitive fallout
17:31 How Meta monetizes
19:40 Risks and what we watch
21:23 Closing takeaways

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Disclosure
For educational purposes only. Not investment advice. Avory & Co. and Sean Emory may hold positions in the companies discussed.

Sean Emory, Founder and CIO of Avory & Co., discusses Oura's planned IPO and argues it signals the accelerating consumerization of healthcare. He highlights Oura's scale and financials, $1.2B in revenue, 74% growth, GAAP profitability, 5M paying subscribers, and 3.6M rings sold in the past 12 months, while emphasizing the story is bigger than "the next Fitbit."

He frames the shift as driven by cheaper and smaller sensors, consumers paying more directly for health through higher deductibles, GLP-1s, and cash-pay services, and AI making health data more usable. Using Oura's S-1 cohort data (72% women, 73% age 45 or younger, 63% earning $100K or more, over half with a chronic condition), he explains why Oura won by targeting finger-based wearables, improving signal quality and wear time, and pairing hardware with subscriptions. He runs Oura lightly through Avory's 6M framework and flags retention and churn as the key unknown until more cohort data is public.

Chapters
00:00 Oura IPO Snapshot
01:10 Channel Intro and Approach
02:03 Why Oura Matters Now
03:56 Big Tech Health Moves
04:51 Three Forces Driving Change
07:04 Who Uses Oura
09:56 Winning the Finger
13:31 Subscription and Engagement Loop
16:06 6M Investor Lens
19:59 What Comes Next

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Informational only. Not personal investment advice. Opinions reflect Avory & Co.'s views as of the recording date and may change. Avory & Co. and Sean Emory may hold positions in securities discussed. Do your own research and consult your financial professional before making investment decisions.

They were wrong: software and AI are running together

Sean Emory of Avory & Co. argues the SaaS apocalypse narrative is broken. CRPO accelerations at Salesforce, ServiceNow, Okta, Palantir, MongoDB, and Zoom, plus NVIDIA's data center guide, show software and AI are compounding together, not cannibalizing. Sean walks the four layers of the AI stack, why distribution wins at the application layer, and where the real risks sit.

Chapters
00:00 The SaaS is dead narrative
01:07 Intro and disclosures
01:50 Is the SaaS apocalypse wrong
03:52 Backlog signals: CRPO
04:16 Salesforce and Agentforce
05:50 ServiceNow and Okta
06:52 MongoDB and Zoom
08:31 Four layers of the AI stack
12:37 NVIDIA's full stack strategy
16:31 Risks and what to watch
18:11 Wrap up

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Disclaimer
For educational purposes only. Not investment advice. Opinions reflect our views as of the recording date and may change. Avory & Co. and Sean Emory may hold positions in securities discussed. Do your own research and consult a professional before making investment decisions.

Sean Emory of Avory & Co. debriefs Meta's July 29, 2026 earnings call, framing four key questions: AI monetization, open vs closed source strategy, enterprise AI, and the CapEx path into 2027 and 2028.

Chapters

00:00 Meta Earnings Debrief
01:14 Show Intro & Disclosures
01:55 Revenue & Guide Highlights
02:55 AI Monetization Flywheel
06:49 Open Versus Closed Models
08:46 Enterprise AI On WhatsApp
11:01 CapEx Outlook And Bottlenecks
13:04 Wrap Up & Key Takeaways

This discussion is for educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, legal, or tax advice. Views reflect our opinions as of the recording date and may change.

Sean Emory of Avory & Co. explores how AI could change software competition if agents become buyers, not just users, shifting value from platform suites to composable, standalone capabilities.

He frames three eras of software: individual tools, integrated platforms, and an emerging era where AI orchestration acts like a new operating system that selects the best capability for a task regardless of UI or vendor.

In this model, winning depends less on distribution, brand, and long contracts, and more on reliability, latency, accuracy, security and governance, API quality, cost per call, and task success rates.

Sean argues platforms won't disappear. They may become command centers for permissions, compliance, and governance, while features "escape" suites. He walks through examples from Shopify, Shop Pay, Stripe, Twilio, Zoom, Box, Salesforce, Adobe, and HubSpot.

Chapters:
00:00 AI changes software buying
01:44 Three eras of software
03:10 Composable software era
03:55 Agents versus humans
05:06 Orchestrator as new OS
07:46 Capabilities escaping platforms
08:33 Examples: Shopify, Stripe, Zoom
12:28 New scorecard for winners
15:32 Two questions for companies
17:22 Where this could be wrong
19:48 Big picture takeaways
23:22 Closing and subscribe

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Disclaimer

The content on this channel is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute personal investment advice, a solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Views expressed are those of Sean Emory and Avory & Co. as of the recording date and are subject to change without notice.

Avory & Co. and Sean Emory may hold positions in the securities and companies discussed. Any references to specific companies, products, or services are for illustration only and should not be interpreted as recommendations.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decision.

Welcome to Avory Around the Desk Podcast... 

Sean Emory, Founder and CIO of Avory & Co., asks whether prediction markets like Kalshi are really about betting, or whether they could expand society's capacity to transfer risk. Using Florida's hurricane insurance crunch, the Generac hedge, and AI-enabled micro-insurance, he argues insurance is capacity, and technology may finally be able to expand it. 

Chapters
00:00 Welcome and setup
01:19 Why prediction markets matter
02:49 Markets as information engines
05:55 From betting to bigger thesis
07:17 Insurance prices uncertainty
09:28 Capacity and risk transfer
11:41 Florida hurricanes case study
13:06 Hedging with opposite exposures
15:04 Micro risks and AI automation
18:31 Tech stack enables new markets
21:15 Liquidity, market makers, regulation
22:56 Wrap up and key takeaway

Disclaimer
This conversation is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing discussed is personalized investment, legal, tax, or insurance advice. Views reflect our thinking as of the recording date and may evolve as new information becomes available. Do your own research and consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

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Avory’s Mid-2026 View 

Luis Alvarez and Avory Chief Investment Officer Sean Emory review the first half and outline Avory’s second-half views through five questions: 

00:00 Five Big Questions
00:36 Show Format And Macro Setup
01:35 Market Bifurcation And AI Trade
05:00 Laggards, Ceasefire And Rotation
07:45 Is AI Really Macro Immune
10:44 Hyperscaler CapEx Reality Check
12:53 Trim Infrastructure And Be Selective
13:39 First Order Vs Second Order AI
20:08 Second Order Identity And Trust
23:09 Capital Flows And Blackstone Angle
23:51 Where Second Order ROI Shows Up
25:16 Why Zoom Fits The AI Stack
27:07 Zoom as Context Hub
28:49 AI Meeting Workflows
30:04 Anthropic Stake Math
31:34 Real Estate Rate Shock
33:21 AI Deflation Thesis
36:47 Consumer Health Check
38:56 Fed Embraces Real Time
40:25 AI Spend Reality Check
43:57 Durable Compounders Case
47:23 Rapid Fire Wrap Up

Hosted by
Sean Emory
Founder & Chief Investment Officer
Avory & Co.

Website
www.avory.xyz

Disclaimer

This presentation is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All opinions expressed are as of the date of recording and are subject to change without notice. Any securities discussed may or may not remain in the portfolio. Please consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

© 2026 Avory & Co. All rights reserved.

Burden Today or a Moat for Tomorrow.

On the Avory Around the Desk podcast, Sean Emory of Avory & Company discusses why Meta may be misunderstood despite being the cheapest of the Mag 7, the second-fastest grower behind Nvidia, and having the highest gross margins in the group. 

He frames the key debate around whether Meta’s aggressive AI and infrastructure CapEx is a near-term free cash flow burden or a long-term competitive moat, arguing AI is directly strengthening Meta’s core ad business through better recommendations, engagement, and advertiser ROI. Sean highlights Zuckerberg’s capital-allocation track record, Meta’s distribution advantage across 3.56B users, and under-monetized assets like WhatsApp, Threads, and Meta AI. He outlines what to watch next, including signals of CapEx plateauing, revenue momentum, monetization progress, and risks such as a potential equity raise.

00:00 Meta Debate Setup
02:19 Six Questions Roadmap
03:11 Quick Disclaimer
03:41 Dont Bet Against Zuck
05:38 What Market Misses
10:00 Why Track Record Matters
14:03 Distribution Flywheel
16:54 CapEx Burden Or Moat
22:53 Free Cash Flow Path
24:36 What Were Watching
27:12 Valuation Discipline
28:01 Wrap Up And Next Steps

Hosted by

Sean Emory
Founder & Chief Investment Officer
Avory & Co.

Website
www.avory.xyz

Disclaimer

This presentation is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All opinions expressed are as of the date of recording and are subject to change without notice. Any securities discussed may or may not remain in the portfolio. Please consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

© 2026 Avory & Co. All rights reserved.

AI narrative momentum, durable value, and why Zoom and Roblox stand out | Around the Desk Ep. 85

Sean Emory, founder and CIO of Avory & Co., on the "AI on, AI off" market: where durable value actually accrues, why models may commoditize as open source catches up, and why ecosystem and context end up mattering more than the model itself. Plus a look at Zoom (Avory's top holding) for its cash, Anthropic stake, and communication-context data, and Roblox for consumer engagement and AI-enabled creation. He expects public AI listings to force scrutiny on profitability, margins, and capital intensity, and makes the case for patience and businesses that don't require perfect assumptions.

Chapters
00:00 Podcast intro
00:33 Momentum and narratives
01:08 AI trade dominates
02:31 Where value accrues
03:16 Open source catching up
05:10 Models commoditize over time
06:28 Multi-model future
07:47 Infrastructure crowding risks
09:15 Energy bottlenecks
10:06 Durable investing mindset
10:35 Zoom as durable play
13:13 Roblox and creation flywheel
14:02 Macro uncertainty cycles
16:00 Public AI reality check
17:33 Staying patient and closing

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Informational only. Not personal investment advice. Avory & Co. and Sean Emory may hold positions in securities discussed. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

In this episode of Around the Desk, Sean Emory, Founder & CIO of Avory & Co., walks through several market signals that stood out this week.

Markets are seeing multiple spikes simultaneously:

• Oil prices jumping sharply
• Volatility surging
• Corporate insider buying rising in financials
• Massive AI infrastructure spending from hyperscalers

Rather than reacting to headlines, we step back and ask the more important question: what do these signals historically mean for markets?

00:00 Market Signals Overview
01:51 Disclaimer and Setup
02:10 Oil Spike Playbook
03:34 VIX Volatility Spike
04:32 Software and AI Reset
06:24 Consumer Liquidity Boost
07:36 Financial Insider Buying
08:26 Oil Impact and Scenarios
10:37 Election Incentives
11:39 AI Adoption Trends
15:33 CapEx Winners and Apple
16:57 AI Market Structure and Ads
21:28 Earnings Week Ahead
22:13 Wrap Up and Key Takeaways

Hosted by

Sean Emory
Founder & Chief Investment Officer
Avory & Co.

Website
www.avory.xyz

Disclaimer

This presentation is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All opinions expressed are as of the date of recording and are subject to change without notice. Any securities discussed may or may not remain in the portfolio. Please consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

© 2026 Avory & Co. All rights reserved.