What's going on?

Unilever�s not going to let a little wrinkle like the pandemic spoil its quarter: the consumer staples company reported better-than-expected earnings on Thursday, and its stock price rose 3%.

What does this mean?

In a world where there�s not much more to do than eat your bodyweight in snacks or moisturize your orifices, it makes sense that food and skincare brands have been two of the biggest lockdown winners. Those segments helped Unilever grow its sales by a better-than-expected 6% compared to the year before, and gave the firm the confidence to predict as much as 5% growth for the rest of 2021. That might come as a surprise considering two of its key markets � India and Brazil � are fighting dramatic surges in coronavirus infections. But it might have something to do with its recent push into two particularly fast-growing areas: plant-based foods and cosmetics.

Why should I care?

For markets: Buybacks are back, baby.
Unilever also took the opportunity to announce that it�s buying back its own shares for the first time since 2018 � almost $4 billion worth. That makes it one of the first consumer companies since the outbreak to restart buybacks, which reduce the number of shares available on the market and boost the prices of those left over (tweet this). And it�s not the only way Unilever’s planning to spend its cash this year: the firm hinted that it�s not averse to a new acquisition if the right opportunity lands in its lap.

The bigger picture: Keep that consumer spending coming.
Unilever�s strong results come just a week after Nestl�s own better-than-expected earnings, and right alongside McDonald�s expectation-beating update, which saw the fast food chain�s revenue beat even pre-pandemic levels. And what do they all have in common? They all seem to be reaping the rewards of a post-lockdown consumer spending boom � one that shows no signs of letting up.