Last week, Dow Jones lost 2.25%, S&P 500 fell 2% and Nasdaq was down 1.8%. That said, markets ended the week on a better note after the Fed’s less dovish outlook Wednesday. As we enter the seasonal Santa Claus period – it remains to be seen whether Friday’s gains are built upon. Regardless, risks are on the horizon in January – including, potential profit taking on 2024 gains for tax planning purposes and any US tariff related noise, which for now has been largely shrugged off by investors. Fintech Chime filed confidential paperwork for an IPO. Databricks raised US$8.6 billion in funding at a US$62 billion valuation, with plans to raise US$10 billion total. Micron’s shares tumbled on weak demand expectations for consumer chips. Accenture beat quarterly revenue estimates on strong demand for genAI services. Google released new AI reasoning models and prepped chatbots in search. OpenAI announced the new reasoning model, ‘o3’ and made ChatGPT available through phone, text. Chinese shopping app Temu was once again the most downloaded free app in the U.S. In Canada, VitalHub announced a $30 million bought deal. Sophic Client, Legend Power Systems announced a Non-Brokered Private Placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1.5 million. The Company also reported Q4 (Sept) F2024 financial results. Revenue was $705 thousand versus $159 thousand in Q4 F2023. Sophic Client, NowVertical Group announced the release of a New AI financial agent, updating its NowHub-finance solution. Sophic Client, Cybeats provided an update, highlighting the Company’s progress since commercializing its products. BlackBerry will sell Cylance for $160 million, a fraction of the $1.4 billion it paid in 2018. Clio’s record-breaking funding round provided some interesting insight into Canadian companies’ preference to stay private for longer.
Canadian Technology Capital Markets & Company News
VitalHub (VHI-TSX) announces $30 million bought deal public offering.
VitalHub entered into an agreement with Cormark Securities Inc. acting as lead underwriter, on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters (collectively, the “Underwriters”) pursuant to which the Underwriters have agreed to purchase 2,752,300 Common Shares (the “Common Shares”) from the treasury of the Company, at a price of $10.90 per Common Share for total gross proceeds of approximately $30.0 million (the “Offering”). In addition, the Company has granted the Underwriters an option (the “Over-Allotment Option”) to purchase up to an additional 412,845 Common Shares on the same terms exercisable at any time up to 30 days following the closing of the Offering, for market stabilization purposes and to cover over-allotments, if any. The net proceeds of the Offering shall be used for growth initiatives including future acquisitions, working capital and general corporate purposes. Closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about January 9, 2025 and is subject to regulatory approval including that of the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”). https://tinyurl.com/37pfpwnb
Sophic Client Legend Power Systems Inc. (LPS-TSXV, LPSIF-OTC) announces Non-Brokered Private Placement.
Legend Power Systems Inc. announced a non-brokered private placement of up to 8,500,000 units of the Company (each, a “Unit”) at a price of $0.18 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1,530,000 (the “Offering”). Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a “Common Share”) and one Common Share purchase warrant (each, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.30 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. https://tinyurl.com/yc7rf58s
Sophic Client Legend Power Systems Inc. (LPS-TSXV, LPSIF-OTC) reports Q4 (Sept) F2024 financial results.
Revenue was $705 thousand versus $159 thousand in Q4 F2023. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $763 thousand versus a $885 thousand loss in Q4 F2023. Net loss of $832 thousand versus a $969 thousand loss in Q4 F2023. Cash of $236 thousand, no debt, and $742 thousand in working capital at September 30, 2024. Q4 F2024 Operational Highlights: Green Proving Ground program for the United States General Services Administration, which operates approximately 1,800 federally owned buildings is proceeding well. Two sites have been selected, with the first unit shipped, and plans to ship the next system in the next quarter. Sales activity is continuing at a strong pace, as evidenced from customers, both repeat and new business, who continue engaging with deep and wide interest. The strength in viability is driven mainly by customers articulating power quality concerns and higher visible costs. Partner sales efforts also continue to grow in volume, dollars, and strength. Legend Power Systems is engaged in active sales processes with several of the top firms in the Commercial Real Estate space, with over 196 buildings in active sales cycles for over 400 plus potential SmartGATE’s. https://t.co/V0sNPlvEYG
Sophic Client NowVertical Group (NOW-TSXV) announces release of New AI financial agent in update to NowHub-finance solution.
NowVertical Group Inc., announced the release of its new Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) Financial Agent as part of the latest update of its NowHub-Finance solution, an end-to-end analytics platform tailored for finance teams. This major AI based feature upgrade reinforces NowVertical’s commitment to transforming data into business value – fast. The Company’s proprietary NowHub platform, which has already half a dozen clients in the Pharmaceuticals, Retail and Hospitality industries in the U.K. and Middle east is even more relevant to clients by taking advantage of the latest AI technologies. With NowHub-Finance, finance departments seamlessly connect to over 300 data sources, transforming and consolidating data for instant, automated financial reporting. The platform supports a wide range of applications, from standard financial reporting to advanced budgeting, forecasting, and “what-if” scenario analysis. The AI Financial Agent is available immediately as part of NowVertical’s, NowHub-Finance latest platform update at no additional cost. https://t.co/ardgSK02QU
Sophic Client Cybeats Technologies Corp. (CYBT-CSE,CYBCF-OTCQB) provides update.
Cybeats Technologies Corp., Over $7 million in total contract commitments since commercialization (May 2022), 80%+ gross margin, amidst increasing SBOM regulation across industry. 72% of existing Cybeats customers increased their contract spend with the Company in 2024, demonstrating strong value to existing clients, and further validating the business model of Cybeats. Attractive client metrics with 90% conversion from Proof of Value, or a pre-commercial pilot period, to long term customer relationships. The Company continues to drive growth and add client logos from its core target markets of healthcare and manufacturing companies from the Fortune 500. $1.65 million raised in non-brokered private placement first tranche improves Cybeats’ sales and marketing infrastructure, product delivery, and core product advancement. https://t.co/iV4RvnZmyb
BlackBerry sells Cylance for $160 million, a fraction of the $1.4 billion it paid in 2018.
Arctic Wolf has acquired Cylance, BlackBerry’s beleaguered cybersecurity business, for $160 million — a significant discount from the $1.4 billion BlackBerry paid to acquire the startup in 2018. https://tinyurl.com/5y5wbah2
Deep Sky secures US$40 million grant from Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Catalyst.
Montréal-based carbon-capture startup Deep Sky has secured a US$40 million ($57.3 million) grant from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a climate solution-focused funding platform founded by Bill Gates. Deep Sky revealed it had sold its first-ever carbon credits to RBC and Microsoft last month. https://tinyurl.com/5n7smj9v
Fluid Biomed closes US$27 million Series A to fund expanded human clinical studies.
Calgary-based medical device startup Fluid Biomed has secured US$27 million in Series A funding to fuel the development of its innovative stent for brain aneurysms. The all-equity, all-primary round closed last month. It was co-led by Canada’s Amplitude Ventures and an undisclosed “major strategic investor” from the medical space. Fellow new backers LifeArc Ventures, out of the United Kingdom, and United States (US)-based IAG Capital Partners also participated, alongside existing US investors ShangBay Capital and METIS Innovative. https://tinyurl.com/2tee7jdr
Clio’s record-breaking funding round explains 2024’s public market exodus.
Burnaby, BC-based legaltech company Clio made Canadian tech history this year when it raised a record-breaking $1.24-billion (US$900-million) Series F round at a $4-billion pre-money valuation. The fundraising itself is one of Canadian tech’s biggest stories of 2024. After all, the round dethroned 1Password’s $744-million Series C in 2022 to become the largest-ever raise in Canadian tech history, and single-handedly accounted for nearly half of all dollars raised in the country during Q3 2024. Clio CEO Jack Newton said at BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver in October that he felt the weight of demand to exit via IPO or a sale from existing investors aging out of their funds. So Newton used the round, which was “substantially secondary,” to release the pressure and avoid entering a hostile IPO market that forced many in Canadian tech to go private this year. “You don’t need to sell,” Newton said on stage, adding that founders can look at the private markets as a way of “letting your existing investors punch out.” Clio’s desire to stay private helps explain why so many publicly traded Canadian tech companies returned to the private markets this year, ultimately taking buyouts from deep-pocketed private equity firms. According to a September report from The Globe and Mail, 20 tech IPOs occurred during the 2020 IPO boom, and almost half of those have since gone private, delisted, or been taken over. Some of this year’s go-private transactions came from Copperleaf Technologies, MDF Commerce, Q4 Inc., CloudMD, BBTV, and TrueContext. So why did the great go-private wave of 2024 (which we began to see hints of in 2023) happen? According to Thomson Reuters Ventures managing director Tamara Steffens, going private means less scrutiny for companies at a time when they can’t put together the results needed in the public markets. Steffens said that valuations have gotten more realistic since the boom of 2021, and a number of companies will opt for an exit rather than a down round. Since valuations have become “much more realistic,” the companies that did jump through the wide-open IPO window a few years ago now suddenly pine for greener grass. Newton said at BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver that Clio’s US$200 million ARR, larger than Shopify’s at the time of its IPO, needs to reach $500 million to entertain the current IPO market. https://tinyurl.com/37wrkvk8
Canadians urged to take risks as equity deals hit 23-year low.
Investment bankers are urging Toronto-listed companies to buy a business or raise some money as deal volumes in Canada have fallen to their lowest levels in 23 years. Equity and equity-linked offerings in Canada fell for the third straight year to hit their lowest point since 2001, according to league tables compiled by Bloomberg. There were 236 deals in 2024, raising C$17.2 billion ($12 billion), compared with C$19.8 billion in 2023. The activity stands in sharp contrast to the US, where such offerings have climbed for the third straight year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. https://archive.ph/SFc3O
Global Markets: IPOs, Venture Capital, M&A
Chime files confidential paperwork for IPO.
Fintech banking startup Chime Financial has filed confidential paperwork for an initial public offering, Bloomberg reported. The company, which has long been planning to go public next year, offers fee-free digital banking sources. The company was valued at US$25 billion during the 2021 venture funding boom, although it more recently was valued at US$9.5 billion in the secondary market for private tech stocks, according to Caplight. Chime has been honing its products ahead of a planned IPO, including by launching a new cash advance product in May that allows customers to access up to US$500 of their wages before they are paid. Earlier this year, Chime CEO Chris Britt said that the company had 7 million active customers, and that it was profitable in the first quarter of 2024. https://tinyurl.com/w7cd3cvw
Databricks says it raised US$8.6 billion, valuing firm at US$62 billion.
Databricks said Tuesday that it has raised US$8.6 billion in funding at a US$62 billion valuation, with plans to raise US$10 billion total—a higher-than-expected amount that will alleviate pressure on the data analytics software firm to go public in the near term. The funding round, one of the largest ever for a private tech company, will let employees cash out shares and help the company pay taxes on those share sales. Databricks also said the funding, which won’t dilute existing shareholders, will give the company more capital to expand internationally and invest in new products and acquisitions. Investors in the round include Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC and Insight Partners. Databricks said it expected to pass US$3 billion in revenue run rate and turn free cash flow positive in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ends Jan. 31. Growth in the third quarter was more than 60% year over year, which the company attributed to increased customer interest in artificial intelligence. Among Databricks’ offerings are tools for helping businesses manage data for use in AI models. https://tinyurl.com/mr3msudf
Trump Says Masayoshi Son to make US$100 billion U.S. investment.
President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday Japanese telecom company SoftBank Group planned to invest US$100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years of his administration. The proposed investment is expected to create at least 100,000 jobs in strategic fields like artificial intelligence, said Trump in a news conference at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. “He’s doing this because he feels very optimistic about our country since the election,” said Trump, who tried to get Son to bump up the pledge to US$200 billion during the news briefing (Son said he’d try to make it happen.) SoftBank’s investment plans echo the firm’s pledge made in December 2016 to invest US$50 billion and create 50,000 jobs. The firm invested much of its US$100 billion Vision Fund in U.S. companies, including the coworking startup WeWork and ridesharing app Uber. It’s not clear how SoftBank plans to fulfill this latest commitment. The firm had 3.8 trillion yen, or roughly $25 billion, in cash, according to its September earnings report. https://tinyurl.com/y8r3apna
Micron’s shares tumble on weak demand expectations for consumer chips.
Micron Technology, which makes chips for memory and storage, reported on Wednesday an 84% year-over-year increase in revenue to US$8.7 billion in the November quarter, due in large part to growth in its sales of high-bandwidth memory chips, which are used in data centers alongside GPUs including Nvidia’s Blackwell chips to run artificial intelligence models. Still, the company saw its shares plummet by 13% in after-hours trading as investors responded to Micron’s tepid outlook for the current fiscal quarter, which will end in February 2025. Executives said Micron expects to make US$7.9 billion in sales, plus or minus US$200 million, in that quarter, which at the high end would be roughly 40% higher than a year earlier. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra attributed the outlook to lower demand from customers in “consumer-oriented segments” such as PCs, smartphones and cars, but said he expects a rebound in the second half of next year. While Micron didn’t disclose the dollar amount of revenue it made from companies that use its chips in their data centers or in consumer devices, executives said that during the November quarter, its data center revenue grew by 400% compared to a year prior and represented more than half of the company’s overall revenue for the first time. https://tinyurl.com/yarhdew9
Honda, Nissan to start talks on possible merger, Nikkei says.
That would effectively consolidate the Japanese auto industry into two camps. It would also provide Honda and Nissan with more resources to compete with larger peers after downsizing long-held global partnerships with other carmakers: France’s Renault SA for Nissan and General Motors Co. for Honda. The move toward a merger would follow a decision by the two companies earlier this year to work together on electric vehicle batteries and software. At that time, Honda Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe floated the possibility of a capital tie-up with Nissan. While Honda and Nissan stopped short of confirming Tuesday’s report, both automakers issued statements that reiterated their previous pledges for further future cooperation.
https://archive.ph/eCWmC
Perplexity acquires startup that paves way for enterprise search.
AI search company Perplexity has acquired Carbon, a small startup founded last year whose software lets large language models ingest data from a range of different third-party applications. The move underscores Perplexity’s growing ambitions in enterprise search, an increasingly crowded market that includes companies like Glean, Google, Snowflake, and OpenAI. In a blog post, Perplexity said it plans to use Carbon’s software to let users search data stored in productivity applications like Google Workspace and Notion. As we reported earlier this week, Perplexity expects to more than double its annualized revenue in 2025 to $127 million and quintuple annualized revenue to $656 million by the end of 2026. Adding features that make Perplexity’s search engine more of a one-stop shop for finding information is one of many ways the startup will try to achieve these goals. https://tinyurl.com/mry9c75d
Accenture beats quarterly revenue estimates on strong demand for genAI services.
Accenture beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, on the back of growing demand for its services to help clients adopt AI-powered tools, sending its shares up 6.5% in early trading. Accenture is leveraging GenerativeAI across industries to help clients optimize operations, from predictive maintenance in manufacturing to automating workflow in advertising operations, the company said in a post-earnings call. Its GenAI business recorded new bookings of US$1.2 billion, and about US$500 million in revenue, due to an increase in projects utilizing the service. The company’s new bookings, a key indicator of future revenue, rose to US$18.7 billion for the first quarter from US$18.4 billion a year earlier. The IT provider said it has increased its data and AI workforce to 69,000 and plans to reach 80,000 by 2026, indicating growing demand for its services. The company raised its annual revenue growth forecast to between 4% and 7% from its earlier estimate of 3%-6%. However, the mid-point is below analysts’ expectations of 5.63%, according to data compiled by LSEG. Accenture forecast second-quarter revenue of US$16.2 billion to US$16.8 billion, the mid-point of which is below analysts’ average estimate of US$16.63 billion. Its first-quarter revenue stood at US$17.7 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $17.12 billion, driven by growth in the Americas and EMEA regions and across public service and health industries. https://tinyurl.com/5dntf2hv
MicroStrategy buys more Bitcoin ahead of joining Nasdaq 100.
MicroStrategy Inc., the dot-com-era software maker turned leveraged Bitcoin proxy, bought an additional US$1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency through the sale of stock. It was the sixth consecutive Monday that the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm announced purchases of the digital asset. The purchases follow Friday’s announcement that MicroStrategy will be included in the Nasdaq 100 Index next week. It owns about US$45 billion in Bitcoin. The decision to add MicroStrategy to the Nasdaq 100 represents a major stamp of institutional acceptance for its controversy-courting founder, Michael Saylor, whose disdain for Wall Street convention has helped spur a 500% rally in its shares this year and made him a hero to Bitcoin bulls. Its addition to the index on Dec. 23 is expected to fuel at least US$2.1 billion stock purchases with over 200 exchange-traded products following the Nasdaq 100, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart. MicroStrategy acquired 15,350 Bitcoin for an average price of approximately $100,386 from Dec. 9 through Dec. 15, according to an US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. The company’s stock price has risen over 500% this year as it has accelerated its Bitcoin purchases. MicroStrategy aims to raise US$42 billion over the next three years through at-the-market stock sales and convertible debt offerings, which will be used to buy more Bitcoin. https://archive.ph/FHWIm
Megacap tech stocks have gotten too big for Nasdaq 100 again.
Only a year after having their size clipped in the Nasdaq 100 because they got too big, the world’s largest technology companies may face another pruning when the marquee benchmark rebalances this week. At issue are regulations designed to cap the influence of the biggest members in the gauge — rules that have been put under stress after companies like Apple Inc. and Microsfoft Corp. swelled to unprecedented size. Nasdaq Inc. has already been forced to address the problem once, in July 2023, when it slashed the weightings of seven companies to return them to compliance. But so great has their growth been in the months since, the gauge is once again too top-heavy, potentially requiring another cull. How Nasdaq deals with the issue is prescribed in index rules that leave room for interpretation. The regulation that mandated 2023’s rebalance was set off by a somewhat byzantine provision that triggers when all the companies making up more than 4.5% of the benchmark, respectively, add up to 48% combined, or more. That happened in 2023 — and then again recently, after Broadcom Inc. surged enough to push it over the 4.5% threshold. https://archive.ph/YZg8K
Apple halts effort to build iPhone hardware subscription service.
Apple Inc. has halted work on a project to build an iPhone hardware subscription service, according to people familiar with the matter, retreating from an attempt to change the way consumers buy its flagship device. The idea was to make owning an iPhone like subscribing to an app — with consumers paying monthly fees and getting new phones each year — but Apple recently wound down the effort, according to people familiar with the matter. The team was disbanded and reassigned to other projects, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work was confidential. The move is part of a broader shift in how Apple approaches payment services. The subscription effort was overseen by the company’s Apple Pay group, which also shuttered a “buy now, pay later” program earlier this year. That service let shoppers pay off purchases over multiple installments, but Apple is now steering consumers toward third-party programs instead. https://archive.ph/ZbiWp
Emerging Technologies
Apple working on super-sized foldable iPad.
Apple is developing a large version of the iPad that unfolds into the approximate size of two iPad Pros next to each other, Bloomberg reported. It’s targeting selling the super-sized iPad around 2028, the report said. Currently, the largest iPaid is 13 inches. The Cupertino, Calif., company is pursuing the design as it also works on a foldable iPhone. As The Information reported in July, Apple has been working on an iPhone that would fold widthwise like a clamshell, similar to the Samsung Galazy Z Flip. Other manufacturers such as Lenovo have sold dual screen tablets that compete with Apple iPads. But those like Lenovo’s are joined by a hinge. Apple is trying to remove the crease so the two screens appear as one seamless piece of glass, Bloomberg said. https://tinyurl.com/2s4yh3m3
Google releases AI reasoning, preps chatbot in search.
Google on Tuesday released a new artificial intelligence model that aims to automate more complex tasks by spending a longer time processing a person’s instructions, known as reasoning. The launch comes several months after OpenAI pioneered a reasoning model of its own, o1, for which it charges US$200 a month to customers that use it the most. Reasoning AI models have been most useful in applications such as coding and deep scientific research. Google’s move comes as it is preparing to make chatbot-like answers prominently available in its search engine, The Information reported Thursday, a recognition of the progress OpenAI’s ChatGPT has made in attracting people who use it to search for information across the web. Google’s new Gemini “Thinking” model provides answers that include showing the steps it uses to arrive at the answers, known as chain of thought. That’s somewhat different from OpenAI’s approach to obscure its reasoning model’s chain of thought by only providing a summary of it. OpenAI said it does so for security and competitive reasons. Google’s decision to post the raw chain of thought could make it easier for other AI developers to find ways to develop their own models that emulate Google’s. In a post on X, Noam Shazeer, the famed Google researcher who is co-leading Google’s reasoning team, showed how the model could solve a probability problem. However, the model still struggles on a well-known question that has tripped up other AI models: how many R’s are in the word “strawberry.” Google’s AI incorrectly said that there are only two R’s. https://tinyurl.com/mt68cv9z
OpenAI announces new reasoning model, ‘o3’.
OpenAI on Friday announced the next generation of its o1 reasoning model, which takes more time to “think” about questions users give it before responding. The model is called “o3.” OpenAI had to skip “o2” due to a potential copyright or trademark conflict with O2, a British telecommunications service provider, The Information previously reported. o3 and o3-mini, a smaller version of the reasoning model, scored impressively on several math and coding benchmarks, as well as another benchmark meant to test how well AI models perform on tasks that humans excel at. During a livestream, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asked safety and security researchers to apply to test the new models before they are released. The company plans to release o3-mini at the end of January and the full o3 model shortly after, Altman said. https://tinyurl.com/2aw6pwsr
Salesforce launches AI agent that handles complex questions.
Salesforce unveiled the latest version of its AI agents product, called Agentforce, which comes with new reasoning abilities that let it handle complex questions and can now be accessed from within the company’s other products, such as Slack. The new version, which comes less than two months after Salesforce started selling Agentforce, shows how quickly the software provider is moving to stake its claim in AI agents, which can autonomously carry out multi-part tasks like returning products to e-commerce companies and booking travel itineraries. Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff, in an interview with The Information earlier this week, said Agentforce has managed to cut in half the number of Salesforce’s own customer service interactions that require human intervention. While that means Salesforce needs fewer customer service employees, Benioff said the plan is to move existing staff to other units like sales and engineering. https://tinyurl.com/bddmr6m8
OpenAI makes ChatGPT available through phone, text.
OpenAI announced on Wednesday that users will now be able to talk to its AI chatbot by calling 1-800-CHATGPT or messaging it via WhatsApp. Users can call the number without an account and will receive 15 minutes free per month, the company said. The phone number is built using OpenAI’s Realtime API, an application programming interface that can process and output audio in real-time, and the WhatsApp feature is powered by the company’s GPT-4o mini model. The new feature could help OpenAI reach more customers, especially since WhatsApp is more popular in international markets. https://tinyurl.com/2emna34y
Media, Streaming, Gaming & Sports Betting
Sony’s record climb makes investors more bullish on gaming boom.
Sony Group Corp.’s long-awaited rise to record highs has emboldened bullish investors and analysts, who see gains extending into 2025 on a robust outlook for video games. Shares of the PlayStation maker surged over 50% from an August trough to reach an all-time high last week, more than doubling the gain in the Topix. It was the first new peak for the stock since 2000. Growth in the company’s gaming business, which now generates over a third of total revenue, is seen boosting shares further next year. Anticipation is high for the upcoming launches of in-house games like Ghost of Yotei and Rockstar Games Inc.’s Grand Theft Auto VI. As optimism grows, bearish bets on Sony have receded, with short interest down to 0.5% of the free float from over 2% about a year ago. Sony’s gaming and network services segment accounts for around 37% of its revenue, with sales reaching ¥1 trillion (US$6.4 billion) in the three months through September. The company beat earnings expectations in the latest quarter and raised its outlook as strength in games and music offset uncertainties over its semiconductor business. Despite the recent run up in its stock, Sony still trades at a lower earnings multiple than Nintendo and its other main console competitor, Microsoft Corp. It’s also cheaper than fellow large-cap Japanese tech names, like Hitachi, suggesting there’s room for it to climb further in 2025, said Damian Thong, head of Japan equity research at Macquarie Capital. https://archive.ph/VFTCW
Adtech, Privacy & Regulatory
Supreme Court to take up TikTok ban law.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would take up TikTok’s appeal challenging a U.S. law that would ban the video app if it doesn’t sever its ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance by Jan. 19. But the court deferred a decision on granting a temporary injunction of the law, as TikTok requested earlier this week, until after oral arguments which are scheduled for Jan. 10. “We’re pleased with today’s Supreme Court Order,” John Rogovin, ByteDance’s general counsel wrote in a note to staff on Wednesday viewed by The Information. “We believe the court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional.” The court typically takes months to issue decisions. It’s possible, however, that the court could make a ruling on the case, and the injunction, before the law takes effect. https://tinyurl.com/2pn7rxy7
eCommerce
Temu is the most downloaded app on the US App Store in 2024.
Chinese shopping app Temu was once again the most downloaded free app in the U.S., according to a list of top apps and games across the App Store released by Apple on Monday. The shopping app moved into the No. 1 slot last year, stealing the position from TikTok, which held the title in in 2022. Currently facing a U.S. ban, TikTok this year made the list at No. 3 behind Meta’s Instagram Threads, which moved up to the No. 2 spot after being the No. 3 most downloaded app in 2023. In 2024, ChatGPT ranked as the fourth-most downloaded app in the U.S. App Store, just ahead of Google’s Search app. This change is notable because last year, ChatGPT didn’t make the top 10 after being released on iPhone in May 2023. This year, it’s beating Google in terms of downloads. Meta’s apps are still present in 2024’s overall most-downloaded list but have been dropping in ranks in recent years. Although Threads ranked well at No. 2, Instagram and WhatsApp came in at No. 6 and 7, respectively, followed by CapCut (also owned by TikTok parent ByteDance), then YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Shein, and then Facebook at No. 13. Rounding out the top 20 are Telegram, Snapchat, Cash App, Spotify, Max, McDonald’s, and Amazon. https://tinyurl.com/2n7z9twd
Fintech, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency
Ripple’s stablecoin to launch on crypto exchanges.
Crypto company Ripple said its new stablecoin Ripple USD will launch on Tuesday, after receiving approval from the New York Department of Financial Services last week. The stablecoin, called RLUSD and pegged to $1, will be available on crypto trading platforms and payment services including MoonPay, Bitstamp, Zero Hash, Bullish, among others. Ripple also plans to use the stablecoin in its cross-border payment business, which has processed over US$70 billion since its inception in 2017. “We are coming to the marketplace with embedded demand we already have,” said Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple. Ripple is the latest crypto company to launch its own stablecoin, posing a potential threat to Tether and Circle, the top two stablecoin issuers. Stablecoins, which are a type of crypto pegged to a traditional currency, are used by crypto traders to cash in and out of trades, as well as by payments companies to send money across borders. PayPal, Paxos, and crypto custodian BitGo all have launched stablecoins or planned to do so. https://tinyurl.com/2jtxpk8m
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The Company’s Material or the information provided in the Material shall not in any form constitute as an offer or solicitation to anyone in the United States of America or any jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation is not authorized or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such a solicitation. If you choose to access Sophic’s website and/or have signed up to receive the Company’s monthly newsletter or any other Material, you acknowledge that the information in the Material is intended for use by persons resident in Canada only. Sophic is not an investment advisor nor does it maintain any registrations as such, and Material provided by Sophic shall not be used to make investment decisions. Information provided in the Company’s Material is often opinionated and should be considered for information purposes only. No stock exchange or securities regulatory authority anywhere has approved or disapproved of the information contained herein. There is no express or implied solicitation to buy or sell securities. Sophic and/or its principals and employees may have positions in the stocks mentioned in the Company’s Material and may trade in the stocks mentioned in the Material. Do not consider buying or selling any stock without conducting your own due diligence and/or without obtaining independent investment advice from a qualified and registered investment advisor. The Company has not independently verified any of the data from third party sources referred to in the Material, including information provided by Sophic clients that are the subject of the report, or ascertained the underlying assumptions relied upon by such sources. The Company does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this information or for any failure by any such other persons to disclose events which may have occurred or may affect the significance or accuracy of any such information. The Material may contain forward looking information. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “potential,” “possible,” “projects,” “plans,” and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results “will,” “may,” “could,” or “should” occur or be achieved or their negatives or other comparable words and include, without limitation, statements regarding, projected revenue, income or earnings or other results of operations, strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, plans to increase market share or with respect to anticipated performance compared to competitors, product development and adoption by potential customers. These statements relate to future events and future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on opinions and assumptions as of the date made, and are subject to a variety of risks and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward looking statements. There can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct; these statements are no guarantee of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Sophic provides no assurance as to future results, performance, or achievements and no representations are made that actual results achieved will be as indicated in the forward looking information. Nothing herein can be assumed or predicted, and you are strongly encouraged to learn more and seek independent advice before relying on any information presented.