January 31, 2026: Mixed Week Closes Lower

Last week, Dow Jones fell 0.4%, S&P 500 rose 0.3%, Nasdaq composite fell .2%. Markets had a mixed week, fading mid-week highs. With a few MAG 7 companies reporting Q4, “big tech” remains a story of massive AI capex. Meta forecasted a 73% jump in 2026 capex to US$135 billion. Microsoft’s revenue backlog hit US$625 billion, fueled by a US$281 billion commitment from OpenAI. OpenAI is reportedly eyeing a Q4 IPO to beat Anthropic to market, even as Anthropic scales toward US$18 billion in 2026 revenue. High training (US$12 billion) and inference (US$7 billion) costs have pushed Anthropic’s cash-flow-positive target to 2028. Apple signaled its AI ambitions by acquiring “silent communication” startup Q.ai for ~US$2 billion, following a holiday quarter where iPhone 17 sales drove a 23% revenue jump. SpaceX recorded a US$8 billion profit in 2025 and is reportedly weighing a merger with Tesla or xAI to consolidate assets ahead of a potential US$50 billion IPO. Tesla margins remain under pressure, with net income falling 61% amid a US$2 billion reinvestment into xAI. Fidelity announced its “Fidelity Digital Dollar” (FIDD) to capture the institutional stablecoin market. In Canada, after a four-year new issue drought and high delisting volumes, bankers signal a robust go public pipeline in tech and natural resources. Waabi raised US$1 billion for autonomous trucking and robotaxis. Calian launched a $100 million platform to bolster domestic defence SMBs. Sophic client Legend Power Systems reported Q4 (Sept) Fiscal 2025, which highlighted SmartGATE traction, currently engaged in active sales cycles for 196 buildings in the Commercial Real Estate space. The Company recently closed a Private Placement, raising Gross Proceeds of ~$1.6 million.

Canada’s IPO market set for revival, signaling economic confidence.

Canada’s dormant market for initial public offerings is poised for revival in 2026, signaling renewed economic confidence that could help reverse a years-long corporate exodus from the country’s main stock exchange and validate the government’s pro-business agenda. Canadian companies avoided jumping into the public market for about four years as high interest rates and inflation lowered market valuations, pushing companies to either pause new listings or look to private equity for funding. Now, bankers say, companies in technology, natural resources and other sectors are expressing interest. The number of IPOs declined in markets around the world last year, thanks to many of the same factors affecting Canadian businesses, including uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, market volatility and high listing costs. Canada’s IPO market was especially hard hit, in part because of regulatory hurdles and a limited number of companies exploring new listings. The country’s main exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange, saw a decline in the number of listed companies in each of the past three years. There were only two IPOs in 2025 and a total of 55 delistings, largely due to deals to take companies private, along with mergers and acquisitions amid consolidation in the financial and energy sectors. Delistings also far outnumbered IPOs in 2023 and 2024. Nonetheless, the main stock index, S&P/TSX Composite Index surged about 29% in 2025, outpacing the S&P 500’s 16% gain. https://tinyurl.com/46sdhda8

Sophic Client Legend Power Systems Inc. (LPS-TSXV, LPSIF-OTC) reports Q4 F2025 financial results.

Q4 F2025 Highlights: Revenue of $690 thousand versus $705 thousand in Q4 F2025, Adjusted EBITDA loss of $514 thousand versus a $764 thousand loss in Q4 F2025, Net loss of $481 thousand versus a $832 thousand loss in Q4 F2025. “Alternative energy growth, increased problems with the grid and the insatiable demand for more power at higher cost ensure that Legend solutions have a huge marketplace,” said Randy Buchamer, Legend Power Systems CEO. “We continue to build our brand by working with key ecosystem players to ensure they are aware of and support Legend Power. The reseller market is seeing value and ways to add to their revenue streams by selling Smart Gates and our reseller opportunities continue to grow. With a proven technology, a growing pipeline, and a clear path to strong revenue growth over the next 3-5 years, Legend Power Systems is poised to redefine the future of power optimization. For those invested in our journey, the future is extraordinarily bright, and the best is yet to come.” Q4 F2025 Operational Highlights: Green Proving Ground program for the United States General Services Administration, which operates approximately 1,800 federally owned buildings is proceeding well. 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://tinyurl.com/fhahzm7u

Sophic Client Legend Power Systems Inc. (LPS-TSXV, LPSIF-OTC) announces closing of Non-Brokered Private Placement pursuant to The Listed Issuer Financing Exemption.

The Company closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units of the Company (each, a “Unit“) for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,649,780.04 (the “Offering“). Pursuant to the Offering, the Company sold 13,748,167 Units at a price of $0.12 per Unit. Each Unit consisted of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (each, a “Common Share“) and one (1) Common Share purchase warrant (each, a “Warrant“). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one (1) additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.12 per Common Share until January 23, 2029. https://tinyurl.com/56avevwa

Calian (CGY-TSX) outlines new $100 million platform to bolster Canadian defence businesses.

Ottawa-based defence company Calian is watering the seeds of Canada’s burgeoning defence industry with a $100 million platform led by its new Ventures arm. Calian said the funding will be drawn from multiple sources, including capital investment from its Ventures arm, co-development with Canadian small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs), and contributions from regional investment agencies and federal programs. The program aims to support domestic innovation in C5ISRT, which stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting. C5ISRT is an operational standard that Calian says results in faster decision-making and tighter integration across combat mediums like land, sea, air, space, and cyber. https://tinyurl.com/mr3w8t3n

Self-Driving tech startup Waabi raises US$1 billion, expands to robotaxis.

Waabi Innovation Inc., a Canadian startup that develops self-driving technology for trucks, has secured US$1 billion in funding for its commercial expansion, including entering the robotaxi market with partner Uber Technologies Inc. The Toronto-based company closed a US$750 million round led by existing backers Khosla Ventures LLC and G2 Venture Partners, according to founder and Chief Executive Officer Raquel Urtasun. The round was oversubscribed by “hundreds of millions of dollars and we actually closed the entire fundraise in a quarter,” she said in an interview. The company declined to share its latest valuation. https://tinyurl.com/44fxd9rn

Montréal industrial AI scaleup Vention raises US$110 million Series D.

Montréal-based Vention has secured a US$110-million ($150 million) Series D round to enhance and scale its physical AI platform into manufacturing plants worldwide. The industrial tech scaleup closed the new funding round and hit $100 million in annual run rate in late December. Investissement Québec—the Québec government’s investment arm—led the round, with participation from new investors chip giant Nvidia’s venture division, Desjardins Capital, and returning investor Fidelity Investments Canada. The all-primary round, which consists largely of equity with a small credit facility, brings Vention’s total amount raised to more than US$300 million https://tinyurl.com/4v87vft5

Float secures nearly $100 million in debt to expand credit products for Canadian businesses.

Toronto-based Float Financial has secured nearly $100 million in debt as it hopes to expand the scope and flexibility of its financial products for Canadian small businesses. Float said the new funds, which the company announced today, will allow it to continue offering four-percent interest on client deposits, and scale its interest-free credit product for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients. The FinTech startup raised the debt through two facilities—$75 million from Silicon Valley Bank, which is now a division of Raleigh, NC-based First Citizens Bank, and $20 million from an undisclosed Canadian Schedule I bank. Founded in 2019, Float offers a suite of products designed to simplify expense management for SMEs, including corporate cards, accounting services, and expense-tracking software. https://tinyurl.com/5bxem3t4

Billdr relaunches with $4.4 million to build “operating system” for construction.

The rebuilt and relaunched company announced that it has closed US$3.2 million ($4.4 million) in seed funding to accelerate the growth of its vertical software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering for small and medium-sized general contractors (GCs) who renovate and build houses and commercial facilities. The company hopes to use the funding to deliver on its plan to become “the operating system” for construction. Billdr’s all-equity, all-primary seed round, which closed this month, was led by White Star Capital with support from fellow new investor Desjardins Capital, as well as existing backers One Way Ventures, asterX, and Formentera Capital. This brings Billdr’s total funding to approximately US$10.5 million. https://tinyurl.com/2x72abc3

OpenAI plans fourth-quarter IPO in race to beat Anthropic to market.

OpenAI is laying the groundwork for a public listing in the fourth quarter of this year, people familiar with the matter said, accelerating its plans as competition with rival Anthropic intensifies. The US$500 billion startup is holding informal talks with Wall Street banks about a potential initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said, and is growing its finance team. It is expected to be a blockbuster year for stock-market debuts after a recent drought, and some on Wall Street are speculating that 2026 could be the biggest year ever for IPOs. OpenAI, rival Anthropic and SpaceX are among the most closely watched tech darlings that could go public, though listing activity also has picked up for smaller companies. Pulling off a successful public listing by year’s end is likely to be difficult for the ChatGPT maker, which is still confronting the challenges of a fast-growing startup. The company recently has made changes to leadership ranks and is contending with fierce competition to its core consumer business from Google, prompting it to declare a weekslong code red effort to improve the quality of ChatGPT. OpenAI is also headed to trial in a case brought by co-founder Elon Musk, who is seeking up to US$134 billion in damages. OpenAI executives have privately expressed concerns about Anthropic beating the company to an IPO, people familiar with the matter said. Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI leaders, has told financial partners that it is open to listing by the end of this year. The startup’s sales are soaring, thanks largely to the popularity of its viral coding agent Claude Code, and it is in the process of raising a funding round that will likely exceed an initial US$10 billion target, people familiar with the matter said. https://tinyurl.com/3bmd26jn

European IPO market starts 2026 at record pace, sparking hope of revival.

Ammunition maker Czechoslovak Group (CSG) raised €3.8 billion, with its shares soaring 31 per cent for a near-€33bn valuation, passing a key test of market confidence as a series of other large groups prepare to float. The Prague-based group’s flotation in Amsterdam was by far the largest in Europe this month and propelled the region to its fastest start to the year for IPO fundraising since at least 1995, according to Dealogic data. Five flotations in the region this month have raised about a quarter of the amount achieved in the whole of 2025. “This is probably the best IPO market in Europe . . . in over a decade,” said Tom Swerling, global head of equity products at Deutsche Bank. “This is a calendar and pipeline of assets that will allow us to demonstrate the viability of the IPO market and begin to restore confidence,” he added. The queue of companies gearing up to list mirrors the US, where big artificial intelligence groups head a crop of potential mega-listings. Elon Musk’s rocket maker SpaceX and tech groups OpenAI and Anthropic are working on IPOs that could raise tens of billions of dollars. Hong Kong has also been boosted by Chinese AI groups coming to market. Advisers hope CSG’s IPO will add momentum to listing plans of other defence groups such as Franco-German tank maker KNDS and German group Vincorion. However, bankers cautioned that the success of CSG’s listing did not signal the onset of an anything-goes market. Previous predictions of a listings resurgence have been thwarted, including by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs announced last April. “What I don’t see here is a signal that you can get any size, any pricing, any sector done,” said Andreas Bernstorff, global head of equity capital markets at BNP Paribas. “We’ll continue to have to be structured, careful and cautious in terms of building a transaction.” Last year Europe hosted 105 IPOs worth €16.1 billion, a slight decrease from 2024 and just a fifth of the total raised during the 2021 boom. The region accounted for only a tenth of global IPO fundraising in 2025 as other markets, including the US, saw an uptick in activity. Advisers are also focused on private equity-backed companies gearing up for long-awaited IPOs as their owners look to sell down their holdings and return cash to investors. Big private equity-owned groups that could go public this year in Europe include Hg’s €19 billion software company Visma, which is targeting a London IPO, €10 billion German car marketplace Mobile.de and the $25 billion German Industrial group TK Elevator. These deals’ prospects got a boost in October from the Swedish IPO of security services group Verisure — backed by investor Hellman & Friedman — which raised €3.2 billion. https://tinyurl.com/3vpjj537

Nvidia’s tentative deal to invest US$100 billion in OpenAI stalls.

Nvidia’s tentative deal to invest as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI to help it build 10 gigawatts of data center capacity over a period of years has stalled, the Wall Street Journal reported. Instead, Nvidia is in talks to immediately invest up to US$30 billion in OpenAI as part of an equity funding round that could be as big as US$100 billion and include other firms such as Amazon and Microsoft. When the US$100 billion deal was announced in September, OpenAI and Nvidia executives said the agreement had not been finalized and they hoped to work out the details in the coming weeks. But since then, Nvidia disclosed to shareholders that the deal with OpenAI might not come to fruition. A spokesperson for OpenAI said the earlier US$100 billion deal has not been signed, though the companies continue to discuss partnership possibilities. A spokesperson for Nvidia did not comment on the deal talks but said it looks “forward to continuing to work together” with OpenAI. https://tinyurl.com/7yppmn9z

SoftBank said to invest up to US$30 billion in OpenAI.

SoftBank is in talks to invest up to US$30 billion in OpenAI, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. An investment of that size would add to its more than US$30 billion investment in the ChatGPT maker, likely cementing its role as the biggest shareholder. The talks are part of an ongoing funding round. OpenAI is in the process of raising tens of billions of dollars—as much as US$100 billion—at a valuation of around US$750 billion before the financing. SoftBank led OpenAI’s US$41 billion round that valued OpenAI at US$260 billion before the investment last year. It also invested in a prior fundraise and share sale. https://tinyurl.com/5579mfd7

Nvidia invests another US$2 billion in CoreWeave in new deal.

Nvidia invested another US$2 billion into AI cloud startup CoreWeave as part of a broader deal in which CoreWeave committed to adopt “multiple generations” of Nvidia chips including the upcoming Rubin GPUs. The investment more than doubled Nvidia’s stake in CoreWeave to 11.5%, according to a securities filing. News of the agreement sent CoreWeave stock 15% to US$107 on Monday morning. Stock of CoreWeave, which went public last March at US$40 a share, has gone on a rollercoaster since then. It soared to as high as US$183 over the summer before plunging to as low as US$64 in December. Nvidia bought the shares at US$87.20, around where it was trading a couple of weeks ago. Nvidia has been a big backer of CoreWeave for the past couple of years, giving it a sizable allotment of chips and investing in its equity, in a sign that Nvidia wanted to help develop a competitor to cloud firms such as Amazon and Google which are increasing using their own AI chips. https://tinyurl.com/3rxejdn8

Tesla discloses US$2 billion xAI investment as profit, revenue continue to fall.

Tesla has agreed to invest US$2 billion in xAI, the electric automaker said on Wednesday, further deepening ties between the two Elon Musk-led companies. Tesla disclosed the investment alongside its fourth-quarter 2025 financial results, which showed the company’s sales and profits are continuing to decline. Total revenues fell 3% year-over-year to US$24.9 billion, while net income fell 61% to US$840 million. Tesla had its second year in a row of falling auto sales in 2025 due to pressures including the end of electric vehicle subsidies in the U.S., increased competition from Chinese automakers globally and backlash to Musk’s political activities. Tesla shares were up about 2% in after-hours trading. Still, Musk has sought to turn attention toward newer initiatives like the Optimus humanoid robot and Tesla’s Robotaxi services. After blowing through deadlines Musk had set for both projects in 2025, Tesla said Wednesday it will expand Robotaxi to seven additional U.S. cities by the end of June and unveil a new version of the Optimus robot by the end of March. https://tinyurl.com/574ubbmh

Elon Musk’s SpaceX said to consider merger with Tesla or xAI.

SpaceX is considering a potential merger with Tesla Inc., as well as an alternative combination with artificial intelligence firm xAI, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign billionaire Elon Musk is weighing how to consolidate his empire. The firm has discussed the feasibility of a tie-up between SpaceX and Tesla, an idea that some investors are pushing, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Separately, they are also exploring a tie-up between SpaceX and xAI ahead of an IPO, some of the people said. Any transaction could attract sizeable interest from infrastructure funds and Middle Eastern sovereign investors, some of the people said. A deal could also potentially require a large financing component, one of them said. Tesla shares jumped as much as 5.6% on Friday, after climbing in after-hours trading on Thursday. The trading gives the company a market value of about US$1.65 trillion. A merger with either firm could potentially put SpaceX’s IPO timeline in question. SpaceX is weighing a June listing, around Musk’s birthday, and could seek to raise as much as US$50 billion, people familiar with the matter have said. That would make it the biggest IPO of all time. https://tinyurl.com/3tak3nzn

SpaceX made US$8 billion profit in 2025.

SpaceX brought in about US$8 billion in profit last year on between US$15 billion and US$16 billion in revenue, Reuters reported Friday. That figure is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which does not include capital expenditures. The fresh financials come as SpaceX considers raising as much as US$50 billion in an initial public offering that could value the company at US$1.5 trillion, according to the report. SpaceX is also reportedly considering a merger with CEO Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI. The majority of SpaceX’s revenue comes from its Starlink satellite internet business, which hit 9 million subscribers late last year. The company also makes money from launching payloads into space for governments and other companies. https://tinyurl.com/4y7y82az

Anthropic increases 2026 revenue forecast by 20% to US$18 billion.

Anthropic, in December, projected to generate as much as US$18 billion this year, about 20% more than its summer forecast, and US$55 billion next year. The company expects to generate as much as US$148 billion in 2029 in its most optimistic projections– about US$3 billion more than what OpenAI projected to make that year. Some of the fast revenue growth is from the company’s success in selling access to its AI models via an application programming interface to business customers. In particular, the company has become popular for coding-related tasks, in part due to its coding agent Claude Code, which generated more than US$1 billion in annualized revenue in November. But costs are adding up. The company revised its most optimistic projections to delay turning cash flow positive till 2028, a year later than previously expected. It projects to generate US$2.2 billion in cash in 2028. Higher costs to train and run its AI models have contributed to the delay. This year, the company expects to spend US$12 billion on training its models and US$7 billion on running them for its paying users. The company is raising more than US$10 billion at a valuation of US$350 billion before the financing in a round led by Singapore’s GIC and Coatue Management. Strategic investors Nvidia and Microsoft in November committed to invest US$10 billion and $5 billion respectively. https://tinyurl.com/9deacshx

Anthropic sought billions for Apple deal, report says.

Anthropic had been in discussions with Apple to supply models to rebuild its Siri AI assistant and was seeking several billion dollars annually over multiple years, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. But negotiations with the AI startup stalled over the summer over the terms of a potential arrangement. Apple was also talking to OpenAI about the arrangement, which would have extended an earlier partnership with the ChatGPT maker. Apple ultimately chose Google’s Gemini after it found the software had improved significantly and Google agreed to a financial structure Apple found reasonable, the report said. OpenAI will still provide answers to more complex queries that users ask Siri. https://tinyurl.com/dn9ukxcw

Apple acquires AI startup for silent communication.

Apple has acquired Q.ai, an artificial intelligence startup specializing in “silent” communication technology. Founded in 2022, the Israel-based startup has largely kept its plans under wraps. Patents published last year describe technology for processing facial movements to understand nonvocal communication. Such technology could be useful across a range of Apple products, allowing users to interact with voice assistants in noisy environments or in public spaces where speaking aloud is intrusive. Over the years, Apple has been adding voice communication features to its AirPods, such as live translation. It is also working on an AI-based wearable pin, which will feature cameras and microphones, that could be released as early as 2027. The Israel-based startup was cofounded by Aviad Maizels, who sold a previous company, PrimeSense, to Apple in 2013 for US$345 million. PrimeSense’s technology was used for Apple’s face identification feature first introduced in the iPhone X in 2017. The Financial Times reported that the deal was valued at close to US$2 billion. If accurate, it would make it one of the largest acquisitions for the famously acquisition-averse tech giant, second only to its US$3 billion acquisition of Beats in 2014. While tech rivals have ramped up on their AI spending, Apple has largely avoided splurging. https://tinyurl.com/y9z23rk3

iPhone demand fuels huge growth for Apple’s holiday quarter.

Apple reported its fastest growth in years, fueled by its latest-generation iPhone 17 lineup. The iPhone business grew 23% to US$85.3 billion in sales for the December quarter, the company reported Thursday afternoon. It’s the fastest pace of growth Apple has seen since 2021, when the pandemic supercharged the tech giant’s bottom line. Apple’s overall revenue was US$143.8 billion, up 16% from the prior year, beating analyst estimates of US$138.5 billion. Net income was US$42.1 billion, up 16% annually, compared to US$39.4 billion analysts were expecting. Even on the strength of the results, Apple shares were up only 1% in after-hours trading following the release. Apple said it expects more rapid growth to persist. For the current quarter, the company expects sales to grow between 13% and 16% annually. Apple executives said that memory shortages had minimal effect so far on the company’s margins. The massive artificial intelligence data center build-out has consumed much of the supply for memory chips. But the memory crunch could affect the current March quarter’s margins. https://tinyurl.com/4h2nb3bx

Microsoft cloud growth slows, but OpenAI fuels 60% surge in revenue backlog.

Microsoft revenue grew 17% to US$81.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, a slightly lower rate of year-over-year growth than in the previous quarter. But Microsoft said it had US$625 billion in remaining performance obligations as of the end of December, also known as a revenue backlog, up from US$392 billion in the September quarter, implying it has plenty of revenue growth ahead. The company also disclosed it had 15 million paying subscribers of 365 Copilot, the suite of AI features for Office apps such as Excel and Word. Revenue from Azure and other cloud services grew 39% in the fourth quarter, compared to 40% growth in the quarter prior. Microsoft doesn’t break out Azure revenue in dollars. The company’s shares fell 4% in after-hours trading. The revenue backlog rise reflects OpenAI’s recent commitment to spend US$250 billion on Microsoft’s Azure cloud over an unspecified period, which the companies announced in October. Microsoft said 45% of its remaining performance obligations came from OpenAI, or US$281.2 billion, while the rest came from other customers’ bookings, including Anthropic. Microsoft said it will take 2.5 years, on average, for that backlog to turn into revenue. Microsoft has been pouring money into new data centers and servers equipped with Nvidia chips in order to meet demand from OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI customers. The company’s capital expenditures in the December quarter were US$37.5 billion, up 66% compared to last year, with two thirds of that spending going towards short-lived assets like chips. Free cash flow for the December quarter was US$5.9 billion, down 9% from a year ago, which the company said was due to rising capital expenditures. Microsoft for the first time disclosed the number of paying subscribers of Office 365 Copilot software, which uses models from OpenAI and Anthropic to power AI features in its Office apps. Microsoft said the 15 million figure only includes subscribers who pay a monthly rate per seat, which starts at US$30 per month. That implies the software is on track to generate billions of dollars in annual revenue, though many companies receive discounts when buying subscriptions in bulk. By comparison, OpenAI’s ChatGPT had 35 million paying users as of last July. Microsoft also reported earnings per share of US$5.16, which were much higher than usual because OpenAI completed its restructuring in October and granted Microsoft a 27% stake in the company for the first time. With the restructuring, Microsoft now reports gains and losses on its OpenAI stake after previously reporting a share of OpenAI’s operating losses. For consistency, Microsoft also reported non-GAAP earnings per share of US$4.14 that excluded accounting for its OpenAI stake. https://tinyurl.com/4ufhkx5y

Meta forecasts 73% jump in 2026 capex, 40% rise in expenses.

Meta Platforms on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter revenue of US$59.8 billion, up 24% from a year earlier, exceeding its own forecasts of US$56 billion to US$59 billion. The company also outlined ambitious spending plans for 2026, forecasting capital expenditures of US$115 billion to US$135 billion, up roughly 73% from US$72 billion in 2025. The increase is being driven by investments in artificial intelligence initiatives, including on chips and servers. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in October also forecasted total expenses in 2025 would rise roughly 40% to between US$162 billion and US$169 billion, with the bulk of growth coming from infrastructure costs and employee compensation for technical talent. In the fourth quarter, Meta said operating expenses rose 40%, reducing its profit margin by seven percentage points to 41%. Meta expects first-quarter 2026 revenue to be between US$53.5 billion and US$56.5 billion. Despite the spending surge, the company anticipates operating income for 2026 to exceed 2025 levels. Meta shares were trading up 10% in after-hours trading, a sign investors were expecting the higher capex projections and were focused on Meta’s strong revenue growth. https://tinyurl.com/4h42nzja

US car retailer Carvana attacked by short seller Gotham City Research.

The share price of online used car dealer Carvana fell 11 per cent on Wednesday in New York after the short seller Gotham City Research questioned related-party arrangements at the family controlled group. Alongside a critical report, Gotham published financial statements that showed the operations of privately held sister company DriveTime Automotive burned through US$1 billion of cash over 2023 and 2024, coinciding with a transformation in the profitability of Carvana. Carvana shares began selling off Wednesday morning after Gotham telegraphed its research in a social media post, and then released its report after 11am in New York. The shares were down as much as 13 per cent in morning trading. Gotham said it legally obtained the financial statements for DriveTime, which is closely held. Carvana and DriveTime use a third Garcia-controlled company called Bridgecrest, which administers the loans they offer customers. These are then packaged up and sold to financial investors, according to DriveTime disclosures. Gotham highlighted in its report that in 2024 DriveTime financed the cash outflows from its business by issuing debt, which rose by $800mn during 2024 to US$4.3 billion. DriveTime’s use of debt to fund those outflows also comes at a moment of growing attention over the strength of US consumer credit and under-appreciated financial risks in the car industry, following the emergence of problems at parts supplier First Brands and Tricolor. https://tinyurl.com/fms7jy73

Microsoft unveils new in-house AI chip.

Microsoft has started using the latest version of its in-house AI chip, the company said on Monday, as part of its efforts to lessen reliance on Nvidia’s state-of-the-art chips. The new chips—called Maia 200—are already being used in one Microsoft data center, and the company plans to roll them out globally, executive vice president Scott Guthrie said in a blog post. Guthrie said that Microsoft has been able to use the chips to reduce the cost of running AI software like its 365 Copilot, which uses AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic to automate tasks in its Office 365 software. Microsoft isn’t the only company trying to build in-house competitors to Nvidia’s AI-specialized chips. Cloud rivals Amazon and Google have each developed their own proprietary AI chips, which they make available to cloud customers. It’s not clear whether Microsoft plans to make servers equipped with Maia 200 available to Azure customers. This week’s announcement comes after Microsoft revised its plans to roll out the chip globally following delays. https://tinyurl.com/ytbyyrp

U.S. regulator plans new prediction market rules.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket in the U.S., plans to make new rules to provide clearer standards on the types of contracts such platforms can offer, the agency’s chairman Michael Selig said Thursday. The CFTC also plans to withdraw a Biden-era proposal that would ban political and sports-related bets, the two most popular types of bets on prediction markets. Currently, states regulate sports betting and some have sued to stop prediction markets from offering those wagers, which they argue counts as illegal gambling. The chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC vowed to cooperate and make rules to support the crypto industry in their first-ever joint meeting on Thursday. Their efforts are important for crypto firms, given Congress has struggled to pass a crypto market structure bill after Coinbase pulled back its support over issues including stablecoin rewards this month. https://tinyurl.com/ywesvahk

Fidelity to launch stablecoin.

Fidelity Investments said it is launching a stablecoin, called Fidelity Digital Dollar, for retail and institutional investors in the coming weeks, becoming the first major brokerage to have its own stablecoin. Fidelity has been an early mover in digital assets among traditional asset managers. It offers crypto trading and exchange-traded funds for bitcoin, ether and solana. The new stablecoin, FIDD, will be available for purchase through Fidelity’s digital assets platforms as well as major exchanges. Crypto investors typically use stablecoins to pay for trades and park their cash in stablecoins. Fidelity Digital Assets, which received approval for a national trust charter recently, will issue the stablecoin. Reserves will be managed by Fidelity Management & Research Company. https://tinyurl.com/33nruc6v

Tether officially launches new U.S. stablecoin.

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, announced the official launch of USAT, a new stablecoin for the U.S. market that’s regulated under U.S. stablecoin legislation. Tether, which is based in El Salvador, is creating the new stablecoin because its main token, USDT, which has US$186 billion in circulation, may not be able to meet the auditing and reserve requirements of the new stablecoin law. Tether’s new stablecoin could threaten Circle, the biggest stablecoin issuer in the U.S., and a wave of stablecoin startups that launched after the new stablecoin law went into effect. The issuer of USAT is Anchorage Digital, which has a national bank trust charter. The token will be available on Bybit, Crypto.com, Kraken, OKX, and Moonpay at start, Tether said. https://tinyurl.com/yhjwhjfs