AnalytixInsight

Last week, Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hit record highs. Dow Jones rose 1.2% during the week, S&P 500 gained 1.5%, and Nasdaq composite was up 2.1%. CoreWeave, an upstart cloud provider that rents out servers with Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips, raised US$7.5 billion in debt financing led by Blackstone, the company said Friday, adding that it was the largest deal of its kind. OpenAI on Monday launched a new AI model and desktop version of ChatGPT, along with an updated user interface. Google is expanding conversational search results that summarize answers instead of just listing links to other websites. Snowflake is said to be discussing buying AI startup Reka AI for US$1 billion. Squarespace said Monday it had agreed to a buyout by private equity firm Permira for US$44 a share in cash, in a deal that values the company at US$6.9 billion including debt. Reddit shares surged as it struck a content deal with OpenAI. Meta is reportedly working on camera-equipped AI earphones. Netflix said it plans to launch its own advertising technology platform to allow advertisers to buy ads on the streaming service. Millennium, Point72 and Elliott are among Bitcoin ETF buyers, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Q1 13F filings of roughly 1,000 filers. In Canada, Xybion Digital, and CloudMD were both taken out — as we’ve highlighted previously, we expect small to mid cap Canadian listed companies to be acquired unless the valuation gap with US listed companies narrows. Sophic Client, Xcyte Digital released its “Xperience” subscription service. Xperience, the first-of-its-kind service, gives subscribers the flexibility to select the most suitable technologies for hosting events bringing together a global ecosystem of event technology. The Xperience partner ecosystem is intended to be distributed globally and offered to, among others, large multinational enterprises, which is expected to broaden Xcyte’s reach into major worldwide markets.

Major indices resumed their move towards record or 52-week highs last week — Dow Jones gained 2.2%, S&P 500 rose 1.85%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 1.1%. Chinese EV maker Zeekr priced its US IPO at top of range to raise US$441 million, the stock popped 30%+ on its debut. S&P 500 companies that have reported Q1/24 results disclosed buying back US$181.2 billion of their shares during the period, up 16% y/y. Since the start of 2023, the volume of M&A financed by stock or a mix of cash and stock has touched its highest level in more than two decades. SoftBank is in talks to acquire Graphcore, a struggling British semiconductor startup once valued at US$2.8 billion. BigCommerce reportedly hired bankers to explore potential sale. Private equity firms are reportedly circling Peloton for a potential buyout. Warren Buffett gave a prominent gesture of confidence to Apple at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on Saturday, saying it’s “extremely likely” the stock will remain his holding company’s biggest investment despite Apple’s recent struggles. OpenAI will announce and demonstrate updates to ChatGPT and GPT-4 on Monday via livestream, the company said on X on Friday. Apple is finalizing a deal with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT features to iOS 18. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance sued the U.S. government on Tuesday to block a new law signed by President Biden forcing a sale or ban of the short-form video app. In Canada, Sophic Client, Kraken received $3.5 million of orders for subsea security equipment. Tantalus Systems announced a $10 million bought deal financing. American Aires announced a $3 million private placement. Shopify fell 18% on Wednesday, shaving almost US$20 billion off the company’s value, after the company gave revenue and profit guidance for the current quarter that spooked investors.

Markets ended the week strongly, due to a tame jobs report, which led to rate cut hopes and a rebounding Apple, prior to Berkshire indicating it cut its Apple position on Saturday. Dow Jones rose 1.1% during the week, S&P 500 gained 0.55%, and Nasdaq composite rose 1.4%. CoreWeave, an Nvidia-backed cloud startup, said it raised US$1.1 billion in new funding led by Coatue Management. The round valued it at US$19 billion. Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic on Wednesday unveiled its first mobile app for iPhone users and a new subscription plan for enterprise customers. Tesla shares surged 15% on Monday after Bloomberg reported that the automaker had partnered with Chinese internet company Baidu to help bring the electric vehicle maker’s driver assistance technology to China. A 10.5% drop in iPhone revenue dragged down Apple’s overall revenue by 4% in the March quarter, the tech giant reported Thursday, leading to a 2.3% decline in net profit. Apple announced a new US$110 billion share buyback and increased the dividend. Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the startup’s technology to power some new features coming to the iPhone later this year. Google on Monday announced new features for its Performance Max ad-buying tool, which uses artificial intelligence to optimize ad campaigns. In Canada, Sophic Client Ionik announced the sale of PopReach Games portfolio for a total aggregate purchase price of up to US$9.8 million. Sophic Capital Client, Xcyte Digital signed agreement to purchase assets of Webinar.net, bringing the Companys’ Pro Forma revenue run rate to US$5.0 million, before synergies, up 500% since the Company’s 2023 RTO. Zedcor announced a $4 million Bought Deal and $10 million concurrent Private Placement offering. Stack Capital invested US$8 million into Canva.

Last week, the stock market rebounded strongly due to mega-cap earnings even amid an alarming inflation report — Dow Jones rose 0.7%, S&P 500 gained 2.7%, Nasdaq advanced 4.2%. Rubrik rose 16% in its trading debut after the cloud and data security startup backed by Microsoft topped its fundraising goal with a US$752 million IPO. Vista Equity Partners-backed automotive data and software services provider Solera is weighing an IPO that may raise over US$1 billion. Traders who bet against the “Magnificent 7” group of big U.S. tech stocks booked their biggest-ever weekly profit of more than US$10 billion last week, with the biggest gains coming from their short position in shares of Nvidia and Tesla. Thoma Bravo will buy UK-listed Darktrace for £4.3 billion. IBM has agreed to buy Hashicorp, for US$6.4 billion in cash to strengthen its position in cloud computing and AI. Alphabet shares rose as much as 13% in after-hours trading after the company reported 15% higher revenues in the first quarter—stronger growth than analysts had anticipated—and announced it would begin paying a dividend. Meta plunged 16% on weak guidance even though Q1 results beat estimates. Tesla shares jumped 13% after Musk says the company aims to start production of an affordable new EV by early 2025. President Joe Biden signed into law a foreign aid package that includes a requirement that TikTok cut ties with its Chinese owner ByteDance or face a ban. TikTok has about a year to find a new owner, under the law. In Canada, Sophic Client Kraken Robotics gained access to over $100 million in liquidity via a bought deal equity offering and new expanded bank credit facilities in order to fund growth. Sophic Clients Xcyte Digital, OneSoft Solutions, UGE, ADM Endeavors will be presenting at the Planet MicroCap Showcase next week and will also host 1×1 investor meetings.