AnalytixInsight

Last week was tough in the markets, as Dow Jones fell 0.75%, S&P 500 lost 1.35, and Nasdaq was down 1.9% — these major indices fell below their 50 day moving averages. China has banned iPhone use for government officials at work. China Mobile reportedly won’t sell the iPhone 15 amid local government ban. Arm is seeking a valuation topping US$50 billion, according to a Tuesday morning filing. The IPO of Renault’s Ampere electric vehicle division could get a valuation of up to 10 billion euros. Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence startup that charges users between US$10 and US$120 for a monthly subscription, is on pace to surpass US$200 million in revenue this year. Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire health-records software company NextGen. Business software company Alteryx is exploring a sale. An FTC Antitrust suit against Amazon is set for later this month after a meeting failed to resolve an impasse. Venture-backed defense giant Anduril is acquiring Blue Force Technologies, the advanced design and engineering firm behind the “Fury” unmanned fighter jet, as the company looks to build out its suite of autonomous systems for national security customers. The Pentagon intends to field a vast network of AI-powered technology, drones and autonomous systems within the next two years to counter threats from China and other adversaries. To meet the challenge of a rising China, the Australian Navy is taking two very different deep dives into advanced submarine technology, including unmanned subs, powered by artificial intelligence, called Ghost Sharks. These geopolitical considerations, could be a tailwind for Sophic Client Kraken Robotics. Rockwell Automation signed an agreement to acquire Waterloo-based Clearpath Robotics, terms were not disclosed. Sophic Client LuckBox signed an LOI for potential merger or acquisition. Sophic Client Renoworks has partnered with ROOFLE to offer combined solution for roofing professionals.

Growth stocks performed well last week, Nasdaq was up 3.25%, S&P 500 rose 2.5%, and Dow Jones gained 1.4%. Arm will start conversations with potential IPO investors with a US$50 billion to US$55 billion valuation in mind, for at least a 56% increase from the price at which SoftBank bought Arm seven years ago. OpenAI is on pace to generate more than US$1 billion in revenue, up more than 35 times compared to last year. Nvidia-backed CoreWeave is seeking stake sale at up to a US$8 billion valuation, even as some employees are looking to cash out an astonishing US$500 million worth of shares, according to The Information. In Canada, Sophic Client Kraken announced a $2.7 million sonar & subsea battery order, and reiterated financial guidance for 2023 with Q2 results. The Company expects revenue to be in the $66 – $78 million range and adjusted EBITDA in the $12 – $17 million range. Mid-point of guidance range implies revenue growth of 76% over 2022 and adjusted EBITDA growth of 275%. Sophic Client, Clear Blue Technologies announced Q2 results, and is focused on revenue growth in H2 2023, net-zero cash burn and positive EBITDA. Private equity firm Veritas Capital made an offer to buy BlackBerry, months after the Company began a strategic review, its U.S-listed shares rose about 17% on the news. Amazon and Shopify announced a partnership Wednesday to allow Shopify sellers to offer Amazon’s Buy With Prime service on their e-commerce sites, Shopify also began quietly rolling out a TikTok integration. Toronto-based Cohere is being advised by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs on a potential financing round. Cohere, a competitor to OpenAI, raised US$270 million in June at a valuation of up US$2.2 billion, recently Tiger Global was close to selling a stake in Cohere in a deal that would have valued the company at about US$3 billion.

Last week, markets were mixed, Dow Jones fell 0.45%, S&P 500 was up 0.8%, and Nasdaq rose 2.3%, after ending three-week losing streaks. Major indexes did see reversals on Thursday despite blowout Nvidia results, and stocks rebounded on Friday despite a hawkish comments from Fed chief Jerome Powell. Nvidia’s financial performance in the July quarter blew past its earlier projections. Shares rose nearly 10% in after-hours trading. Data and marketing automation company Klaviyo on Friday became the latest tech company to try to join the public markets. Instacart just filed for its IPO and revealed a plan to sell US$175 million in stock to PepsiCo. Arm, which is owned by SoftBank, filed for its initial public offering Monday. Arm is one of the most important companies in technology. Its chip designs found in nearly all the world’s smartphones, including Apple iPhones and most Android devices. In Canada, Sophic Clients Legend Power Systems, UGE International and Renoworks Software reported recent financial results. Sophic Client Clear Blue Technologies will report financial results on Tuesday. “Our focus this quarter remained around advancing sales opportunities and we currently have new late-stage large deals with very strong financial viability,” said Randy Buchamer, Legend Power Systems CEO. “The handful of late-stage deals could bring over $10 million in new potential bookings near term with the long term total pipeline now north of $100 million. The Company also closed a non-brokered $2.5 million financing. UGE ended Q2 with 3.8 MW of operating assets that contributed US$183.6K of energy generation revenue (+126% y/y) with 93% gross margins. The Company also closed its previously announced overnight marketed offering of debentures (the “Green Bonds”)for aggregate gross proceeds of US$5,749,655. The Offering was conducted by a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Genuity, and iA Private Wealth.

Last week was another tough week for investors, Dow Jones fell 2.2%, S&P 500 lost 2.1%, and Nasdaq fell 2.6%. SoftBank is in talks to acquire the 25% stake in Arm it does not directly own. Arm’s revenue fell 1% to US$2.68 billion in its last fiscal year, Bloomberg reported. The chip designer’s revenue fell a further 2.5% in the June quarter. Instacart is aiming for a September IPO. Instacart last raised money in 2021 at a US$39 billion valuation, but is likely to go public around the US$10 billion mark. SpaceX profit hit US$55 million in Q1 on US$1.5 billion in revenue. In 2022, the company had US$559 million in losses on US$4.6 billion in revenue. Europe’s Stripe rival Adyen fell 39% after its slowest sales growth on record. Adyen attributed the tepid print to increased hiring, firmer wages and to a shift in its North American customers’ business prioritization from growth to cost savings in the first half of the year. Shares of Hawaiian Electric plunged as much as 41% on Monday and are down 49% since the devastating Maui fires broke out last week. Intel scrapped its US$5.4 billion deal to buy Israeli contract chipmaker Tower Semiconductor Ltd after their merger agreement expired without regulatory approval from China. Microsoft is planning a new AI service with Databricks, hedging its OpenAI bet. Gemini, Google’s answer to OpenAI’s core software, will launch this fall with the ability to generate conversational text as well as imagery. In Canada, Sophic Client OneSoft reported Q2 revenue of $2.5 million (+87% y/y). Annual recurring revenue increased q/q by 59%. Management reiterated its gross profit guidance of $7.6 million in Fiscal 2023. Squamish, BC-based cleantech startup Carbon Engineering has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by oil -and-gas company Occidental Petroleum for US$1.1 billion.