AnalytixInsight

As H1 2023 came to and end this Friday, S&P 500 index hit a 14-month high, Dow Jones and Nasdaq are back near 2023 highs. Apple is at a US$3 trillion market cap, for the first time. CNBC highlighted that tech stocks closed out best first half in 40 years. Even more stunning, it happened while the U.S. economy is still at risk of slipping into recession, reckoning with a banking crisis, and the Federal Reserve steadily increased its benchmark interest rate to the highest since 2007. While global economic concerns persist, highlighted by uncertainty surrounding the war in Russia and Ukraine and ongoing trade tensions with China, the NASDAQ could likely be in for some near term volatility, or see improved market breadth – we prefer the second option. That said, a sign of skepticism is the absence of a tech IPO market. There hasn’t been a notable venture capital-backed tech IPO in the U.S. since late 2021, and investors and bankers tell CNBC that the second half of the year is poised to remain quiet. M&A remains robust, with five notable transactions in the US just last week. Visa will acquire Brazilian fintech Pismo for US$1 billion. IBM will buy Apptio from Vista Equity Partners for US$4.6 billion. Databricks will acquire generative AI startup MosaicML for US$1.3 billion. Nvidia quietly acquired OmniML, an artificial intelligence startup that helps machine-learning models run on devices, rather than in the cloud. Defense technology company Anduril Industries has acquired Adranos, a startup that manufactures solid rocket motors for in-space and terrestrial applications. SpaceX is planning a sale of insider shares that would raise the company’s valuation to about US$150 billion, a rise from the company’s US$137 billion valuation reported in January. Fidelity Investments valued its stakes in Discord and Reddit slightly lower than it had previously. Shein, the Chinese online fashion retailer worth more than US$60, has registered with regulators for an initial public offering in New York.

The markets last week took a breather from multi week rallies, as we pointed out the NASDAQ looked a bit stretched last week. Dow Jones fell 1.7%, and S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.4%. Tiger Global raised US$2.7 billion for its latest private tech fund, 55% less than the US$6 billion goal set last fall and 79% lower than its prior, US$12.7 billion fund. SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said on Wednesday that his tech investing conglomerate plans to shift its stance to “offence mode” amid excitement over advances in artificial intelligence. Virgin Galactic raises US$300 million, seeks another US$400 million to expand spacecraft fleet. Cloud banking vendor nCino explores sale. Amazon’s iRobot deal faces EU antitrust investigation, sources say. Shares of UK online supermarket Ocado soared on talk of Amazon bid interest. Nvidia board member cashes out on the chipmaker’s surging stock, selling over 100,000 shares for US$51 million. Cisco launches new AI networking chips to compete with Broadcom, Marvell. Google and OpenAI talk to publishers about licensing content for AI. Rivian to adopt Tesla’s North American charging standard. In Canada, Quisitive announced $6 million bought deal financing, in sign that could potentially positive investor deal appetite in H2 2023. Railtown Technologies announced an increase to its LIFE non-brokered private placement to $2 million. Calgary-based startup Eavor, which offers geothermal technologies for producing energy, has raised approximately $80 million in what it called the first close of its Series B round. Québec City-based Poka, is set to be acquired by Swedish enterprise software giant IFS, in a reported $200 million deal. Sophic Client, OneSoft Solutions, is a compelling opportunity for investors who want to invest in an AI company currently monetizing its solution with globally known brands. OneSoft has commercialized machine learning for years with major industry customers, and is forecasting 151,000 miles of pipeline miles on SaaS subscription in 2023, or ~25% of the U.S. addressable pipeline market.

The market had another strong week, especially the Nasdaq, even after some modest losses Friday. With the Nasdaq now appearing stretched from its moving averages, some caution may be warranted, especially with the handful names driving most year-to-date gains. Last week, Dow Jones was up 1.25%, S&P 500 was up 2.6% (best weekly performance since March), Nasdaq was up 3.25% for its 8th consecutive weekly advance. Arm in talks with big clients about investing in IPO, which include, Intel, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, TSMC, and Samsung. Salesforce pledges to invest US$500 million in generative AI startups. Microsoft CFO says OpenAI and other AI products will add US$10 billion in revenue. Nvidia GPUs are so hard to get that rich venture capitalists are buying them for the startups they invest in. AMD reveals new A.I. chip to challenge Nvidia’s dominance. Nasdaq announced a US$10.5 billion deal to scoop up a behind-the-scenes tech provider. Bloomberg reported Apple is aiming to release a more affordable AR/VR spatial computer product by the end of 2025. Netflix subscriptions rise as password-sharing crackdown takes effect. US cyber insurance premiums surged 50% in 2022 as increased ransomware attacks and online commerce drove demand for coverage. In Canada, Executives at Shopify began discussing a sale of the e-commerce giant’s logistics business in late 2022, even as they publicly committed to investing more money to build out its fulfillment network, The Information reported on Tuesday. Québec City-based automotive software provider LeddarTech has inked a SPAC deal to go public on Nasdaq. US-made wind and solar components are now cheaper than imports, according to researchers. New guidance from the US Treasury could unleash billions in renewable energy investment. Previously, to make the most of the tax credits available to them, renewable energy project developers had to create complex and expensive tax equity deals. Sophic Client Clear Blue received a $375K order. This contract increases Clear Blue’s 2023 Year-To-Date bookings to $4,975,000, of which $4,325,000 is expected to be recognized in 2023. Dapper Labs made an investment in Web3 gaming company GameOn.