AnalytixInsight

Last week, Dow Jones rose 2.4%, S&P 500 was up 0.8% and Nasdaq composite gained 0.4%. Dow Jones hit a 52-week high, S&P 500 set a 2023 closing high, with Nasdaq not far behind. Russell 2000 also finally rose above a key level. Reddit is again holding talks with potential investors for an IPO. Rubrik, a Microsoft Corp.-backed cloud and data security startup, is also considering an IPO as soon as Q1 2024. Kim Kardashian’s Skims, valued this summer at US$4 billion, is also discussing strategic options including an IPO. Shein confidentially filed for U.S. IPO. Lineage Logistics is targeting a valuation of more than US$30 billion in a large 2024 IPO. Tiger Global’s biggest venture fund has a 18% loss after markdowns. Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, quietly raised an additional US$43 million. OpenAI is not planning to give Microsoft, and other investors board seats. Blackstone will buy Pet-Care site Rover for US$2.3 billion. Snowflake reported revenue growth of 32% as its CEO hails ‘stabilizing’ software market. Salesforce revenue rose 11%, the company said customers are embracing a ‘new era’ of AI. Amazon has grabbed the crown of biggest delivery business in the U.S., surpassing both UPS and FedEx in parcel volumes. SoFi is shutting down its crypto business, even as MicroStrategy made its biggest bitcoin purchase in years. In Canada, Shopify merchants set a sales record over Black Friday, Cyber Monday. Open Text will sell the AMC business to Rocket Software for US$2.28 billion in cash. Constellation Software was mentioned in the Economist magazine, it is now Canada’s second largest tech firm. Will it lead to the magazine curse? Sophic Clients, Kraken, Ionik, UGE, Clear Blue and Renoworks reported financials last week. New institutional investors appear to be accumulating Kraken based on recent trades, as the Company is hitting an inflection point.

Last week, Dow Jones rose 1.3%, S&P 500 was up 1%, and Nasdaq gained 0.9%. Market indices have had a good November, approaching 2023 highs. The VIX is at lows, leading some investors to believe that the market is due for a healthy consolidation or pullback. In the most captivating story in tech last week, OpenAI said it had reached an agreement “in principle” for Sam Altman to return to the startup. Altman, who was fired just last Friday as CEO, had agreed to an internal investigation into alleged conduct that prompted the company’s board to oust him. The Board was reportedly concerned a new Q* breakthrough could threaten humanity, by enabling AI to “surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks”. An OpenAI employee share sale that values the firm at US$86 billion is back on track following Altman’s reinstatement as CEO. Nvidia forecasted US$20 billion revenue next quarter, expecting a negative impact from China, the stock fell 1.5% after hours. Regulators in Europe and China have questioned Nvidia how it allocates its supply of highly sought-after chips. Apple’s Vision Pro is still not quite ready for launch, and is likely to release around March. Binance’s CEO has stepped down, pleading guilty to federal crimes. The SEC is suing crypto exchange Kraken. In Canada, Sophic Client, Ionik acquired substantially all of the assets of S44 LLC (SHIFT44), for a total aggregate purchase price of ~US$40 million payable in cash, debt and stock. On November 23, 2023, Ocean Infinity Group Limited, sold all of its 21,280,000 shares in Sophic Client Kraken Robotics for ~$0.5011 per share, clearing an overhang on the stock. Sophic Client, Clear Blue partnered with Watt Renewable Partners for its scale up in Nigeria and across Africa. The companies plan to deploy 1000 solar hybrid powered systems for telecom towers across Nigeria and Africa over the next three years. Watt has purchased 160 systems from Clear Blue for a total purchase price of $1.58 million.

Last week, Dow Jones gained 1.9%, S&P 500 rose 2.2% and Nasdaq was up 2.4%. OpenAI ousted Sam Altman for misleading its Board, which could have far reach consequences for the AI ecosystem. Google has delayed the cloud release of its Gemini AI product. Microsoft will sell AI from Cohere as its business moves beyond OpenAI. The company also unveiled an AI chip as it seeks to catch up to Nvidia, Amazon. Nvidia also unveiled a new AI chip, upping ante with AMD. Nvidia stock is riding its longest winning streak in seven years, adding US$220 billion in market value just in November, even as the ‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry revealed a bet against Nvidia and other microchip stocks. SpaceX is considering spinning off its Starlink satellite internet business through an IPO as soon as 2024. Alibaba decided to cancel its plan to spin off its cloud computing division, citing new challenges facing the business due to the U.S. government’s restrictions on semiconductor exports. Meta Platforms, Alphabet, ByteDance and Snap must face lawsuits alleging they designed their platforms to attract and be addictive to children, thereby harming their mental health, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. In Canada, Q4 is going private at half its IPO valuation with a $257 million buyout by Sumeru Equity Partners, after being public for just over two years. Sophic Client Xcyte began trading on the TSXV after a recent oversubscribed financing. Sophic Client UGE closed an offering of project development Green Bonds for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,538,050 and US$74,100. Sophic Client OneSoft reported Q3 2023 revenue of $2.8 million, +33% y/y. Management reiterated its 2023 revenue and Gross Profit guidance. Montréal-based carbon-capture startup Deep Sky closed $57.5 million in Series A financing as it looks to make Canada the “carbon removal capital of the world.”