AnalytixInsight

Last week, markets held up reasonably well despite hot inflation reports. Dow Jones was down 0.1%, S&P 500 lost 0.4% and Nasdaq fell 1.3%. As indices remain near highs, Nvidia’s earnings report Wednesday will be crucial. The Company surpassed Amazon in market capitalization on Tuesday. OpenAI completed a deal that values the company at US$80 billion or more, nearly tripling its valuation in less than 10 months. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is seeking as much as US$100 billion to bankroll a chip venture to compete with Nvidia and supply semiconductors essential for AI. Nvidia also blogged about a new AI model, Sora, that produces original video based on text descriptions of what people want to see. Google on Thursday announced an upgraded version of its flagship conversational artificial intelligence, Gemini. Apple plans to release an AI-powered coding assistant this year. Walmart is in talks to buy TV maker Vizio. Uber unveiled a US$7 billion stock buyback plan. In Canada, as Sophic Client Kraken Robotics’ stock is at fresh 52 week highs, the company provided positive updates for 2023 and a strong 2024 outlook. Kraken’s sales funnel pipeline at the end of December 2023 was over $900 million, and the company expects 2024 revenue between $90 to $100 million and Adj EBITDA in the $18 to $24 million range. Another Canadian small cap company is getting taken out, as Think Research entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Beedie Capital, for a 100% premium to the closing price of the Common Shares on February 15, 2024 and a 75% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average trading price of the Common Shares. Shopify’s warned operating expenses would grow in Q1, sending its stock down more than 7% in trading Tuesday morning.

Last week, Dow Jones was up just fractionally while S&P 500 rose 1.4%, moving above the key 5,000 level. Nasdaq gained 2.3%, briefly exceeding the 16,000 level. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has spoken with investors about raising trillions of dollars to fund an effort to expand the world’s manufacturing capacity to make semiconductors for artificial intelligence. The effort could require US$5 trillion to US$7 trillion and a sprawling partnership between OpenAI, chipmakers, power providers and governments. China’s leading chip manufacturer, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, is setting up production lines outside Shanghai to manufacture even more advanced chips as soon as this year. The news comes despite U.S. efforts to prevent China from advancing its chipmaking abilities through sanctions and blacklists. Nvidia is in talks with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon to develop custom AI chips. Arm shares soared as much as 41% after the chip designer gave a strong forecast. Palantir stock jumped 19% as AI demand drove a revenue beat. OpenAI is developing a form of agent software to automate complex tasks by effectively taking over a customer’s device. Google launched its GPT-4 rival, Gemini Ultra, for US$20 a month. Disney’s ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp. have announced a new streaming joint venture in the U.S. that would put all of their sports programming on a single app. In Canada, Sophic Client UGE achieved commercial operation for a rooftop community solar project in Queens, New York. UGE had the Queens project appraised by a third party for a fair market value of US$3.20/watt, with a project total of US$1.2 million. With the completion of this project, UGE’s operating portfolio now stands at 5.6MW, with an additional 17.7MW of projects currently in the construction and deployment phase of development.

On the back of risks we highlighted last week, markets struggled mid week, as Fed chief Powell largely ruled out a March rate cut, and Google results weighed on tech stocks. That said, Dow Jones and S&P 500 rose 1.4% last week as both set record highs. Nasdaq gained 1.1% to close at a two year high driven by gains on Thursday and Friday owing to Meta and Amazon results. US venture capitalists are reportedly sitting on US$311 billion in unspent cash, as they shy away from risky bets on Silicon Valley start-ups and concentrate on finding ways to return capital to their own backers. Rubrik, the cybersecurity software startup that Microsoft invested in at a US$4 billion valuation in 2021, plans to go public in New York as early as April, as it handles a U.S. fraud investigation into one of its former employees. Internet discussion forum Reddit is targeting a valuation of at least US$5 billion in its upcoming initial public offering, about half the price at which it last raised funds privately. Sierra Space Corp. is making preliminary plans to go public and exploring possible acquisitions as the company drives toward debuting its long-awaited cargo spaceplane, potentially by the summer. Jeff Bezos could sell up to US$8.5 billion in Amazon stock in next year. A Delaware judge voided the US$56 billion compensation package of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Tesla’s share price slid about 3% in after-hours trading following news of the decision. In Canada, Sophic Client Kraken was mentioned as a recent buy by PenderFund Capital Management. Sophic Client Renoworks and Eagleview announced a new all-in-one virtual 3d design and measurement tool for exterior contractors. Railtown AI announced a $2.5 million non-brokered private placement. Recent Canadian tech financings appear to have been well received by investors, which bodes well for the space. Exro will acquire California-based SEA Electric in a $332-million EV-tech deal.