Weekly Investment News and Analysis

Last week Dow Jones lost 3.1%, S&P 500 fell 2.3%, and Nasdaq was down 2.4% — all three major indices hit six-month lows during the week. Autonomous trucking startup Kodiak Robotics, is in talks to merge with Ares Acquisition Corp. II in a SPAC deal that would result in a post-merger valuation of US$2 billion. Klarna eked out a slim US$21 million profit last year after a series of annual losses following an international expansion into the U.S. according to the Company’s pre-IPO filing. Hinge Health has officially filed to go public. Anthropic reached $1.4 billion in annualized revenue as of this month. Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, announced it has received a US$2 billion investment from MGX. Mortgage firm Rocket agreed to buy Redfin at a valuation of US$2.4 billion, a 50% premium. Google announced two new AI models to power robots, built on top of its most recent main Gemini model. Meta is reportedly testing in-house chips for AI training. In Canada, in news pertaining to Sophic Capital clients, Kraken Robotics expanded its U.S. footprint with the acquisition of 3D at Depth. Kraken will indirectly acquire 3D at Depth for US$17 million in cash subject to adjustment for, among other things, any debt indirectly assumed or paid out on closing and to customary working capital adjustments. 3D at Depth has grown revenue at a 20% CAGR over the last three years and reported 2024 unaudited US GAAP revenues of US$14 million, gross profit of US$8.4 million (60%), and US$1.1 million of Operating Income. Plurilock secured a $1.4 million contract with the Canadian Federal Government. The Company also provided an update on the status of exercised Warrants. Over 22 million of $0.25 warrants have been exercised, raising more than $6 million. The remaining $0.25 warrants could bring over $2 million in additional funds. In other Canadian news, Toronto based Cohere is partnering with LG to offer AI products for South Korea. Toronto-based construction technology startup Augmenta has secured an additional US$10 million in seed funding to refine and expand its building design software.

Last week, Dow Jones fell 2.4%, S&P 500 was down 3.1%, and Nasdaq composite lost 3.45%, major indices continue to chop around in a headline-driven market. Genesys, a private equity-backed customer service software company, delayed what would have been one of the largest 2025 IPO, citing a sliding stock market. Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has filed confidentially for an IPO. Discord, the social messaging app, is in early talks with bankers about an IPO. Humanoid robotics firm ‘Figure’ is planning to raise US$1 billion to US$2 billion in equity financing at a US$38.5 billion pre-money valuation. That’s a staggering 15 times its valuation from a year ago. Anthropic, announced Monday that it has raised US$3.5 billion in its Series E funding round, hitting a US$61.5 billion valuation including the new money. CrowdStrike shares dropped nearly 9% in extended trading on Tuesday after the cybersecurity software provider issued disappointing earnings guidance. Broadcom’s latest quarterly results, boosted shares more than 11% in after-hours trading. Trump signed an executive order to build a Bitcoin reserve — crypto prices dropped following the announcement, because the stockpile will only involve the government maintaining existing crypto holdings. OpenAI reportedly plans to charge up to US$20,000 a month for specialized AI ‘agents’. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plans to invest US$100 billion in new chip manufacturing facilities in the U.S. In Canada, Spectra7 Microsystems will be acquired by Parade Technologies. Shareholders could receive a special cash distribution of ~$0.028/sh. In news pertaining to Sophic Capital clients, Beacon Securities launched research coverage of Intermap) with $4.00/share price target. Legend Power debuted its voltage adherence risk metric to identify and combat “dirty power” in buildings.

Last week, Dow Jones rose 0.95%, S&P 500 lost 1%, and Nasdaq composite fell 3.5%, despite Friday’s bounce. Both Nasdaq and S&P 500 have almost given up their post US election gains. General Catalyst, the powerhouse venture capital firm, is reportedly considering an IPO. Shein’s profits dropped by more than a third last year, adding to the Company’s challenges ahead of a long-planned London IPO. Stripe struck a deal with investors to finance a tender offer for current and former employees to sell shares at a US$91.5 billion valuation. Stripe’s valuation had fallen to US$50 billion in March 2023. Anthropic is finalizing a US$3.5 billion fundraising round that values the company at US$61.5 billion. Nvidia projected 65% revenue growth in its April quarter on strong chip orders. Apollo Global is in talks to lead a US$35 billion debt financing by Meta to build data centers in the U.S. Meta is also planning to launch a standalone AI app. Microsoft said its plan to spend US$80 billion on data centers “remains on track”. Alibaba will spend US$53 billion on cloud and AI over next three years. Apple plans US$500 billion in US investment, 20,000 research jobs in next four years. Figure will reportedly start ‘alpha testing’ its humanoid robot in the home in 2025, earlier than expected. In Canada, Cohere’s annualized revenue hit US$70 million, up more than 3x since last March. In news, pertaining to Sophic clients, Boardwalk announced a Non-Brokered Life Offering, for up to $1.5 million. The Company also recently reported Third Quarter Fiscal 2025 financial results. The Company’s pipeline continues to scale with several engagements in the latter stages; and cost savings initiatives are tracking ahead of guidance. Kraken received $34 million of SeaPower battery orders. Plurilock launched new offerings to strengthen cyber resilience. American Aires teamed up with former UFC fighter Tim Kennedy’s Apogee Schools to create first US-based EMF-friendly schools.

Last week, after the S&P 500 hit record highs on Wednesday, major indices suffered reversals and ended the week down. Dow Jones was down 2.5%, S&P 500 fell 1.7%, Nasdaq composite lost 2.5% owing to growing concerns about U.S. consumer softness. The billion-dollar startup bubble is deflating, and more than US$1 trillion in value is locked up in companies with dwindling prospects, according to industry sources. X is in talks with investors to raise fresh equity capital at the US$44 billion valuation at which Musk bought the social media firm, then known as Twitter, in 2022. Austin-based defense startup Saronic has raised a US$600 million Series C to build an autonomous ship factory called “Port Alpha,” quadrupling its valuation to US$4 billion from its last round. Palantir’s surging stock fell 10% after reports of Pentagon budget cuts. OpenAI has topped 400 million users, despite DeepSeek’s recent emergence. Microsoft on Wednesday announced a new quantum computing chip called “Majorana 1” that it said is more reliable than previous quantum computers. The chip reflects a scientific breakthrough in the quantum computing field and could be used to train and run large AI models in “years, not decades,” the company said. In Canada, Shopify expanded its Affirm partnership to bring BNPL offerings to Canadian merchants. Ottawa-based Hyperlume raised US$12.5 million in seed funding to commercialize its data-centre interconnection technology. Sophic Clients had an eventful week. Intermap closed its $12 million financing. Legend Power reported Q1 F2025 financial results, an improved balance sheet, and new sales partnerships. Kraken took the top spot on the 2025 TSX Venture 50 list. Plurilock secured multiple high-profile government sales in The U.S. and Canada, and also signed a US$800,000 contract with a leading US hospital. Minnesota Timberwolves, and Aires Tech launch pioneering “EMF-Friendly Venue” tech.

Last week, though volatile, ended on a positive note. Dow Jones closed the week up 0.55%, S&P 500 gained 1.5%, and Nasdaq composite rose 2.6% — all three major indices are approaching all time highs. The Market has been range-bound since mid-December, a break above could signal a move to further upside from a technical point of view. Turo on Thursday withdrew its plans for an IPO. Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is said to be in talks to raise US$10 billion in a round that would value xAI at US$75 billion. Trump officials asked TSMC to weigh taking a stake in Intel’s chip factories. French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with France 2 TV Sunday that he expects companies and funds to invest US$100 billion in artificial intelligence projects in the county. Super Micro’s stock surged after outlining ambitious 2026 targets, assuring investors it will avoid delisting. Robinhood’s crypto business powered a revenue surge. Coinbase also reported strong revenue and profit growth. Airbnb’s stock rose 14% in after-hours trading after the company said Q4 rose 12%, exceeding its guidance. Alibaba’s stock closed 8.5% higher in Hong Kong Wednesday, following reports of the e-commerce giant’s partnership with Apple, which also continues to work with Baidu to power AI on iPhones in China. Apple and Meta, are both reportedly exploring humanoid robots. In Canada, Shopify indicated that its free cash flow margin could shrink to the mid-teens in Q1, down from 22% in Q4. Sophic Client American Aires launched the Aires Certified Spaces (ACS) standard for creating authorized EMF-friendly physical spaces, as part of strategic efforts to expand brand awareness and grow sales by leveraging more mass market exposure. Vancouver-based quantum startup Photonic published a paper detailing a new quantum error correction method. Major media companies sued Cohere for alleged copyright infringement.

Last week, Dow Jones fell 0.5%, S&P 500 lost 0.2%, and Nasdaq composite was down 0.5%. Tariff headlines, mixed earnings and economic data made for a choppy week. Cybersecurity company SailPoint is hoping to go public, in a US$11.5 billion IPO. Crypto exchange, Gemini, is also weighing an IPO. Anduril is in talks to invest about US$2.5 billion at a US$28 billion pre money valuation — more than 2x its last financing announced in August. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to create a sovereign wealth fund for the U.S., telling reporters later that it could buy part of TikTok. Palantir stock rose 23% after-hours after reporting a strong Q4 and providing strong guidance. Amazon reported 10% sales growth, shares were roughly flat in after hours trading on Thursday. Google’s revenue growth slowed slightly, and shares fell 7% as investors still await the company’s AI boost. Shares of AMD dropped nearly 9% in after-hours trading as investors reacted to the company’s tepid sales forecast. Roblox shares plunged 11.1% after the gaming platform fell short of Wall Street’s bookings and daily active user estimates. Bill Ackman said his hedge fund owns 30.3 million shares of Uber as it started building a position in January. In Canada, Converge Technology Solutions will be acquired for $5.50/sh in cash, representing ~56% and 57% premiums to the closing price and 30-day VWAP on the last trading day prior to the announcement of the transaction. Lightspeed will remain public company after a strategic review. Sophic Client, Intermap announced a $5 million Bought Deal offering. Sophic Client, Cybeats closed the final tranche of its Non-Brokered Offering, raising over $2 million in total proceeds. Sophic Clients Boardwalktech, and Plurilock announced progress with their businesses. Canada’s StackAdapt raised $235 million for its AI-based programmatic platform, in one of the largest Canadian start up funding rounds.

Last week, Dow Jones was up 0.3%, S&P 500 lost 1%, and Nasdaq was down 1.6%. The week was especially volatile, AI plays were down Monday on DeepSeek concerns, and then had a strong week, until US tariff developments sent stocks down again Friday afternoon. Nvidia, Broadcom and Marvell and other U.S. firms that design AI chips each fell more than 17% Monday, Apple, however rose 3% — as some market participants suggested the DeepSeek model bodes well for on-device light LLMs. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the tech giant would invest “very heavily” in AI — even “hundreds of billions of dollars” — over the long term, during Meta’s earnings call on Wednesday. OpenAI is in talks with SoftBank to raise US$40 billion in a new funding at around a US$300 billion post-money valuation. Microsoft is one of the companies in talks to acquire TikTok’s US operations, President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday. A decision on TikTok’s future in the US is expected in 30 days. In Canada, Sophic Client, Legend Power Systems closed the final tranche of its Non-Brokered Private Placement, raising a total of $1.6 million. Sophic Client, Plurilock closed an Over-Subscribed Special Warrant Offering, for gross proceeds of nearly $5 million. Sophic Client American Aires announced record preliminary Q4/2024 performance & provided 2025 guidance. Cash and Inventory Balances were a record $6.5 million. Management expects 2025 sales in the $28 million to $32 million range, and EBITDA in the range of a $2 million loss to a $2 million profit. From January 1 through January 24, order volumes grew 111% y/y. Q4/2024 set yet another quarterly record with $8.8 million in sales, up 135% y/y. Additionally, Sophic Clients, Cybeats, Legend Power and Plurilock, all announced progress in their respective businesses.

Last week, Dow Jones gained 2.15%, S&P 500 was up 1.7%, and Nasdaq rose 1.65%, despite Friday’s modest losses. Magnificent Seven stocks Tesla, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple will report earnings this coming week, and could provide clues about planned AI capex – with read throughs to a broad range of stocks. French AI startup Mistral, often billed as Europe’s answer to OpenAI, plans to IPO. Space tech company Voyager is aiming for a multibillion-valuation IPO. OpenAI will team up with SoftBank, and Oracle to build multiple data centers for AI in the U.S. The joint venture, called the Stargate Project. The companies expect to commit US$100 billion to Stargate initially and pour up to US$500 billion into the venture over the next four years. Microsoft is also involved in Stargate as a tech partner. So are Arm and Nvidia. The massive venture will reportedly be powered, at least in part, by solar and batteries. OpenAI announced a new ChatGPT feature called “Operator” that will automate complex tasks typically done through the Web browser, such as planning trips or ordering groceries. Google invested a further US$1 billion in OpenAI rival Anthropic. Hard drive firm Seagate sees surging cloud, AI demand. Meta will boost its capex 60% this year to develop AI data centers. ByteDance plans US$20 billion capex in 2025, mostly on AI. President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to promote digital assets in the U.S., including evaluating the possibility of creating a national digital asset stockpile. The SEC withdrew previous crypto accounting guidance. In Canada, Raymond James launched research coverage with a $3.50/share price target on Sophic Client, Kraken Robotics. Sophic Client Xcyte Digital completed the purchase of former Streamlined Communications LLC. assets. The total consideration of US$3.56 million is comprised of cash, debt and stock. Sophic Client, Boardwalktech, and LTIMindtree expanded their relationship with global banking clients.

Markets had a positive end even as US markets will be closed on Monday, suggesting the intermediate ~month long pause could be behind us. Dow Jones rose 3.7% last week, S&P 500 gained 2.9%, and Nasdaq composite was up 2.45%. Trading platform eToro has filed confidentially for a US IPO that could value the company at over US$5 billion. eCommerce company, Rokt, was valued at US$3.5 billion in secondary deal, and is targeting a 2026 IPO. Data analytics firm Databricks raised US$5 billion in debt in a new round of financing that will help the company offset taxes from employee share sales, Bloomberg reported.A.I. military start-up Anduril is planning a US$1 billion factory in Ohio. Saronic, a three-year-old startup that is aiming to make a fleet of autonomous boats for the U.S. Navy, is in talks to raise US$500 million. The Series C round talks, which remain ongoing, would value the nascent company at over US$3 billion. TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, reported on Thursday that net income increased 57% to US$11.6 billion in the December quarter from a year ago, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence chips. The EU is reassessing its probes into Apple, Meta, Google and other big tech companies. In Canada, Sophic Client Plurilock, upsized its special warrant offering to $4.8 million from $2.5 million. Edge Total Intelligence announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of ~$5 million. Sophic Client NowVertical Group executives purchased shares in the open market, and the CEO is taking an equity bonus in lieu of cash. A Fortune 500 food company signed a five-year renewal with Sophic Client Boardwalktech. Toronto-based healthcare platform League secured a US$100 million ($144 million) credit facility from RBCx. Toronto-based corporate card and expense management technology startup Float has secured a $70 million Series B round.

Last week, Dow Jones and S&P fell 1.9%, NASDAQ lost 2.3%. Both S&P and NASDAQ are down nearly 1% so far in 2025, as a hot jobs report spiked treasury yields. Anthropic in is talks to raise funding at a US$60 billion valuation — more than 3x the company’s valuation from around a year ago. Bluesky, an alternative to Elon Musk’s X, is in talks to raise money at a US$700 million valuation in a round led by Bain Capital Ventures. SoftBank’s chip designer Arm is reportedly considering acquiring Ampere computing. CrowdStrike, the cyber security company behind the botched update that took down millions of Windows PCs and servers in July, has more than recovered the US$30 billion in market value it shed in the wake of the crisis. At CES, Nvidia announced a US$3,000 personal AI supercomputer called Digits. Quantum computing stocks dropped Wednesday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared that useful quantum computers are many years away — Rigetti Computing fell 40%, IonQ shed 37%, D-Wave Quantum fell more than 30%. Microsoft is planning company-wide performance based layoffs, and investing US$3 billion in AI and cloud services in India. Online spending grew 3% to a record US$1.2 trillion over the holiday period, according to Salesforce. Disney is selling its streaming cable business Hulu + Live TV to smaller rival Fubo TV, in exchange for a 70% stake in Fubo. In Canada, conversational AI startup Cohere unveiled a preview of North, a new product that marries its large language models and search models to help corporate users work faster. Toronto-based e-commerce software aggregator Carbon6 Technologies will be acquired by SPS Commerce for US$210 million. Shopify acquired the Shop.ca domain from Emerge Commerce. Sophic Client, Xcyte Digital announced a new CFO.

Friday was the last day of the Santa Claus rally — Dow Jones was down 0.4%, S&P lost 0.5%, Nasdaq fell 0.7% during that period this time around. While this could presage larger declines during the year, 2023 and 2024 had weak Santa Claus rallies as well, and despite major indices ending the week down – Friday saw strong rebounds. Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang’s CES 2025 keynote address could provide readthroughs for investors. Amazon struck a warrant deal with electronics manufacturer Jabil. Amazon has a record of equity-for-spending deals with its suppliers. Shares of Carvana fell 2% after Hindenburg Research, published a short report. Tesla said it sold fewer electric vehicles in 2024 than the prior year for the first time since 2010, as China’s electric-vehicle leader BYD posts record sales in 2024. Microsoft is on track to spend US$80 billion on datacenters for running AI software in the twelve months ending in June. In Canada, two more tech companies were taken out last week. Quisitive will be acquired by H.I.G. Capital. For $0.57/sh in cash, a 57.1% premium to the 20-day VWAP. Tech services firm WWT will acquire Softchoice (SFTC-TSX) in all-cash deal, for $24.50/sh – a premium of ~ 32% on the closing price September 23, 2024, (day prior to commencement of the review process). Sophic Client Legend Power Systems announced upsizing of its Non-Brokered Private Placement and closing of first tranche at a price of $0.18/ Unit, distributing 4,233,167 Units for gross proceeds of $761,970. Sophic Client, NowVertical further enhanced core leadership alignment through debt-to-equity conversions. An aggregate entitlement of US$815,000, and US$151,200 will be settled via stock at 33c (11% discount to the last closing price), certain additional cash payments will be spread out over time. These agreements, combined with the previously announced LATAM market unit debt-to-equity conversion, deliver total cash outflow savings of approximately US$1.6 million, significantly supporting NowVertical’s organic growth strategy.

Even as markets rallied for most of last week, and closed up, Friday could have given some investors pause. Last week, Dow Jones gained 0.35%, S&P 500 rose 0.7%, Nasdaq Composite was up 0.8%. Palantir and Anduril, are in talks with about a dozen competitors to form a consortium that will jointly bid for US government work in an effort to disrupt the country’s oligopoly of “prime” contractors. The consortium is planning to announce as early as January that it has reached agreements with a number of tech groups. Companies in talks to join include SpaceX, OpenAI, Saronic, and Scale AI. xAI, which develops conversational artificial intelligence in competition with OpenAI, said Monday it raised a US$6 billion in equity financing round from a slew of investors, including new ones from the Middle East. xAI is also testing a standalone iOS app for its Grok chatbot. OpenAI on Friday revealed more details about its plan to get its for-profit arm out from under its nonprofit’s control. Microsoft is reportedly eyeing alternatives to OpenAI in its Copilot product. Big Tech’s spending frenzy on artificial intelligence will continue until the end of the decade, according to the head of Broadcom. Senior Spotify executives and board members have sold US$1.25 billion worth of the company’s stock in 2024 — including US$900 million in payouts for its two co-founders. In Canda, Payfare will be acquired by Fiserv, for $4.00/sh in cash, for total consideration of ~$201.5 million. The Purchase Price represents a premium of ~90% to the closing price on December 20, the last trading day prior to the announcement, and a premium of ~92% to the 60-day VWAP. Sophic Client, NowVertical Group’s LATAM leadership invests in the Company’s future growth through a debt-to-equity conversion. An aggregate of US$1.25 million will be settled via the issuance of 5,432,954 shares at a price of $0.33/sh per share, resulting in cash savings of US$770K in 2025. Bench, a Vancouver based bookkeeping startup that had raised more than US$100 million from well-known venture capital firms, has cut off its service to customers, effectively immediately.