Weekly Investment News and Analysis

Last week, the Dow Jones was down 3%, the S&P 500 lost 3.3%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 4.2%. Cathie Wood’s flagship ARK fund sees biggest monthly outflow in a year of US$820 million in August, just shy of its September 2021 outflow of US$939 million. Softbank Vision Fund is cutting 100 jobs. Snap is planning to lay off approximately 20 percent of its more than 6,400 employees, according to people familiar with the matter. U.S. regulators to vet Alibaba, JD and, other Chinese firms’ audits. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold shares in Chinese EV maker BYD for the first time in 14 years – and rakes in a 3,400% profit. Shares of Pinduoduo shot up 7.4% in premarket trading Monday, after the China-based company that connects agricultural producers with consumers reported second-quarter profit that more than tripled and revenue that rose well above expectations, citing “a recovery in consumer sentiment.” Twitter stock falls after Elon Musk sends another merger termination letter, for different reasons than the first one. MicroStrategy stock falls after DC AG sues CEO for tax fraud. iPhone US market share hits all-time high, overtaking Android; dominates global premium sales. OnlyFans, the adult content site best known for explicit content, reported revenue soared 160% to US$932 million year-over-year, according to financial results for the year ending November 2021. Netflix is seeking to charge advertisers top dollar of roughly US$65 for reaching 1,000 viewers, a measure known as CPM, or cost per thousand. Nvidia, AMD warned of new US export restrictions on AI chips. Shortage of 50-cent chips holds up US$50,000 cars, TSMC chief says. Micron Technology is investing $15 billion in new plant in Boise, Idaho. Honda and LG Chem will build a US$4.4 billion EV battery factory in the US. Bosch to invest US$200 million in US fuel cell production for electric commercial trucks.

Last week, the Dow Jones fell 4.2%, the S&P 500 fell 4%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 4.4%. Hedge funds are piling back into their favorite FANG stocks amid rising uncertainties in the stock market as investors grapple with elevated inflation and a Federal Reserve that is still expected to raise interest rates, according to Goldman Sachs. Global spending on technology, which includes cloud services, is expected to rise about 3% this year, well below the 10% annual growth in 2021 and the nearly 7% gain the year before, according to Gartner. The US IPO market faced the worst year in two decades. So far this year, traditional IPOs have raised only US$5.1 billion, Dealogic data shows. Typically, at this point in the year, traditional IPOs have raised around US$33 billion. Instacart orders and revenue grew in the second quarter as consumers stuck to online grocery delivery despite rising prices and store reopenings, a promising sign for investors as the company prepares for an initial public offering as soon as later this year. An army of Tesla fans in South Korea holds a collective stake of more than US$15 billion, putting them among its top shareholders, report says. The U.S. and China are nearing an agreement that would allow American regulators to inspect the audit records of Chinese companies listed in New York. China’s Pinduoduo to enter US market in first international step. T-Mobile and SpaceX Starlink say your 5G phone will connect to satellites next year. Sophic Client, UGE International (UGE-TSXV, UGEIF-OTC) CEO Nick Blitterswyk discussed the solar boom and how Biden’s climate bill could benefit business on ‘ on Fox Business. Eguana (EGT-TSXV) announced a US$33.0 million strategic investment by ITOCHU Corporation and provides update on US$5 million second tranche loan from Western Technology investment. Sophic Client Swarmio (SWRM-CSE, SWMIF-OTC) announced that it received $802,275 in secured debt from various private lenders. Open Text (OTEX-NYSE, OTEX-TSX) plans to acquire Micro Focus at US$6 billion valuation.

Friday reversed a good start to the week, the Dow Jones closed the week down 0.2%, the S&P 500 fell 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 2.6%. In the USA, 522 startups have laid of 70,698 employees in 2022, according to Layoffs.fyi. Fidelity,and BlackRock cut fintech giant Ant’s valuation lower. WeWork’s co-founder lined up a US$350 million A16Z investment for a new billion-dollar real estate venture. Chinese internet giant Tencent reported its first-ever quarterly revenue decline since the company went public in 2004, as China’s economic slowdown took a toll. Shares of Hong Kong-listed food delivery service Meituan fell as much as 10% after Reuters reported that shareholder Tencent Holdings was planning to sell all or a bulk of its US$24 billion stake. Unity Software on Monday rejected gaming software company AppLovin Corp’s US$17.54 billion takeover offer and said it would go ahead with its deal to purchase mobile app monetization software company ironSource. Amazon is testing a feature in its app that would show users a TikTok-style photo and video feed of products for shoppers to share with other users. After dealing with booming demand and global shortages since the start of the pandemic, the semiconductor industry is facing a sudden downturn. The suddenness of the turn has ricocheted through the sector since late July, when Intel stunned Wall Street with the news that revenue in its latest quarter had fallen US$2.6 billion, or 15 per cent, short of expectations. In Canada, After the boom of 2021, Canadian venture capital investment is normalizing back to pre-pandemic levels, per the latest data from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). Sophic Client LuckBox (LUCK-TSXV, LUKEF-OTC), management provided positive forward looking comments at the Company’s AGM held last week, guiding to profitability in H1 2023 supported by the Company’s existing cash balance.

Last week, the Dow Jones was up 2.9%, the S&P 500 was up 3.25%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 3.1%. The Nasdaq is now up 20%+ since it’s June 16th low. SoftBank reported a record net loss of US$23.4 billion for Q2 2022, as the global stock market rout dealt a severe blow to the vast portfolio of the company’s Vision Fund. The company now expects to book a gain of more than US$34 billion by reducing its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Shares of Nvidia dropped 8% after a preliminary earnings announcement for the July quarter warned that weaker-than-expected demand for its gaming chips caused it to fall far short of the revenue target it had shared with investors last quarter. Palantir plunges 14% after scaling back its annual forecast. Trade Desk stock soars toward best day since 2018 amid ‘standout’ performance. AppLovin offers to buy video game software maker Unity in US$17.5 billion deal. Elon Musk sells nearly US$7 billion worth of Tesla stock amid Twitter uncertainty. South Korean investors pour more cash into SpaceX at US$125 billion price tag. Apple tells suppliers to make at least 90 million iPhone 14 units. BlackRock launches Bitcoin Trust for big clients. In Canada, D-Wave listed on the NYSE following the close of a SPAC deal. With a new team, Framework Venture Partners secures US$100 million first close for its second fund. Sophic Client Jasper, Commerce preannounced continued growth in Fiscal 2022 (ending July 31). Sophic Capital published a piece on client UGE International’s benefit from the largest climate package in U.S. history. We also published the first part of a CEO interview from our client Edge Total Intelligence, highlighting the company’s enterprise software platform, value proposition and end markets.

Last week, the Dow Jones closed down 0.1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, and the Nasdaq was up 2.15%. Apple is again planning to issue debt to reward its shareholders by buying back its stock and paying dividends, according to a regulatory filing. Meta launched its first ever corporate bond offering on Thursday, without disclosing either the size of the deal or its pricing. SoftBank has raised as much as US$22 billion in cash from deals that would sharply reduce its stake in Alibaba over the coming years. PayPal jumped 14% after the fintech launched a massive US$15 billion stock buyback and received the backing of Elliot Management. Coinbase stock jumped after BlackRock, Instagram platform announcements. Pinterest popped 20% on earnings that weren’t as terrible as expected. Airbnb stock slumped despite record-breaking bookings. DraftKings stock shot up after a narrower-than-expected loss, and revenue that climbed above forecasts. Robinhood lays off 23% of staff, closes two offices in fresh round of cuts. Oracle layoffs have begun, according to reports. Amazon is buying iRobot for US$1.7 billion. Unity Software, the U.S. developer best known for software used to design video games, is in talks to spin off its China unit. Shipments to iPhone assembler Pegatron’s factory in China were being held for scrutiny by Chinese customs officials a day after the company’s senior executive met with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In Canada, CGI announces its intent to repurchase 939,000 shares held by CDPQ. Shopify is making a US$100 million investment in Klaviyo. Semtech confirmed buyout talks with Sierra Wireless. Canalyst is being acquired by Chicago-based Tegus in a massive BC tech exit of $400-500 million. FreshBooks has secured a US$100 million debt facility.

Last week, the Dow Jones was up 3%, the S&P 500 rose 4.3%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 4.7%. Amazon, and Apple stock responded well to earnings last week, while Meta piled onto growing fears that advertising demand is plummeting, posting its first decline in revenue since going public. Shares of Roku tumbled more than 25% in after-hours trading on a miss, and following the company’s projection of only 3% top-line growth for Q3. Spotify stock jumped on strong subscriber growth, and forecasts. Instacart aims to go public before year’s end, defying a frozen IPO market. Eutelsat and OneWeb agree on merger to create European satellite juggernaut. Twitter trial over Elon Musk merger is set to begin Oct. 17, as Elon Musk countersues Twitter over the merger, but details aren’t yet public. Twitter’s ‘mounting’ ad pressures mean the stock could be in mid-teens without support from Musk deal, according to MoffettNathanson. Google has delayed a phase-out of Chrome ad trackers to 2024 as antitrust trials loom. Crypto exchange FTX US expands stock trading, plans options next. Coinbase Global Inc. is facing a US probe into whether it improperly let Americans trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities, according to three people familiar with the matter. The company’s shares dropped as much as 9.2%. The U.S. passes US$52 billion in chip subsidies to boost production, counter China. Solar stocks jump as Senator Joe Manchin reaches a deal with Democrats that includes climate spending. Shares of SunRun and SunPower both jumped as much as 13% while First Solar surged 10% and SolarEdge rallied 6%. Sophic Client UGE (UGE-TSXV, UGEIF-OTC) closed up 7%. In Canada, Converge Technology secured a $500 million loan to continue acquisition spree. Volatus Aerospace announced a prospectus offering. CGI sees ‘Perfect’ deal climate as valuations improve. Clearco, Shopify, and Coinsquare announced layoffs as markets and the economy remains turbulent.

This week, the Dow Jones rose 2%, the S&P 500 gained 2.6% and the Nasdaq was up 3.3%. As Q2 earnings season kicks off, Snap gapped down ~40% gap down on Friday. Google and Apple are pausing hiring. SoftBank has put on hold plans for a London IPO of Arm because of the political turmoil in the UK government. Instacart investor Capital Group cut its valuation to US$14.7 billion, far below the online grocery-delivery firm’s own calculation of US$24 billion. That makes it the second major investor in recent weeks to say that Instacart’s own estimate is now obsolete. FaZe Clan, the esports and gaming brand, began trading on the Nasdaq exchange Wednesday after a US$725 million SPAC, as other SPAC deals fall through and the market for IPOs stays largely shut. Shares of companies in the cryptocurrency business powered higher Monday, after bitcoin rallied toward a fourth-straight gain, and the first close above the US$22,000 in a month. Marathon Digital shot up 23.3%, Riot Blockchain 18.3% and Coinbase 13.8%. MicroStrategy jumped 11.2% and Signature Bank surged 3.9%. Amazon is buying clinic operator One Medical in a US$4 billion bet on healthcare. Netflix shares jumped after the company said it lost fewer subscribers than anticipated during the second quarter. Robinhood’s fractional trading drove a phantom surge in volume of Berkshire Hathaway’s hugely expensive Class A stock, according to a study, reportedly bewildering Warren Buffett at the time. The US voted to advance a bill, which would provide roughly US$52 billion in subsidies to encourage chip companies to boost production in the US. The window for capital raises in Canada by innovation companies is shut, but Sophic Client, Reklaim (MYID-TSXV, MYIDF-OTC) closed a final tranche of a non-brokered private placement for total proceeds of $1.6 million. Tech funding in Toronto, BC and Quebec was down in Q2, according to different pieces at Betakit.

Major indices fell during the week, only to recover most losses towards the end. The Dow Jones Industrial fell 0.2% last week, S&P 500 fell 0.9%, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.7%. Toronto’s, and Vancouver’s tech talent pools saw the highest growth in North America, according to 2022 CBRE report. Payments giant Stripe last valued by private investors at US$95 billion, cut the internal value of its shares by 28%. Digital mortgage lender Better filed paperwork Thursday to go public via SPAC, or special-purpose acquisition company. Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein hopes to do an initial public offering in the United States as soon as 2024, according to Bloomberg. Tech-focused private equity firm Francisco Partners raises fresh US$17 billion for deals. Pinterest stock pops 19% on activist investor increasing stake. ServiceNow shares dropped 12% after CEO warns of fierce macro headwinds in interview. Shares of Mullen Automotive Inc. shot up 16.2% in premarket trading Monday, after the electric vehicle maker said Amazon delivery service placed an order for up to 600 cargo vans over the next 18 months. Canoo surges 107% after the EV maker inks deal to sell up to 10,000 delivery vehicles to Walmart. Twitter sues Elon Musk for giving up on multi-billion dollar acquisition deal. Netflix is partnering with Microsoft for its new ad-supported tier. U.S. online sales during Amazon’s Prime Day shopping event jumped 8.5% from last year to nearly US$12 billion – its biggest ever globally, with members of its Prime loyalty program purchasing more than 300 million items. Intel plans price hikes on broad range of products. GM is building a ‘coast-to-coast’ EV fast-charging network — on Thursday, GM announced that it is partnering with Pilot Company and EVGo to construct a coast-to-coast national DC fast charging network.

Last week, the Nasdaq composite leapt 4.6%, the S&P 500 index advanced 1.9%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.8%. Surprising no one, Elon Musk formally told Twitter he wants out of the acquisition deal, sending shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. were rocketing 17% in after-hours trading Friday. FaZe Clan is going public—just as the creator economy shifts. A spike in listing applications from Chinese companies in June has nearly doubled China’s IPO candidates to almost 1,000, the highest in at least three years, potentially making the country a bright spot for bankers as equity offerings slow in other markets. Upstart plummets 22% after slashing quarterly guidance on inflation and recession fears. DoorDash, Uber stocks fall after Amazon inks partnership with Grubhub. France’s Deezer, rival to Spotify, sinks 35% on market debut. Apple TV+ reaches 6% market share in the US while Netflix loses subscribers. Amazon.com Inc.’s number of Prime members in the US stagnated in the first half of the year, suggesting a US$20 annual price increase that took effect in February may be turning off potential customers struggling with high gas prices and inflation. Pinterest launches new shopping features for merchants. Sam Bankman-Fried says the worst of the crypto liquidity crisis is likely over with FTX holding ‘a few billion’ to prop up failing ventures. Tesla will open up Superchargers to non-Tesla electric vehicles in the US later this year. In Canada, Electric toothbrush startup, Bruush files to go public on Nasdaq with $17.25 million IPO. VSBLTY (VSBY-CSE) announced a marketed financing for gross proceeds of $5 million led by Echelon Wealth Partners. Crypto broker Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy.

H1 2022 was a brutal start to the year — the Nasdaq was down almost 30%, for its worst first half on record, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 15%, for its worst first-half performance since 1962, and the S&P 500 closed down over 20%, for its worst first half since 1970. US markets climbed a bit on Friday, but the major indices were still down for last week, after having posted weekly losses in four out of the last five weeks. At a time when U.S. venture dollars are slowing down, CIBC Innovation Banking is announcing $1.5 billion in growth capital commitments, dubbed “Unicorn Fuel,” to focus on later-stage companies across software, life sciences, healthcare and clean tech industries. Sophic Client UGE (UGE-TSXV, UGEIF-OTC) secured $25 million to deploy six community solar projects in Maine. Sophic Client Clear Blue Technologies (CBLU-TSXV, CBUTF-OTC, 0YA-FRA) announced a $4-million non-dilutive Government of Canada financing. Draftkings was fined $100,000 in Ontario for advertising violations. EToro seems likely to abandon its deal to go public via SPAC merger. Short video app Triller confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO. Klarna will raise cash at a US$6.5 billion valuation, in dramatic 85% down round. Nio shares slid Wednesday after a short seller accused the Chinese electric vehicle maker of artificially inflating its financial figures. Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto will raise US$2 billion from U.S. investors in a new stock offering. Tesla lays off nearly 200 Autopilot workers, and shutters its San Mateo office. Facebook warns of engineer job cuts, and a sharp downturn ahead. The FCC Commissioner writes to Apple and Google about removing TikTok. FTX says it is not in active talks to buy Robinhood. Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital plunges into liquidation. Crypto broker Voyager Digital (VOYG-TSX) suspends withdrawals.

Last week was a welcome relief for markets, as the Nasdaq ended the week up 7.5%, and the S&P 500 was up 6.6% for the week. BlockFi signed a term sheet with crypto exchange FTX to access a US$250 million revolving credit line. Polestar goes public amid uncertainty around EV stocks, via a SPAC. Elon Musk says Tesla’s new factories are ‘gigantic money furnaces’ that are losing billions of dollars from EV-battery shortages and supply-chain snags. Shares of Zendesk Inc. soared 29.5% in premarket trading Friday, after the customer experience platform company confirmed a deal to be acquired by an investor group in an all-cash deal valued at about US$10.2 billion. DocuSign’s CEO Dan Springer is stepping down, the virtual signature company announced Tuesday. DocuSign did not specify why Springer was leaving, but the company’s share price has fallen more than 75% over the past year. Apple’s mixed reality headset will “likely release in January 2023,” according to reliable supply chain analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo. Meta revealed VR headset prototypes designed to make VR ‘indistinguishable from reality’. A Congressional report said Robinhood understated liquidity problems during meme stock craze. Intel delays groundbreaking ceremony for Ohio plant amid uncertainty over chips legislation. Tesla and California utility PG&E launched a new program that will pay eligible Powerwall owners to send extra electricity to the grid when it’s vulnerable to blackouts. An electric Mercedes-Benz drove 747 miles without recharging, nearly twice the range of Tesla’s Model S. In Canada, Toronto-based startup, Ataccama secured $194 million in growth capital from American private investment firm Bain Capital. Twitter partnered with Shopify to bring merchants’ products to Twitter Shopping. Shopify launched around a 100 new features last week, including in social commerce, local shopping offers with Google, cryptocurrency, B2B selling. Sophic Client, Reklaim (MYID-TSXV, MYIDF-OTC) closed $1.3 million non-brokered private placement and streamlined operations to cash neutral.

Major indices reverted back to their pre COVID peaks, and the S&P posted its worst week since March 2020 despite a slight rise yesterday, according to Morning Brew. M&A is likely to pick up, and is likely to be a significant driver of value for Canadian tech firms in 2022, according to PwC. Telus Corp. (T-TSX) said Thursday it agreed to pay $2.3 billion (US$1.8 billion) plus assume $600 million in debt to buy LifeWorks Inc (LWRK-TSX), a Toronto-based human resource consulting and technology services company in the health and wellness sector. Thirty-five privately-held Canadian tech startups are on their way towards reaching $1 billion in annual revenue, according to a new data-based initiative from Kitchener-Waterloo tech hub Communitech. Voyager Digital (VOYG-TSX) signed a term sheet for US$200 million and 15,000 BTC revolving line of credit with Alameda Research. Klarna Bank AB is considering raising fresh funds at a significantly lower valuation than it achieved a year ago, according to people familiar with the situation, a sign of the punishing environment for tech companies. Roku stock jumped after unveiling Walmart e-commerce partnership. Shares of e-commerce companies Jumia and MercadoLibre plummet following Insider’s report about Amazon’s expansion plan in Africa and South America. Alibaba, NIO stocks soar after report Ant Group OK’d to set up financial holding company. The U.S.-listed shares of China-based companies were seeing big and broad gains in premarket trading Friday, after Reuters reported that China’s central bank accepted Ant Group’s application to set up a financial holding company. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor says there’s no margin call on its bitcoin loan and it has plenty of collateral. Coinbase stock falls 15% as cryptocurrencies lose billions.