Last week, Dow Jones rose 3%, S&P 500 gained 2.9%, Nasdaq composite was up 3.4%. Tesla’s Chair denied reports of a plan to look for new CEO. Jeff Bezos plans to sell up to US$4.75 billion worth of Amazon shares over the next 12 months. Amazon successfully launched its first Project Kuiper satellites. Waymo and Toyota are exploring a partnership to develop an autonomous vehicle platform for personally owned vehicles. Meta Platforms on Tuesday released a standalone smartphone app for its Meta AI assistant. Apple has officially approved the first app with links to external payment options in the United States with Spotify. Apple also further shifted its supply chain away from China, significantly increasing reliance on U.S.-manufactured chips and expanding iPhone production in India. OpenAI is incorporating more shopping features into ChatGPT search results. Visa launched AI agent payments tools. Temu has discontinued its direct-from-China shipping model. In news pertaining to Sophic clients, Kraken Robotics grew 2024 revenue 31% y/y to $91.3 million, driven by subsea battery sales, with net income rising sharply to $20.1 million from $5.5 million. Kraken also announced new orders totaling nearly $60 million and the opening of a Nova Scotia production facility in 2025. Ionik reported a 28% increase in annual revenue to US$179.1 million. American Aires achieved a quarterly sales record of $8.6 million in Q4 (130% increase y/y YoY). Aires reaffirmed 2025 guidance projecting revenues of $28–$32 million and EBITDA of $2 million loss to a $2 million gain. Plurilock reported annual revenue at $59.1 million, driven by software and services, improving gross margin to 13.1% from 8.5%. Legend Power Systems secured a significant repeat order for eight additional SmartGATE systems, highlighting strong customer ROI and operational benefits. Cybeats expanded its cybersecurity contracts with Emerson Electric and renewed a key deal with a major U.S. security agency, emphasizing increasing demand for software supply chain security.
