Weekly Investment News and Analysis

After a big tech earnings week, with Apple and Amazon to report in the coming week: Nasdaq was up 2%, S&P 500 climbed 1%, and Dow Jones a snapped a 13-day win streak on Thursday, but still managed to close the week up 0.7%. Alphabet added US$111 billion in market value after showing progress on AI in Q2 earnings. Volkswagenplans to invest US$700 million in Xpeng and jointly develop electric vehicles in China. Facebook has more than 3 billion monthly active users, and Threads could be Meta’s next social network with 1 billion users. Elizabeth Warren and Lindsey Graham want to create a new regulatory agency that will oversee tech companies on a broad range of issues. Walmart launched a new travel benefit for members of its Walmart+ subscription as it continues to add features in a bid to compete with Amazon’s Prime membership and convert wealthier shoppers to frequent Walmart customers. Apple card notched roughly 10 million users earlier this year. EU passed a law to blanket highways with fast EV chargers by end of 2025. Seven of the largest automakers announced a joint venture to create a sprawling vehicle recharging network across North America, even as Reuters reported Tesla formed a team last year to thwart driving range complaints. In Canada, Dialogue will be acquired by Sun Life at a 43% premium. CGI will invest $1 billion to expand its AI capabilities. Shopify announced it will expand into credit cards. EMERGE announced it will sell WagJag for $1 million (acquired for$500K), and continue to prioritize strengthening its balance sheet and unlocking savings.

Last week, Dow Jones rose 2.1% and is on a 10-day win streak, the longest in six years. S&P 500 rose 0.8%, while Nasdaq lost 0.6%, largely due to Thursday’s 2.05% fall. Next week, we expect earnings from Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta, at the same time, the Fed is expected to raise rates. Outlook comments from any of these events could send tech stocks on another leg down. Newly listed Oddity shares closed up more than 35% from their IPO price. The company joins a list of other recent strong debuts in the consumer sector including fast-casual chain Cava. Microsoft added US$154 billion in market value after it announces US$30 per month AI subscription. SpaceX forecasts doubling of revenue to US$8 billion. Cathie Wood’s flagship exchange-traded fund has rallied more than 50% this year, but Investors have pulled a net US$717 million from the ETF over the past 12 months. Apple is using custom ‘Apple GPT’ chatbot internally as it plans for generative AI features in 2024. ESPN reportedly held talks with the NFL, NBA and MLB for minority stakes. TSMC Arizona chip production has been delayed from 2024 to 2025. In Canada, Sophic Client Legend Power announced a minimum $2 million non-brokered private placement pursuant to the listed issuer exemption. A multinational industry leader entered into a multi-year agreement with Sophic Client OneSoft to deploy the Company’s Cognitive Integrity Management SaaS solution. Sophic Client UGE International achieved a notice to proceed milestone for a 1.3MW rooftop community solar project in New York City. The project is estimated to produce an average of $286K annual revenue, over at least 25 years, at ~85% Gross Margins. CEO Nick Blitterswyck also provided an update for investors as the Company’s backlog is approaching 100 MW year to date. EMERGE announced the closing of a Private Placement for gross proceeds of ~$750K. U.S. mortgage data vendor Black Knight will sell its Optimal Blue business for US$700 million to Constellation Software.

Last week, Dow Jones rose 2.3%, and hit a 2023 high, just below its 52 week high, S&P 500 rose 2.4%, and Nasdaq composite was up, both setting fresh 52 week highs. It was the Nasdaq’s best weekly gain since the end of March. At the same time, according to market watchers, we haven’t seen a software IPO since the end of 2021 — this 18 month software IPO “drought” exceeds the last couple “droughts” of ~6 months each. Nvidia is in talks to be an anchor investor in Arm’s IPO, as the two parties discuss valuation and appear to be about US$40-45 billion apart. SpaceX, the most valuable private company in the US, is approaching a US$150 billion valuation in secondary share sales. Shares of Tencent and Alibaba on Monday gained after China’s central bank fined the companies, a sign that investors think the country’s regulatory crackdown is coming to an end. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is poised to score a US$1 billion profit after Microsoft beats FTC in Activision case. In Canada, Sophic Client OneSoft hit another 52 week high. Investors are beginning to think of the Company as a revenue generating Aritificial Intelligence Company, with a strong moat with unique data, trained machine, and proven tech with fortune 100/500 customers. Sophic Client UGE announces Q2 2023 milestones and business updates. In the second quarter, UGE’s project backlog (stages 3.1-5) increased 14% to 356MW from 313MW. Since the start of the year, the Company’s backlog has increased by 96MW, marking near-achievement of its 2023 annual goal to add 100MW to its backlog. UGE anticipates achieving and exceeding this goal during the third quarter, far ahead of schedule. HIVE debuts a strategic expansion to power the future of artificial intelligence with its NVIDIA GPU cards. Dye & Durham entered into agreement to sell TM Group for up to £91 million; with up-front proceeds to be used to reduce debt.

Last week, Dow Jones fell 2%, S&P 500 lost 1.2%, and Nasdaq composite gave up 0.9%, but held its 10-day moving average. Bitcoin has staged a comeback, rallying 25% since BlackRock filed for its crypto fund. Banks holding debt from Elon Musk’s Twitter buyout might consider selling it as soon as Labor Day, the Wall Street Journal reported. Tesla deliveries rose 83% in the second quarter, in a sign that customers are galvanized by the electric vehicle maker’s frequent price cuts and new government subsidies. Rivian delivered 12,640 electric vehicles in the second quarter, a nearly three-fold increase from the same period last year when the EV upstart was in the thick of supply chain problems. Apple has been forced to make drastic cuts to production forecasts for the mixed-reality Vision Pro headset, unveiled last month after seven years in development (~130-150K in the first year vs. an initial sales target of a million units). ChatGPT app downloads are slowing down, BofA finds. Bluesky reaches 1 million downloads as Threads topples 70 million. China will control exports of some metals widely used in the semiconductor industry, its commerce ministry announced on Monday, the latest salvo in an escalating war over access to high-tech microchips between Beijing and the United States. In Canada, we saw positive funding announcements from Char Technologies, Prostar Holdings, MiMedia, Geologic AI, and a $30 million acquisition from Tiny.

As H1 2023 came to and end this Friday, S&P 500 index hit a 14-month high, Dow Jones and Nasdaq are back near 2023 highs. Apple is at a US$3 trillion market cap, for the first time. CNBC highlighted that tech stocks closed out best first half in 40 years. Even more stunning, it happened while the U.S. economy is still at risk of slipping into recession, reckoning with a banking crisis, and the Federal Reserve steadily increased its benchmark interest rate to the highest since 2007. While global economic concerns persist, highlighted by uncertainty surrounding the war in Russia and Ukraine and ongoing trade tensions with China, the NASDAQ could likely be in for some near term volatility, or see improved market breadth – we prefer the second option. That said, a sign of skepticism is the absence of a tech IPO market. There hasn’t been a notable venture capital-backed tech IPO in the U.S. since late 2021, and investors and bankers tell CNBC that the second half of the year is poised to remain quiet. M&A remains robust, with five notable transactions in the US just last week. Visa will acquire Brazilian fintech Pismo for US$1 billion. IBM will buy Apptio from Vista Equity Partners for US$4.6 billion. Databricks will acquire generative AI startup MosaicML for US$1.3 billion. Nvidia quietly acquired OmniML, an artificial intelligence startup that helps machine-learning models run on devices, rather than in the cloud. Defense technology company Anduril Industries has acquired Adranos, a startup that manufactures solid rocket motors for in-space and terrestrial applications. SpaceX is planning a sale of insider shares that would raise the company’s valuation to about US$150 billion, a rise from the company’s US$137 billion valuation reported in January. Fidelity Investments valued its stakes in Discord and Reddit slightly lower than it had previously. Shein, the Chinese online fashion retailer worth more than US$60, has registered with regulators for an initial public offering in New York.

The markets last week took a breather from multi week rallies, as we pointed out the NASDAQ looked a bit stretched last week. Dow Jones fell 1.7%, and S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.4%. Tiger Global raised US$2.7 billion for its latest private tech fund, 55% less than the US$6 billion goal set last fall and 79% lower than its prior, US$12.7 billion fund. SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said on Wednesday that his tech investing conglomerate plans to shift its stance to “offence mode” amid excitement over advances in artificial intelligence. Virgin Galactic raises US$300 million, seeks another US$400 million to expand spacecraft fleet. Cloud banking vendor nCino explores sale. Amazon’s iRobot deal faces EU antitrust investigation, sources say. Shares of UK online supermarket Ocado soared on talk of Amazon bid interest. Nvidia board member cashes out on the chipmaker’s surging stock, selling over 100,000 shares for US$51 million. Cisco launches new AI networking chips to compete with Broadcom, Marvell. Google and OpenAI talk to publishers about licensing content for AI. Rivian to adopt Tesla’s North American charging standard. In Canada, Quisitive announced $6 million bought deal financing, in sign that could potentially positive investor deal appetite in H2 2023. Railtown Technologies announced an increase to its LIFE non-brokered private placement to $2 million. Calgary-based startup Eavor, which offers geothermal technologies for producing energy, has raised approximately $80 million in what it called the first close of its Series B round. Québec City-based Poka, is set to be acquired by Swedish enterprise software giant IFS, in a reported $200 million deal. Sophic Client, OneSoft Solutions, is a compelling opportunity for investors who want to invest in an AI company currently monetizing its solution with globally known brands. OneSoft has commercialized machine learning for years with major industry customers, and is forecasting 151,000 miles of pipeline miles on SaaS subscription in 2023, or ~25% of the U.S. addressable pipeline market.

The market had another strong week, especially the Nasdaq, even after some modest losses Friday. With the Nasdaq now appearing stretched from its moving averages, some caution may be warranted, especially with the handful names driving most year-to-date gains. Last week, Dow Jones was up 1.25%, S&P 500 was up 2.6% (best weekly performance since March), Nasdaq was up 3.25% for its 8th consecutive weekly advance. Arm in talks with big clients about investing in IPO, which include, Intel, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, TSMC, and Samsung. Salesforce pledges to invest US$500 million in generative AI startups. Microsoft CFO says OpenAI and other AI products will add US$10 billion in revenue. Nvidia GPUs are so hard to get that rich venture capitalists are buying them for the startups they invest in. AMD reveals new A.I. chip to challenge Nvidia’s dominance. Nasdaq announced a US$10.5 billion deal to scoop up a behind-the-scenes tech provider. Bloomberg reported Apple is aiming to release a more affordable AR/VR spatial computer product by the end of 2025. Netflix subscriptions rise as password-sharing crackdown takes effect. US cyber insurance premiums surged 50% in 2022 as increased ransomware attacks and online commerce drove demand for coverage. In Canada, Executives at Shopify began discussing a sale of the e-commerce giant’s logistics business in late 2022, even as they publicly committed to investing more money to build out its fulfillment network, The Information reported on Tuesday. Québec City-based automotive software provider LeddarTech has inked a SPAC deal to go public on Nasdaq. US-made wind and solar components are now cheaper than imports, according to researchers. New guidance from the US Treasury could unleash billions in renewable energy investment. Previously, to make the most of the tax credits available to them, renewable energy project developers had to create complex and expensive tax equity deals. Sophic Client Clear Blue received a $375K order. This contract increases Clear Blue’s 2023 Year-To-Date bookings to $4,975,000, of which $4,325,000 is expected to be recognized in 2023. Dapper Labs made an investment in Web3 gaming company GameOn.

Last week, Dow Jones rose 0.3%, S&P 500 was up 0.4%, and Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%, the small-cap Russell 2000 rose 1.65%. As the S&P was just above the 20% rise threshold, it’s technically a new “bull market”. According to market watchers, it’s taken longer to get here than any other Bull market since the 1950s. While market leadership has remained very narrow and AI focused, the move up in the Russell 2000 is encouraging. Apple on Monday unveiled a headset that blends virtual reality with augmented reality—digital content and apps overlaid on the real world. Shares of Unity Software popped more than 11% Monday after Apple announced that it was working with the company on its new headset. The SEC is cracking down on crypto and sued Coinbase, Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao. Elon Musk’s Neuralink saw its valuation soar to US$5 billion after private stock trades. Intel will raise about US$1.5 billion from Mobileye stake sale. GitLab shares surged 18% on 2Q, FY24 outlook. Shares of Stitch Fix surged more than 25% on Wednesday, after company laid out plans to further cut costs and focus on the U.S. Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller plans to hold on to Nvidia stock for at least the near future as the chipmaker is exposed to an artificial intelligence trend could be as “transformative as the internet.” General Motors will make its electric vehicles compatible with Tesla’s supercharger network, the series of 12,000 chargers across the country for recharging the batteries of EVs, the company said Thursday. In Canada, Toronto based OpenAI rival, Cohere was in the news last week, as it raised US$270 million from Oracle, and Nvidia, bringing its total funding to US$435 million, and the Company is also preparing to work closely with Oracle. Sophic Clients UGE International and Clear Blue presented at the inaugural Canadian Climate Investor Conference in Toronto last week.

Last week Dow Jones rose 2%, S&P 500 was up 1.8%, Nasdaq was up 2%, and the small-cap Russell rose 3.3%. Market leadership remains concentrated in the AI, semiconductors and software space. 5 trillion-dollar companies — including Nvidia, Apple, and Amazon — have been behind most of the S&P 500’s 10% gains this year. T. Rowe Price has marked down its stake in Canva by 67.6%. Twitter is now worth just 33% of Elon Musk’s purchase price, Fidelity says. Fidelity also cut its Reddit valuation by 41% since its 2021 investment. Shares of C3.ai plunged 21% after its earnings outlook fails to live up to the AI hype. Twilio shares gain after a report on meetings with an activist. SentinelOne’s shares plunged 35% after disappointing results and guidance. Okta shares plummet after CEO acknowledges sales ‘uncertainty’. Salesforce CEO Benioff predicted an AI spending boom. Even as a number of prominent artificial intelligence researchers signed onto a joint statement drawing attention to the dangers of runaway AI. In Canada, recently laid off Shopify employees filed a $130 million class-action lawsuit. Westbridge reached definitive agreements to monetize 1.4 GW Alberta solar PV portfolio for an aggregate cash purchase price, between $217 million and $346 million subject to adjustments. Generative AI Solutions intends to raise up to $5 million through a non-brokered private placement. Canadian AI computing startup Tenstorrent (valued at $1 billion) and LG partner to build chips. Sophic Clients UGE International and Clear Blue will be attending the inaugural Canadian Climate Investor Conference Thursday June 8th at the Hyatt Regency Toronto. Sophic Client Kraken Robotics announced a $9.5 million contract with the Navy of a large Asia Pacific country. The Company also reported Q1 results, and reiterated guidance — for fiscal 2023, Kraken expect revenue to be in the $66 – $78 million range and adjusted EBITDA in the $12 – $17 million range.

Last week, Dow Jones fell 1%, S&P 500 was up 0.3%, and Nasdaq composite rose 2.5%. In a single session, Nvidia’s market cap swelled by US$184 billion, only Apple, Amazon and Microsoft have ever posted higher dollar gains in a single day, each by an extra US$7 billion at $191 billion. Analysts called Nvidia’s report “amazing,” “epic,” “stunning,” “unfathomable” and “jaw-dropping.” About six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) are familiar with ChatGPT, though relatively few have tried it themselves, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March. Shares of Snowflake dropped more than 12% in extended trading after the database provider reported its slowest annual sales growth since its 2020 IPO and cut its fiscal year sales forecast. Meta was fined a record US$1.3 billion over EU user data transfers to the U.S. Elon Musk finally got approval from the Food and Drug Administration to start implanting his company’s brain chips in humans, Neuralink announced Thursday. China’s top Internet regulator said Micron Technology’s products posed a national security risk and ordered companies involved in critical information infrastructure to stop buying them. The chief executive of Nvidia, warned that the US tech industry is at risk of “enormous damage” from the escalating battle over chips between Washington and Beijing. Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that in early 2024 more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers will be operational with Ford vehicles. In Canada, PopReach announced new US$115 million syndicated credit facility. Sophic Client UGE International reported one of its strongest growth quarters in its history, based on numerous metrics. Sophic Client Legend Power reported Q2 (Mar) F2023 financial results — Many new large opportunities continued to advance in our sales funnel, and we continue to believe we will hit our target bookings this year,” said Randy Buchamer, Legend CEO. A handful of deals could bring over $10 million in new potential bookings.

Last week, Dow Jones was up 0.4%, S&P 500 was up 1.65%, Nasdaq rose 3%. More data confirmed last week’s data of falling private valuations: For the first time in more than a decade, returns for venture funds were negative for three consecutive quarters last year, according to research firm PitchBook Data, as investors finally began to mark down startups that had ballooned in value. Initial data for the fourth quarter also show a negative quarterly return. Tiger Global is looking to offload some of its startup stakes. Snowflake is reportedly nearing the acquisition of search startup Neeva. Software company New Relic is in talks to be sold to private equity. EU approved Microsoft’s US$69 billion acquisition of Activision. Buffett exited TSMC while hedge funds Coatue, Tiger Global bought. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office pumped a combined US$430 million into Nvidia and Microsoft stocks in big, bold AI bets. The manufacturing cost of Apple’s mixed reality headset exceeds US$1,500 per unit. But internal projections give it the potential to eventually be as big as the iPad or the Apple Watch, as the company adds features and reduces the price with subsequent versions. Almost 5 million people are using Netflix’s ad tier. YouTube says revenue rose to US$40 billion, boosted by subscriptions. Disney is reportedly preparing a standalone ESPN streaming service. Instagram is reportedly testing a Twitter competitor — and the first leaked images indicate a summer release. In Canada, Sophic Client OneSoft reported Q1 revenue growth of 72%, and expects approximately 50% revenue growth in 2023and to achieve near cash-neutral monthly operations late in 2023. Sophic Client Kraken received $1.1 million of synthetic aperture sonar orders. Sophic Client Clear Blue Technologies received a $300,000 roadway expansion project in Oregon. Year to date, Clear Blue’s bookings are $4.6 million, of which $4 million is expected to be recognized in 2023. Canadian venture capital continues to fall back to pre-pandemic levels, according to CVCA. Despite seeing a decline in venture funding both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, Québec attracted more investment than any other Canadian region in the first quarter of 2023.

Markets looked a bit weaker by Friday’s close, as Dow Jones fell 1.1% last week, S&P 500 was down 0.3%, and Nasdaq composite was up 0.4%. The median valuation for growth-stage startups fell to US$90 million in the first quarter, a 75% drop from 2021, according to research firm PitchBook. Klaviyo filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO. PayPal’s profit rises 56% as expenses kept in check. Airbnb reported 20% higher revenue in the first quarter, which it credited to a roughly equivalent increase in the number of nights and experiences booked. Palantir soars 15% after company reports strong earnings and says demand for its AI tool is ‘without precedent’. Berkshire Hathaway cuts stake in EV maker BYD as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger say they don’t want to compete against Elon Musk. Tesla recalls virtually every car it has sold in China. Shortage of AI servers prompts Microsoft-Oracle negotiations. Google CEO discloses ‘Gemini’ AI to rival OpenAI’s GPT. Metaverse could contribute up to 2.4% of US GDP by 2035, a new study shows. Apple’s Reality Pro headset still coming to WWDC, but Apple is ‘anticipating production issues’. Meta unveils generative AI tool for advertisers. Nintendo warns of big slowdown in Switch console sales. Netflix reportedly plans to cut spending by US$300 million this year. Sophic Client, Kraken Robotics received a $16 million order for SeaPower batteries. Sophic Client LuckBox announced April KPIs including Global Customer Deposits and Player Growth – the Company announced a major step towards profitability in April, by outperforming last month’s record player deposits, all with 40% less Marketing spend. Crypto mining companies like Hive and Hut 8 Mining are finding opportunities to repurpose their GPU-based equipment for another industry on the precipice of a possible boom: artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg.