Weekly Market Recap | Aug 26 – Sep 02

IPO’s in the week

• Autozi Internet Technology, a China-based company, has gone public on the Nasdaq exchange with an IPO price of $4.00 per share, offering 2,500,000 shares as of August 28, 2024. Founded in 2010, Autozi provides a one-stop-shop for new cars, auto parts, accessories, and automotive insurance services through online and offline channels.

• Safe Pro Group, a premier provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, specializing in drone imagery processing for humanitarian mine-clearing efforts, has gone public on the Nasdaq exchange with an IPO price of $5.00 per share, offering 1,200,000 shares as of August 28, 2024.

• GigCapital7 Corp., a blank check company, has gone public on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The company aims to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The IPO was priced at $10.00 per share, with 25,000,000 shares offered, and started trading on August 29, 2024.

• Black Spade Acquisition II, a blank check company targeting the entertainment, lifestyle, and tech industries, has raised $150 million in its initial public offering. The company offered 15 million units at $10 each, consisting of one share of common stock and one-third of a warrant exercisable at $11.50. The stock started trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol BSIIU on August 28, 2024, and opened at $10.00, gaining 0.27% on its first day.

• JBDI Holdings Limited, a leading trader of reconditioned and recycled containers in Singapore and Southeast Asia, has gone public on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol JBDI. The company offers a range of reconditioned and new drums, as well as waste collection services, catering to the solvent, chemical, petroleum, and edible product oil industries. The IPO was priced at $5.00 per share, with 2,250,000 shares offered, and started trading on August 27, 2024, gaining 1.23% on its first day.

Markets this week

• Canada will impose a 100% surtax on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% surtax on steel and aluminum imports starting in October. The move, aimed at protecting Canadian industries from unfair competition, aligns with similar U.S. actions.

• Ken Griffin’s Citadel LLC plans a 54-story glass headquarters in Miami, featuring two restaurants, a rooftop hotel, and a public waterfront terrace. The 1.7 million-square-foot project will break ground in 2025, with completion expected in over five years.

• Kenyan e-commerce firm Wasoko and Egyptian firm MaxAB have merged in an all-stock deal, creating a company that will serve over 450,000 merchants across eight African countries. The combined entity plans to expand aggressively, offering digital finance and goods and expect their revenue to more than double by year-end.

• Uber was fined a record $324 million by Dutch regulators for mishandling European drivers’ data transferred to the US. The fine is the largest ever issued by the Dutch authority.

• Colin Huang, founder of PDD Holdings, lost his title as China’s richest person after just 18 days as PDD’s shares plummeted by 29%, wiping $14.1 billion from his fortune. Huang now ranks as the fourth-wealthiest person in China.

• Nvidia’s revenue forecast of $32.5 billion fell short of investor expectations, leading to a 7% drop in its stock. Despite strong revenue growth and a $50 billion stock buyback announcement, production snags with the new Blackwell chip raised concerns, contributing to the market’s negative reaction.

• Berkshire Hathaway hit a $1 trillion market value, the first non-tech U.S. company to do so, with shares up 30% in 2024. The firm remains strong with a diverse portfolio and $276.9 billion in cash.