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![ChemX Materials](https://investingnews.com/media-library/chemx-materials.png?id=30275933&width=1200&height=800)
Chemx Secures Strategic Funding Facility Shareholder And Appoints New CEO
ChemX Materials Ltd (ASX: CMX) (ChemX or Company), an Australian based high-purity critical materials business, is pleased to announce a funding facility from an existing US-based Institutional Shareholder, to maintain momentum of existing high-purity projects in Western Australia and on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
- Funding facility of up to A$6m via Convertible Notes received from existing Institutional Shareholder, Mercer Street Global Opportunity Fund, LLC, a US-based investment fund managed by Mercer Street Capital Partners, LLC, with $500k to be drawn initially and a potential further $1.7m to be provided following shareholder approval
- Funding to maintain momentum and advance the Eyre Peninsula High Purity Manganese Project (HPM) in South Australia and HiPurA HPA Project in Perth, Western Australia
- Chief Operating Officer Peter Lee Appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) following the resignation of Mark Tory
The up to $6m financing package was agreed via the issue of unsecured convertible notes (Convertible Notes) to ChemX’s existing US Institutional Shareholder, Mercer Street Global Opportunity Fund, LLC, a US-based investment fund managed by Mercer Street Capital Partners, LLC (together, the Investor), who has been a strong supporter of the Company since the IPO in January 2022.
Amvest Capital Inc (acting through Delphos MMJ LP) (Amvest) served as financial advisor to the transaction with Steinepreis Paganin acting as the legal advisor.
Proposed investment
The Company has agreed to:
initially receive $500,000 for the issue of 600,000 Convertible Notes under the facility (Tranche 1);
- subject to shareholder approval at a forthcoming General Meeting and agreement between the parties, issue a further 2,040,000 Convertible Notes for a subscription sum of $1,700,000 (Tranche 2); and
- subject to shareholder approval and agreement between the parties, issue the Investor up to a
- further 4,560,000 Convertible Notes for a subscription sum of up to $3,800,000 (Further Tranches).
The full terms and conditions of the Convertible Notes are set out in Schedule 1.
The Company has obtained legal advice from a suitably qualified and experienced lawyer that none of the features noted in section 5.9 of Guidance Note 21 are present and that the terms of the Convertible Notes appear to be market-standard, based on the reasons set out below:
- the agreement contains a floor price for the conversion of the Convertible Notes; and
- there are other convertible notes on similar terms in the marketplace.
Conditions
The closing of each tranche of the investment is subject to the satisfaction of conditions precedent including, but not limited to, the following:
- in relation to Tranche 2 and the Further Tranches, the Company obtaining shareholder approval to issue the relevant Convertible Notes and agreement between the parties as to the provision of funding;
- the Company being able to issue a cleansing statement or lodge a prospectus for the Convertible Notes (if relevant), so that the underlying securities are freely tradable on conversion of the Convertible Notes;
- the Company providing the Investors with deliverables that are considered standard for this type of transaction;
- the Investor’s voting power in the Company at no time exceeding 9.99% without the prior written consent of the Investor; and
- the Company’s shares remaining continuously quoted on the ASX without suspension for more than 5 trading days in the 12 month period prior to a closing.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from ChemX Materials, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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ChemX Materials
Overview
ChemX Materials (ASX:CMX) is a critical materials company developing innovative processing technology to produce high purity alumina for advanced technology and clean energy applications.
ChemX Materials’ 100 percent owned, Australian patented HiPurA® process technology offers a low cost and energy intensity production method to produce high purity alumina (HPA).
HPA is used in advanced technology and clean energy applications including lithium-ion batteries, LEDs, semiconductors and synthetic sapphires. Synthetic sapphires are critical in the production of applications such as smart watches, iPhones and laptop screens.Company Highlights
- ChemX Materials Limited (ChemX Materials) is an Australian company developing an innovative, processing technology to produce high-purity alumina (HPA), this process is called HiPurA®.
- ChemX Materials owns 100 percent of HiPurA® and was granted an Australian patent for this technology in January 2024.
- High purity alumina is used in advanced technology and clean energy applications including lithium-ion batteries, LEDs, semiconductors, smart watches and iPhones.
- The HiPurA® process is modular, scalable and uses a readily available aluminous chemical as its feedstock, therefore is not reliant on mine production offtake, all of which enable the technology to be deployed close to end users' manufacturing operations.
- ChemX Materials has proven HiPurA® can produce above 4N (99.99 percent) high purity alumina at micro plant scale. This testwork indicates HiPurA® is low in cost and energy intensity.
- ChemX Materials is constructing a pilot plant to demonstrate HiPurA® can work at scale, which is the next step towards commercialisation. The pilot plant construction is underway and on track for commissioning in June 2024.
Key Business Segments
High Purity Alumina Processing Technology - HiPurA®
ChemX Materials is developing an innovative processing technology to produce high-purity alumina (HPA). This process is called HiPurA®. ChemX Materials owns 100 percent and holds an Australian patent for HiPurA®. ChemX Materials has proven HiPurA® can produce above 4N (99.99 percent) pure HPA at micro plant scale. This test work has also demonstrated that HiPurA® is superior compared to alternative technologies, offering several advantages, including:
- Lower costs – both capital and operating.
- Independent feedstock - – process is not tied to mine production and uses a readily available aluminous industrial chemical.
- Easily scalable – production output can increase based on demand.
- Modular – can be built near end users’ manufacturing operations.
- Optionality – patented technology can be licenced to end users.
- Lower carbon footprint – technology is not energy intensive.
HPA has several applications, the most important being lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage applications. HPA is used in the coating of the battery separator to enhance safety and performance. The outlook for EVs is very promising. With the adoption of EVs growing rapidly year on year as governments across the globe deploy domestic incentives and regulations to reduce the use of internal combustion engines to meet net zero targets.
HPA is also a key in the production of synthetic sapphire, which is used in LEDs, semiconductors, lasers, optical lenses and medical devices.
ChemX Materials has proven its HiPurA® technology can achieve above 99.99 percent (4N) HPA purity at micro plant scale. Following the technical success of the micro plant, ChemX Materials is constructing a 24 tpa pilot plant in Western Australia. The pilot plant is expected to be operational in June 2024.
In January 2024, ChemX Materials was granted an Australian Patent for its innovative HiPurA® technology. Based on the success of the Australian patent, it is anticipated that ChemX Materials will be afforded similar protections in other international jurisdictions. The patent is important as it provides intellectual property protection as ChemX Materials seeks to commercialise the technology globally.
HPA production from the pilot plant will be used for customer qualification and marketing purposes. ChemX Materials is actively pursuing commercial opportunities globally. Commercialisation options include:
- Build, own, operate a commercial scale plant to sell high purity alumina to end users.
- Licence the HiPurA® technology for deployment at end users’ manufacturing locations.
High Purity Manganese Project
ChemX Materials is developing a high purity manganese project. The Jamieson Tank project is located on two exploration tenements, EL 5920 and EL 6634 in the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. These tenements collectively cover an area of 718 km2.
ChemX Materials completed a 94-hole drill program at the Jamieson Tank project, totaling 6,164 metres and released its maiden Mineral Resource Estimate in September 2023. The Mineral Resource Estimate reported 13.1 Mt at 5.7 percent manganese, with 21 percent classified as Indicated and 79 percent classified as Inferred.
High purity manganese has essential applications in lithium-ion batteries as a cathode material. Manganese provides energy density, stability and lower costs and is a critical material for modern battery chemistries. As the world pursues decarbonisation it is forecasted that the demand for manganese will grow.
With the objective of the United States Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to reduce its reliance on Chinese sources of critical minerals, by 2025, the Jamieson Tank project is an important prospect. China currently supplies around 95 percent of the global manganese sulphate.
The South Australian jurisdiction offers excellent infrastructure. The Jamieson Tank project is in a province that is characterised by rapidly growing renewable energy infrastructure (wind, solar and hydrogen) and access to a local skilled workforce. The Jamieson Tank project is accessible by road, approximately 160 kms from the port of Whyalla and near a major regional airport.
The tenements in which the Jamieson Tank project is located also host kaolin and rare earth elements (REE) deposits. The area has historically been well known and explored for its potential for kaolin. The Kelly Tank exploration target is estimated to be 55 - 130 Mt of extractable kaolin.
In 2022, ChemX Materials undertook a drilling program and identified REE hosted within the kaolin throughout the tenements. The drilling program intersected high-grade REE mineralisation with intervals of up to 5 metres @2,468 parts per million total rare earth oxides from 7 metres. Importantly, it remains open in various directions, providing potential exploration upside for future drill programs.
Management Team
Peter Lee – Chief Executive Officer
20+ years’ experience across mining, metals processing and chemical industries within Canada and Australia. Lee has held technical leadership roles with companies including Rio Tinto, BHP, Roy Hill and WSPGolder. He is an expert in refining and electrochemical processes and a registered P. Eng Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, Canada, and a member of AusIMM and AICD.
Warrick Hazeldine – Non-executive Chair
Warrick Haseldine has more than 20 years of experience across capital markets and strategic communications with a focus on battery materials. He is the co-founder of advisory firm Cannings Purple, and former chair and non-executive director of Global Lithium Resources Ltd (ASX:GL1). Hazeldine is currently a director of Surfing WA, advisory board member of Curtin University, and a non-executive director of Purple.
Stephen Strubel – Non-executive Director and Company Secretary
Stephen Strubel is the company founder with 20 years’ experience in finance and corporate governance. Struber held a senior leadership role with Patersons Securities and has been a director and company secretary for ASX-listed companies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in banking and international trade from Victoria University and an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business.
Alwyn Vorster – Non-executive Director
Alwyn Vorster has 30+ years’ experience in the resources industry, spanning several commodities including rare earths, iron ore, bauxite, potash and salt. Vorster has several senior leadership positions including chief executive officer of Hastings (ASX:HAS) and managing director of BCI Minerals (ASX:BCI) and Iron Ore Holdings (ASX:IOH). Vorster is currently non-executive director of Lindian Resources (ASX:LIN) and Arrow Minerals (ASX:AMD).
US Markets Rebound as Biden Drops Re-election Bid, Gold Price Drops Below US$2,400
The American stock market rebounded on Monday (July 22) following significant downturns last week, and after Sunday's (July 21) news that US President Joe Biden will not seek re-election.
Biden announced on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that he is exiting the presidential race, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement. He plans to complete his term as president.
By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was up 0.36 percent, reaching 40,433.02 points. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) had increased by 0.86 percent to hit 5,552.57 points, and the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) had climbed 1.23 percent to come in at 17,944.98 points.
Major technology stocks led the recovery, with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) all posting gains of between 1 and 4.2 percent.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose for the third session in a row. Analysts believe the dollar's strength is partly due to anticipation of potential shifts in US fiscal and monetary policy.
Meanwhile, the gold price declined to a one week low as the dollar strengthened. Spot gold dropped by 0.5 percent to US$2,387.99 per ounce, while US gold futures decreased by 0.4 percent to US$2,389.40.
Investors are closely watching for additional US economic data and statements from Federal Reserve officials this week, which could provide further insight into the future direction of interest rates.
Jeffrey Christian, managing partner at CPM Group, told Reuters that the market is in "wait-and-see mode" regarding the implications of the change in the Democratic Party’s candidate for the upcoming election.
“It is far too early for any strategic positions… longer-term is probably more favorable for gold if Trump is in the White House," StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell opined in a note quoted by Reuters.
"Trump would be inflationary and potentially incendiary in geopolitical terms, while Harris' foreign affairs policy is as yet undefined so that favours gold for now, but not possibly in the longer term,” she added.
Key data releases this week include US gross domestic product figures for the second quarter, and the personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Biden Administration Pledges Half a Billion for Tech Hubs in Underserved Communities
The Biden administration on Tuesday (July 2) announced plans to allocate US$504 million to establish 12 regional technology and innovation hubs across underserved regions in the US.
Spearheaded by the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the initiative aims to spur America's leadership in cutting-edge industries, create new jobs and stimulate economic development.
"Every American deserves the opportunity to thrive, no matter where they live,” underscored Vice President Kamala Harris in a press release. “Today’s announcement will ensure that the benefits of the industries of the future — from artificial intelligence and clean energy, to biotechnology and more — are shared with communities that have been overlooked for far too long, including rural, Tribal, industrial, and disadvantaged communities,” she added.
Funded by the CHIPS and Science Act, the Tech Hubs Program is part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda. A total of US$10 billion over five years has been authorized for this initiative, with US$541 million used to date.
Tech Hubs Program to support diverse initiatives
The Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing Tech Hub (iFAB), one recipient of the Tech Hubs Program, will receive approximately US$51 million. Led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a land-grant research university, iFAB focuses on converting underutilized corn feedstock into high-value products like alternative proteins and food ingredients, while aiming to provide specialized training to the local workforce.
Other tech hubs will focus on quantum information technology in Colorado, autonomous remote sensing technology in Montana, biotechnology and biomanufacturing in Indiana and sustainable polymer manufacturing in Ohio.
Additional recipients include: the Nevada Tech Hub, which aims to build a full lithium lifecycle cluster; the NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub in New York, which focuses on enhancing regional semiconductor manufacturing capabilities; and the ReGen Valley Tech Hub in New Hampshire, which is looking to become a leader in biofabrication to produce cost-effective regenerative therapies addressing chronic disease and organ failure.
The SC Nexus for Advanced Resilient Energy in South Carolina has honed its efforts on advanced energy and grid resilience technologies, while the South Florida ClimateReady Tech Hub aims to advance leadership in sustainable and resilient infrastructure solutions for the global climate crisis. Meanwhile, the Tulsa Hub for Equitable & Trustworthy Autonomy in Oklahoma is working on the development and commercialization of autonomous systems for use in the agriculture industry, as well as in pipeline inspections and regional transportation.
Finally, the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub aims to position the state as a global leader in personalized medicine, focusing on tailored tests, treatments and therapies informed by a patient's unique attributes.
Each hub will leverage regional assets to foster technological advancement and economic growth, with the expectation of creating new job opportunities at various skill levels.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Pointerra Awarded US$1.63 Million US DOE Contract
Pointerra Limited (ASX: 3DP, “Pointerra” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a US$1.63 million (A$2.47 million) contract by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for an R&D program (Program), collaborating with select Northeast US region electric utilities and university partners.
Highlights
- The US Department of Energy (DOE) awards Pointerra a US$1.63 million contract for a Program to model a range of electric grid resilience investment scenarios by electric utilities
- The Program will use Pointerra3D to evaluate the impacts of various grid resilience investments under forecasted climate change scenarios, providing a best practice approach to determine optimal resilience investments
- The best practice approach is intended to be scalable across multiple regions throughout North America
Program Details
Pointerra has been selected to collaborate with three electric utilities (Avangrid, Eversource, and National Grid) and three university partners (Cornell University, University at Albany - State University of New York, and the University of Connecticut), to develop a comprehensive risk assessment model and economic analysis that will help electric utilities optimise their resource allocation, reduce the frequency and severity of power outages, and enhance the overall resilience of the power grid.
The purpose of the Program is to help electric utility companies in the Northeast of the US develop a cost-benefit methodology that enables them to assess the long-term resilience value of certain grid resilience investments, including asset hardening, vegetation management, and line undergrounding activities.
Pointerra will acquire and process 2D and 3D data to build digital twins of circuits in the service territories of the utility partners in Pointerra3D. The Program will then use Pointerra3D to develop a dynamic risk assessment model that provides scenario analysis capabilities to evaluate the impacts of various grid resilience investments under forecasted climate change scenarios. Finally, the Program will perform a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate outage reduction efficiency of various resilience investment strategies.
The award of this contract, leading a high-profile group of electric utilities and universities enhances Pointerra's visibility and credibility in the US electric utility sector. The Program results will produce a best practice approach that the DOE intends to be scalable across multiple regions throughout North America.
This will provide Pointerra invaluable exposure and validation of its Pointerra3D digital twin solution for the US electric utility sector, which is collectively engaged in multi-billion dollar, multi-year grid resilience programs.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Pointerra Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Tech Unicorns in Australia (Updated 2024)
Aussies are a pretty tech-savvy bunch, and this business is key to the country's economy.
Australia has created its fair share of tech unicorns in recent years. But what exactly does that mean?
The term "tech unicorn" is thought to have first been coined by a venture capitalist named Aileen Lee in California back in 2013. It refers to a privately held startup company whose value exceeds $1 billion.
There are more than 600 unicorns that have gained entry into this relatively exclusive club, including the likes of the now-public Reddit (NYSE:RDDT), Bytedance, SpaceX, Stripe, SHEIN, Ola Cabs and Patreon.
Australia's tech unicorn landscape
Australia has a reputation for being home to small businesses and startups. Notable examples of Aussie ingenuity include Google Maps, black box flight recorders and cochlear implants. However, while the country has produced successful small to medium enterprises like Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM) and buy now, pay later business Zip (ASX:ZIP), experts believe a lack of resources is preventing the country from producing more internationally successful tech firms.
In fact, at the time of publication, a list of more than 1,200 tech unicorns included just nine from Australia. Leaders in the space are the US with roughly 54 percent of the constituents and China with 14 percent, followed by India with nearly 6 percent and the UK with a bit more than 4 percent.
Given that Australia has the 13th largest economy globally, with 2,589,873 actively trading businesses in the nation's economy as of June 2023, there is potential to grow.
What are Australia's noteworthy tech unicorns?
Although Australia is a relatively small market compared to North America and Europe, it currently has eight tech unicorns, as per the CB Insights list mentioned above. They are:
- Canva — A DIY graphic design app created by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams; it debuted as a tech unicorn in January 2018. At the time of publication, Canva was the seventh most valuable company on the CB Insights list with a market worth of AU$25.4 billion. Select investors in the company include Sequoia Capital China, Blackbird Ventures and Matrix Partners.
- Airwallex — Currently based in Sydney, Airwallex was founded in Melbourne and became the fastest Aussie startup to achieve unicorn status when it was added to the list in March 2019. Valued at AU$5.5 billion, it offers competition to the big banks with cheaper solutions for international payments. Investors include DST Global, Sequoia Capital China and Tencent Holdings (OTC Pink:TCTZF,HKEX:0700).
- Immutable — With a market worth of AU$2.5 billion, Sydney-based fintech business Immutable is focused on asset ownership and commerce in the digital gaming world. It utilises ImmutableX, its NFT minting and trading platform. Its investors include Fabric Ventures, AirTree Ventures and Temasek.
- Go1 — Go1 has a market worth of AU$2 billion and operates in the online learning and education sector. It’s based in Brisbane and its investors include Y Combinator, M12 and SEEK.
- SafetyCulture — Founded in Townsville by CEO Luke Anear, SafetyCulture has provided occupational health and safety and compliance documents since 2004. The company has 65,000 customers performing 600 million checks per year and a valuation of AU$1.7 billion. Blackbird Ventures, IndexVentures and Tiger Global Management are a few of the key investors in the company.
- Employment Hero — This tech firm offers online human resources software for enterprises, with functions such as payroll, employee benefits and retirement, employment contracts and accounting. The company has a valuation of AU$1.37 billion, and its biggest backers are OneVentures, AirTree Ventures and AMP New Ventures.
- Culture Amp — Culture Amp describes itself as an “employee experience platform,” helping over 6,000 companies around the world increase employee retention and engagement. Its customers include the aforementioned Canva, as well as Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD). Culture Amp has a valuation of AU$1.5 billion and its investors include Blackbird Ventures, IndexVentures and Felicis Ventures.
- LinkTree — LinkTree has headquarters in both Melbourne and Sydney. It operates as a landing page where a company or individual can insert all of their relevant social media links, rather than having to link to them all individually on their own page. It has a market value of AU$1.3 billion and its investors include AirTree Ventures, Insight Partners and Index Ventures.
- Pet Circle — Finally, Pet Circle, added to the list in December 2021, is the largest online pet shop in Australia. It has a market value of AU$1 billion and Prysm Capital, Baillie Gifford & Co. and TDM Growth Partners are among its investors.
What about Australia's tech "soonicorns"?
Beyond the tech unicorns mentioned above, there are a number of Aussie startups worth keeping an eye on. Dubbed "emerging unicorns" by data business Crunchbase, these businesses are on their way to full unicorn status. Some examples include:
- Zeller — One of Australia’s fastest growing fintech enterprises, the company provides a payments and financial services solution that allows businesses to accept and make payments. Its leading investor is global venture capital firm Headline.
- Cover Genius — This insuretech firm offers an insurance distribution platform designed to protect e-commerce and travel customers. European VC Dawn Capital is one the company’s biggest investors.
How to identify potential Australian tech unicorns?
Tech unicorns tend to fall into four major categories: fintech, e-commerce, artificial intelligence/robotics and health. It is difficult to predict when a new one will emerge, but investors can keep an ear to the ground by researching media coverage and Australian Securities and Investments Commission filings.
Unicorns can also create a new niche. While some seek to solve an existing problem, many are the first to market. Looking at businesses with rapid growt potential and analysing the rate at which a business brings in new users can be useful — high growth is often the path to a high valuation.
What is the future for tech unicorns in Australia?
Australia is still lacking the right "ecosystem" for propelling big startups, according to a report from Startup Genome, which tracks the top 40 cities in a global startup ecosystem ranking.
Only two Australian cities made the list — Sydney ranked the highest at 20th, with Melbourne trailing at 36th. Sydney is Oceania’s biggest ecosystem, according to Genome, with the majority of Australia’s tech startups based in the city. Time will tell whether a post-pandemic Australia strives for new heights or remains low on the tech unicorn totem pole.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2021.
Don't forget to follow @INN_Australia for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Technology Stocks: 10 Biggest Companies in 2024
Technology has become inescapable in everyday life, and the top tech companies are advancing in many sectors, from computer hardware and software to cleantech to artificial intelligence (AI) and more.
Major moves from the tech industry's giants have been reflected in growing stock valuations.
In 2018, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) became the first publicly traded company to reach a US$1 trillion valuation, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) passed the US$1 trillion mark in 2019. Since then, both of these tech behemoths have gone on to reach further gargantuan valuations, in large part due to their advancements in AI technology.
Apple became the first company to surpass a market cap of US$3 trillion in June 2023, and it was followed by Microsoft in January 2024. As of mid-April, both Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Google holding company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were on the verge of overtaking US$2 trillion in market valuations as well.
Top technology stocks
Below the Investing News Network takes a look at the 10 largest tech companies globally, according to market capitalization. All numbers and figures for the tech companies listed were correct as of April 17, 2024.
1. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Market cap: US$3.06 trillion
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is well versed in hardware and software. Its hardware lineup consists of its flagship Surface brand, which is a competitor for Microsoft’s archrival Apple and its iPad Pros and MacBooks.
The company’s software portfolio has always been a strong focus. That includes its computer operating system, where Microsoft's Windows 11 debuted in Q4 2021, as well as its Windows Server. Furthermore, Microsoft has been targeting business users with its productivity suite, which includes the Office and Cloud platforms. These, along with its Azure platform, which includes machine learning and AI, have become major revenue generators for the tech giant.
Early last year, Microsoft announced "a multiyear, multibillion dollar investment" in privately held OpenAI to help the AI research lab with ChatGPT, its ultra-powerful AI chatbot. In April, the company announced plans to invest US$1.5 billion in United Arab Emirates-based AI tech holding company G42. The collaboration will see G42 run its AI applications and services on Microsoft Azure so the partners can deliver advanced AI solutions to clients. The partnership also includes establishing advanced AI and digital infrastructure in the Middle Eastern, Central Asian and African regions.
2. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Market cap: US$2.6 trillion
Next on this top technology stocks list is Apple. Since the company shot to fame with the Macintosh computer in 1984, its hardware portfolio has expanded to include items like the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. The company also has a wide range of digital services, such as the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud.
According to Statista, Apple’s digital services segment raked in all-time high revenues of US$23.12 billion during the first quarter of its 2024 fiscal year; that's compared to US$20.77 billion for the previous year.
3. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Market cap: US$2.13 trillion
NVIDIA, the inventor of the graphics processing unit (GPU), creates interactive graphics on laptops, workstations, mobile devices, notebooks, PCs and more. Alongside GPUs, NVIDIA offers processing capabilities to scientific researchers with supercomputing sites across the globe. The primary arms of NVIDIA’s business model are in gaming (including its cloud gaming service GeForce Now), automotive electronics, mobile devices and more recently AI.
The company’s major competitors are Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM). NVIDIA is working with Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) to build the latter’s AI supercomputer, which the former expects will be the largest NVIDIA DGX A100 customer system to date.
The company is also working with Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) on more AI offerings for enterprises, including the new Dell AI Factory. "AI factories are central to creating intelligence on an industrial scale," said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang in a March press release. "Together, NVIDIA and Dell are helping enterprises create AI factories to turn their proprietary data into powerful insights."
4. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Market cap: US$1.94 trillion
Alphabet, the holding company of internet search giant Google, operates through multiple brands via a portfolio of companies. Some of the companies under Alphabet are Calico, GV, Capital G, Verily, Waymo, X and Google Fiber.
Founded in 1998 as a search engine, Google quickly became a household name with numerous products under its vertical. The list now includes Google Pay, Google Cloud, Android, Google Maps and YouTube.
In November 2021, Alphabet briefly broke through the US$2 trillion market cap level and the company looks set to do it again soon. Its revenues have been growing steadily for years. The tech firm's revenue for the 12 months ended on December 31, 2023, came to US$307.4 billion, up 8.68 percent year-on-year.
5. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Market cap: US$1.88 trillion
Founded in 1994, Amazon has evolved from its start as an online retailer to become a tech monolith through its Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform. While Amazon is still a dominant force in web-based sales, AWS offers a broad range of services for computing, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and AI, among others. Furthermore, Fire TV, Amazon’s streaming platform, had sold more than 200 million streaming devices worldwide as of March 2023.
Amazon's Internet of Things (IoT) service, called AWS IoT FleetWise, allows automakers to collect, transform and transfer vehicle data to the cloud in near-real time more efficiently and cost effectively than was previously available. The data can then be organized and standardized for analysis in the cloud.
AWS' Q4 2023 revenue was US$24.2 billion, up 13 percent from the same quarter the previous year. This growth pattern over the past few years has allowed AWS to crack an annualized revenue run rate of US$100 billion.
6. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Market cap: US$1.25 trillion
Meta Platforms, the parent company of social media giant Facebook, occupies the sixth spot on this list. Its product suite — which also includes Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Meta Quest — connects more than 3.59 billion users.
Meta shared early versions of its Llama 3 AI language model in April, along with a new real-time image generator. Both will be integrated into its Meta AI virtual assistant as the tech company tries to compete with its peers in the generative AI space.
7. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM,TPE:2330)
Market cap: US$718.23 billion
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was born in the late 1980s as a semiconductor innovator. Since then, it's spawned a tech division focused on automotive tech, AI and 5G applications, plus wearable tech and mobile platforms.
The company's net revenues for the first quarter of 2024 came in at 592.64 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$18.87 billion at the time of the announcement), up 16.5 percent from the year prior. The increase in net profit was driven by a boom in demand for advanced chips used in AI applications.
8. Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Market cap: US$599.96 billion
Broadcom, another global semiconductor giant, offers a number of embedded and mainframe security solutions, including payment authentication software and the Symantec Enterprise Cloud suite of integrated cybersecurity software.
Broadcom bolstered its infrastructure software capabilities with the acquisition of VMWare in late 2023. “Broadcom's focus moving forward is to enable enterprise customers to create and modernize their private and hybrid cloud environments,” states a press release from the company. “At the core, Broadcom will invest in VMware Cloud Foundation, the software stack that serves as the foundation of private and hybrid clouds.”
The company’s Symantec division has a partnership with Google Cloud to embed generative AI into the Symantec Security platform to help customers prevent cyber attacks.
9. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Market cap: US$497.24 billion
Tesla is one of the world’s most influential tech companies. Aside from focusing on the electric vehicle (EV) market, the company is also innovating in AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles and energy storage. The company has a partnership with Panasonic (OTC Pink:PCRFF,TSE:6752) to produce lithium-ion batteries for its EVs.
Tesla’s EV sales grew by more than 37 percent in 2023 over the previous year to reach more than 1,808,590 units delivered. Still, Tesla's market cap lost nearly 17 percent of its value from April 17, 2023 to April 17, 2024. Several market factors are responsible for the decline decline, including an expected drop in EV sales as a global recession sets in.
10. Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930)
Market cap: US$379.32 billion
Samsung Electronicsis the 10th largest tech company in the world. Founded in 1938, it originated as a grocery trading store. It then focused on the textiles industry after the Korean War ended in 1953, and 1969 was when it first entered the electronics industry. It is now among the largest electronics manufacturers in the world.
In addition to products such as tablets, smartphones, watches and even appliances, Samsung operates a semiconductor business, developing chips and smartphone application processors.
Its most recent product brought to market is the LPDDR5X DRAM, which it says is optimized for AI application and has the smallest chip size among existing LPDDRs. “As demand for low-power, high-performance memory increases, LPDDR DRAM is expected to expand its applications from mainly mobile to other areas that traditionally require higher performance and reliability such as PCs, accelerators, servers and automobiles,” said YongCheol Bae, executive vice president of memory product planning in Samsung's Memory Business.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Reddit Prices IPO at US$34 per Share — What to Know as Trading Begins
Reddit, one of the internet’s most popular discussion forums, is poised to make waves with its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) and trading debut, set to happen on Thursday (March 21).
The San Francisco-based company intends to list 22 million shares on the stock market at US$34 each, the high end of its anticipated range of US$31 to US$34. Reddit itself will sell 15.28 million shares, while its existing shareholders will sell 6.72 million shares; the company will not receive proceeds from shares sold by existing shareholders.
Reddit will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RDDT.
Leading up to the news, reports suggested that Reddit's IPO was four to five times oversubscribed, indicating strong investor interest and positioning the company to reach the US$6.5 billion valuation it was hoping to achieve.
Founded in 2005, Reddit has evolved into a diverse platform hosting myriad discussions across over 100,000 active forums; called "subreddits," each of these niche areas focuses on its own topic. Reddit’s unique approach to community-driven content distinguishes it from traditional social media platforms.
Reddit has deviated from the usual IPO practice by reserving 8 percent of its shares for board members, employees, users and moderators. Only users, or “Redditors,” with established accounts as of January 1, 2024, will qualify, and shares will be allocated based on contributions and engagement metrics. These shares won’t be subject to lockup.
Despite its prominence, Reddit's IPO journey has been marked by deliberation, and the company's delayed entry into the public market has prompted questions about its strategy and long-term vision.
Reddit's association with events like the GameStop (NYSE:GME) short squeeze in January 2021 has also raised speculation about how the company's IPO will fare. Thousands of Redditors in the WallStreetBets subreddit played an integral role in causing GameStop's share price to skyrocket, leaving short sellers with major losses.
WallStreetBets participants have created volatility for other "meme stocks" as well. For now, it remains to be seen whether the company's own shares will be affected by these dynamics after listing.
However, it's worth noting that some Reddit users aren't thrilled about the IPO, or about the company's 2023 move to begin charging for API access. This decision forced the closure of popular third-party apps — some of which offered important accessibility features — and caused mass protests on the platform.
Jordan Zazzara, a moderator of WallStreetBets, plans to observe Reddit's performance before deciding whether to purchase shares of the company. “Not because I’m not generally optimistic about Reddit as a business, but because I’m sure it’s going to be volatile,” Zazzara told Bloomberg in an email.
There are also concerns regarding the viability of the company as a whole. Since its launch in 2005, Reddit has yet to have a profitable year, as per the Associated Press. This is compounded by the fact that user growth has stalled — IPO papers from Reddit state that its 500 million monthly users have not grown for the past three years.
On the flip side, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman remains optimistic about the future. Reddit recently unveiled a US$60 million partnership with Google focused on providing the tech giant with content it can use to train artificial intelligence models.
“I have never been more excited about Reddit’s future than I am right now,” Huffman wrote in the IPO papers. “... As the world becomes increasingly data-driven, we offer solutions that are human and experience-focused. We expect our data advantage and intellectual property to continue to be a key element in the training of future (large language models).”
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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