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Spectur Awarded Long Term Contract with Transport for NSW
Solar security, sensing and visual AI solutions and platforms company Spectur Limited (ASX: SP3) (Spectur or the Company) is pleased to announce the signing of a three-year contract for $787,428 with Transport for NSW (Contract No: CW2592803), with optional extensions to nine (9) years (Total price – nine year term - $2,632,284).
Highlights
- Spectur entity 3 Crowns Technologies Pty Ltd has signed a contract with Transport for NSW for the provision of cameras and analytic services.
- The value of the three-year contract is a minimum $787,428 with an optional extension of a further three plus three years for a total of 9 years (Total price $2,362,284).
- Expansion to new sites included in this contract may increase the annual contract value between $50,000 and $200,000 subject to final scope confirmation, giving a potential contract value of almost $1.4M.
- Year to date sales exceeds all previous records with $4.18m sold (13 November YTD FY25), compared with $2.205m sold October YTD in FY24.
This contract includes the provision of the following services and products:
- Live webcam vision with night vision enabled cameras for 23 existing locations including all hardware supply, installation, maintenance, software and data provisions as a managed service
- Expansion of these 23 locations to new fixed locations. This is currently being scoped
- Provision of new mobile trailer systems. Quantity to be confirmed, with the potential to increase the base contract value of $ 787,427.
The contract follows on from an ongoing smaller contract with 100%-owned entity 3 Crowns Technologies Pty Ltd (3CT), which was extended by 6 months earlier in 2024 and will be replaced when this contract is implemented, anticipated to be in January 2025. There is an optional extension of an additional three plus three years, extending the potential duration of the contract to nine years. This contract will be executed through the 3CT entity.
Key material terms of the contract are included in Appendix A.
This contract win follows on from earlier substantial contract wins with other 3CT entities in Q1, in addition to general growth within the Spectur business. Total sales (including longer term contracts) to date this financial year (at 13 November 2024) are $4.18m, a 90% increase over FY24 October YTD results of $2.205m. Whilst many of these sales are longer term contracts and have not yet converted into revenue in FY25, they underpin long term, secured recurring revenues.
Executive commentary
Spectur Managing Director, Gerard Dyson, said:
“The portion of revenue that is coming from high gross margin recurring revenue continues to increase at Spectur, with current run rates in excess of 60% of total revenue. Many of the projects that form this growing base, including the recent win with Transport for NSW, arise through the growth of existing relationships and accounts. The Spectur ecosystem is becoming increasingly flexible and expandable, with an ever greater number of opportunities to add in third party AI, sensors, cameras, devices and other applications. It is becoming a core platform for many customers, and an increasing number of resellers.
“Spectur continues to win increasingly large projects as evidenced by the year-to-date sales. This funnel of revenue continues to grow and is the product of many years of cultivation that are bearing rewards now and into the future. Ongoing strong, high margin sales, combined with recent cost control activities in response to productivity improvement, underpins the ‘fitness’ of Spectur going forward. These long- term contracts ultimately reduce and then remove the requirements for hardware sales and service to cover costs, ushering in a new era of profitability and a platform for accelerating growth.”
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Spectur 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.
Positive Outcome from FDA Pre-Submission Meeting
BlinkLab Achieves Pivotal Step Towards FDA Approval for Autism Diagnostic App
BlinkLab Limited (ASX:BB1) (“BlinkLab”, or the “Company”), an innovative digital healthcare company is pleased to announce a positive outcome from its Pre-Submission meeting with the FDA yesterday. The FDA has confirmed the study design and data requirements in order to achieve 510(k) clearance and subsequently launch the diagnostic app in the U.S. The Company plans to complete both programs within 12-16 months after the necessary approvals and site engagements have been secured.
Highlights
- Positive outcome received from a Pre-Submission meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) regarding the regulatory pathway for BlinkLab Dx 1 diagnostic app.
- The FDA has confirmed the design for the BlinkLab Dx 1 registrational program, which will consist of an Initial Study Phase that then transitions into the Main Study. The Initial Phase will recruit up to 100 children with the main registrational study up to 1,000 subjects recruited from up to ten clinical sites.
- Several leading clinical sites across the U.S. have already been selected with ethics submission and site activation in process.
- The initial phase (of 100 children) will be used to:
- Familiarise the investigators and personnel at clinical sites.
- Train in-person and virtual recruitment strategies.
- Test the procedures of subjects screening and data collection.
- These steps are part of the Company’s strategy to de-risk the main FDA registrational study and to ensure the highest quality of the data collected and diagnostic accuracy of the BlinkLab App.
- FDA has confirmed the study protocol, statistical analysis plan, clinical endpoints and final data requirements to achieve 510(k) clearance for “BlinkLab Dx 1” as an aid in the diagnosis of autism.
U.S. FDA registrational study in Autism Underway
To support its FDA registration in the US, BlinkLab has initiated a large clinical study in children with autism. The goal of the study is to obtain FDA 510(k) clearance for BlinkLab Dx 1 to serve as a digital diagnostic aid for autism. BlinkLab has received positive feedback from the FDA on final clinical study design and data requirements in order to achieve FDA 510(k) clearance. Clinical site selection is in progress with ethics approvals and onboarding about to be complete for several sites.
The upcoming clinical program will consist of an Initial Study Phase that will precede the main registrational study. The Initial Study Phase will enrol 100 subjects with the main study continuing recruitment of up to 1,000 children with autism aged 2-11 years old. The FDA trial will involve leading clinical and research sites across the US, ensuring a diverse population of children in terms of race, ethnicity and gender. BlinkLab plans to complete both programs within 12-16 months after the necessary approvals and site engagements have been secured. This dual study approach ensures that clinical experts on sites as well as families participating in the study are fully trained and familiar with the BlinkLab Dx 1 diagnostic application and its functionalities.
Both phases of the study will incorporate a prospective, double-blinded, within-subject comparison design in order to establish BlinkLab’s diagnostic accuracy. This will involve comparing BlinkLab Dx 1 output to the DSM-5 based diagnostic standards. Following completion of the study, should data meet the accuracy outputs, BlinkLab will submit the study report and supporting documentation for FDA 510(k) clearance in order to gain access to the U.S. autism diagnostic market.
Brian Leedman, Chairman of BlinkLab commented on the milestone:“This pivotal outcome in our FDA regulatory study process marks a significant milestone in our achievements as a listed Company. With this guidance from the Pre-Submission Meeting, we are confident in our study design and ability to bring BlinkLab Dx1 to market. We look forward to updating the market in early 2025 as to our progress in site selection, recruitment and results of the initial study”.
Henk-Jan Boele, CEO BlinkLab, commented:"I am pleased that we had such a productive discussion with the FDA regarding our regulatory trial. Truly appreciate their support and alignment on addressing the unmet medical need. We look forward to collaborating closely with the FDA on advancing BlinkLab Dx 1."
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Blinklab 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.
AI Market Forecast: Top Trends That Will Affect AI in 2025
The United Nations has designated 2025 as the year of quantum science and technology, highlighting the profound impact that technological advancements are poised to have on the world.
The increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) across a wide array of industries has spurred significant investment in the sector over the last two years as the world's largest tech firms jump in. As AI continues to evolve, many investors are wondering if 2025 will be a pivotal year when these investments begin to show significant returns.
From its impact on stock market valuations to its transformative potential across industries, here the Investing News Network delves into the key trends and developments that are shaping the future of AI.
How will AI affect the stock market in 2025?
2024 was marked by concerns over the dominance and high valuations of the Magnificent 7, and heading into 2025, investors are keenly watching how these companies will influence the broader stock market.
Citigroup (NYSE:C) analysts have a generally positive outlook for 2025, noting that the Magnificent 7 aren't trading at unprecedented valuations; rather, the other S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) stocks are at a higher risk.
Essentially, the US stock market is priced for perfection, leaving it susceptible to a correction triggered by rising interest rates, disappointing earnings or a broader economic slowdown.
For its part, BNY asserts that the Magnificent 7 may actually be undervalued relative to their future growth potential. While acknowledging the record-high profit margins in the tech sector, the firm contends that valuations relative to the rest of the market are cheaper than during similar periods of technological advancement in history.
Further, the expectation of continued profit margin expansion and earnings growth fueled by ongoing AI innovation supports the notion of further upside potential for tech stocks.
AI juggernaut NVIDIA's (NASDAQ:NVDA) sustained profitability underscores its dominant market position and ability to efficiently capitalize on the surging demand for its products.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) analysts believe the Magnificent 7 will continue to outperform the rest of the S&P 500 in 2025, but only by 7 percentage points, the lowest amount in seven years. The firm sees various elements, including macro factors like US growth and trade policy, favoring the "S&P 493."
David Rosenberg, founder of independent research firm Rosenberg Research and Associates, expressed to the Globe and Mail on December 5 that he has shifted his perspective on the US stock market.
Rather than focusing on reasons for its overvaluation and bearish indicators, he aims to understand the underlying factors driving the market's behavior over the past two years.
“The market is telling us that we are in a 'Model Shift' when it comes to future growth and profits,” he explained. “Traditional valuation methods, like price-to-earnings ratios, are backward-looking and may not be suitable in this environment. Investors are focused on long-term potential, particularly in areas like AI, and are willing to pay a premium for it. The current surge in AI might resemble the dot-com bubble, but it could take years to confirm."
He added that interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve would support higher valuations.
BNY also points to historical data showing that an environment of easing monetary policy tends to coincide with economic growth, with an average of 16.5 percent growth in the year following initial rate cuts since 1984. It suggests that S&P 500 earnings growth will be between 10 to 15 percent in 2025, with the index reaching around 6,600 in 2025. Although this represents slower growth compared to 2024, it still indicates continued expansion.
While Rosenberg is mindful of near-term risks, such as weakness in the US labor market and the likelihood of profit-taking and early rebalancing, he emphasized the importance of keeping an open mind in 2025.
In his view, it's key for investors to learn from the mistakes of the past year, such as overreacting to short-term volatility and underestimating the potential of transformative technologies.
Profitability in focus as AI improvement rate slows
While Big Tech pours billions into AI development, the question of profitability in 2025 hangs in the balance.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is prioritizing long-term AI dominance over short-term gains. The company's aggressive AI spending is expected to continue in 2025, potentially impacting immediate revenue growth.
Similarly, Meta (NASDAQ:META) is heavily investing in AI, with a projected US$1 billion increase in capital expenditures for 2024. CFO Susan Li acknowledged in the company's earnings call for Q3 of this year that both depreciation and operating expenses will grow next year as Meta expands its AI infrastructure and product line.
Overall, the AI landscape in 2025 hinges significantly on whether Big Tech can deliver on its ambitious promises, and recent commentary suggests that the rate of AI improvement may be slowing down. Several AI investors, founders and CEOs told TechCrunch in November that the focus may shift to efficiency and specialized AI solutions.
Test-time compute, which gives AI models more time to “think” before answering a question, emerged as part of the new era of scaling laws toward the end of 2024. Scaling laws are described by TechCrunch as the methods and expectations that labs have used to increase the capabilities of their models.
This development has fueled a growing belief — held by experts like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — that artificial general intelligence (AGI) may be closer than previously anticipated.
Beyond the evolution of scaling laws, Konstantine Buhler of Sequoia Capital told Bloomberg News that 2025 is poised to be a breakout year for AI agents. These sophisticated programs, capable of independently performing tasks and making decisions, have the potential to revolutionize how we interact with technology and automate complex processes.
While the transformative potential of AI spans countless industries, the scale and timing of substantial returns remain uncertain as we navigate this uncharted technological territory.
AI hardware and infrastructure developments to watch
Regardless of the exact timeline or nature of AGI's arrival, one thing is certain: the race to develop and deploy advanced AI is driving an insatiable demand for powerful hardware, and key companies are stepping up.
“While the mega-cap cloud companies will capture a lot of future revenue opportunities for AI, they are still in spending mode right now. They’re spending heavily on semiconductors, data center infrastructure, and energy,” Nicholas Mersch, associate portfolio manager at Purpose Investments, wrote in a July market commentary note.
The buildout is ongoing, and Big Tech’s latest round of quarterly reports indicates no immediate slowdown in infrastructure spending. This dynamic positions key hardware players like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM), NVIDIA and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) for potentially stronger near-term returns.
For its part, Goldman Sachs predicts that investor focus will now shift from AI infrastructure to a wider “Phase 3” of AI application deployment and monetization. Companies of interest include software and services firms.
Lux Research highlights two primary models: the monopoly model and the "walled garden" approach.
Companies like NVIDIA, Meta and Microsoft are pursuing a monopoly strategy, aiming to capture a large market share and maximize value extraction from a broad user base. Challenges include competition and pressure to keep prices low.
Companies can also adopt a "walled garden" approach, similar to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) ecosystem, which prioritizes a smaller, more engaged user base. By providing premium features and exclusive content, companies can increase value generated per user. This model may face challenges in achieving the same level of scale as the monopoly model.
Investor takeaway
The outlook for the tech sector and the broader stock market in 2025 is cautiously optimistic.
AI is expected to continue playing a pivotal role, with the race for AI dominance fueling investments in infrastructure and innovation, and positioning key hardware and software players for potential gains.
However, the profitability of AI investments remains to be seen. Companies' ability to adapt and capitalize on emerging opportunities will be crucial for sustained success in the dynamic landscape of 2025.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Syntheia and Zero Candida Technologies are clients of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.
RocketBoots Limited (ASX: ROC) – Reinstatement to Quotation
Description
The suspension of trading in the securities of RocketBoots Limited (‘ROC’) will be lifted immediately following the release by ROC of an announcement regarding the details of the capital raise, board changes and remuneration updates.
Issued by
ASX Compliance
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Rocketboots 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.
RocketBoots Successfully Completes Capital Raise and Board Changes; Positioned to Deliver International Expansion in 2025
Artificial Intelligence software company RocketBoots Limited (ASX:ROC) (RocketBoots or the Company), is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Roy McKelvie as Chairman, to guide the company through a period of material scaling. Mr McKelvie will invest $200k in RocketBoots, subject to shareholder approval, and cornerstone a raise for $500k at $0.085 per share (before costs) with other sophisticated investors (Placement).
Highlights
- RocketBoots appoints experienced investor and growth company specialist Roy McKelvie as Chairman
- New Chairman to invest in RocketBoots along with other sophisticated investors in a Placement to raise $500k
- Funds will primarily be used to execute on sales and customer initiatives that will deliver international expansion with a number of enterprise customers
- Further progress has been made with advanced stage customer discussions with several outcomes expected in early CY2025.
Transforming for Growth
Appointment of Mr Roy McKelvie
The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Roy McKelvie as Independent, Non-Executive Chairman effective today, who will replace Mr Hugh Bradlow. Mr McKelvie’s experience both investing in and leading growth phase businesses will be crucial to RocketBoots as it enters a major scaling phase with large customer contracting decisions approaching.
Mr McKelvie is well placed to provide corporate and public markets support during the Company’s next phase of international expansion, having over 25 years’ experience in private equity and financial markets in the US, UK, continental Europe, Asia and Australia. He has worked and consulted to companies across multiple sectors including financial services, resources, retail, business services and FMCG.
Mr McKelvie is currently Chairman at WageSafe, Pathify Holdings Inc, Infocus Wealth Management and Encompass Corporation. Prior to this, he was CEO of Transfield Holdings (previously ASX listed), MD and CEO of Gresham Private Equity, and MD and Asian Head of Deutsche Bank Capital Partners.
He has a BSc in Production Engineering from the University of Strathclyde and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh Business School.
RocketBoots Board of Directors would like to express their deep gratitude to Mr Bradlow for his services to the Company and as founding Chair. The Board thanks him for his substantial contribution taking RocketBoots to this point as we approach a material growth phase.
Mr McKelvie’s key employment terms are described in Appendix A.
CEO & Board Remuneration update
As a part of the transition for growth, the Company undertook a review of the remuneration package of the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Joel Rappolt and the Board. The review focused on how best to align delivery of Company milestones with value to shareholders and reflects that no increases have occurred since IPO in 2021. As a result of the review, the Board confirms that the CEO’s total remuneration package has changed, effective as at 27 December 2024. Mr Rappolt’s new remuneration package is set out in Appendix B and the Board’s, which is subject to shareholder approval, set out in Appendix A.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Rocketboots 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.
BlinkLab Limited (ASX: BB1) – Trading Halt
Description
The securities of BlinkLab Limited (‘BB1’) will be placed in trading halt at the request of BB1, pending it releasing an announcement. Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in trading halt until the earlier of the commencement of normal trading on Friday, 20 December 2024 or when the announcement is released to the market.
Issued by
ASX Compliance
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Blinklab 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.
AI Market 2024 Year-End Review
Competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector escalated dramatically in 2024, with major tech companies investing billions in a race to research and develop advanced AI technologies.
This surge in investment spurred rapid advancements, fierce competition and a wave of innovation that has the potential to reshape the technological landscape moving forward.
Here the Investing News Network delves into the trends that defined the AI sector in 2024.
Competition heats up among AI heavyweights
As mentioned, major tech companies jumped headfirst into AI in 2024.
For its part, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) began the year by rebranding its Bard chatbot as Gemini. The February decision streamlined its AI products under a single brand, showcasing a move toward a more sophisticated and unified AI experience. Its newest interaction, Gemini 2.0, was released on December 11.
Meanwhile, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) deepened its partnership with OpenAI, investing another US$750 million during an October funding round worth US$6.6 billion. This latest round brought the company behind ChatGPT to a total valuation of US$157 billion. According to SEC filings, Microsoft’s total investment in OpenAI has now reached US$13 billion.
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), SoftBank (TSE:9434) and a handful of venture capital firms also participated in the round, but under the stipulation that OpenAI shift control of its dealings to a for-profit arm.
This sparked rumors that a potential initial public offering on the horizon.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), notably missing from the list of investors who participated in OpenAI's October funding round, has opted for a more independent path, focusing on internal AI development.
At its annual developer conference from June 10 to 14, it unveiled Apple Intelligence for iOS18, saying it was coming to iPhone 16, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia users. However, the company also shared plans to integrate ChatGPT in some products, like its voice-activated assistant Siri, as a supplemental layer on top of Apple Intelligence.
Apple performance, January 1 to December 17, 2024.
Chart via Google Finance.
The company's share price gained almost 8 percent by the end of the conference.
Apple Intelligence was released for qualifying models on October 28, and the newest software update, including ChatGPT for writing tools and Siri, was released on December 11.
OpenAI itself released GPT-4o on May 13, saying that it was optimized for multimodal tasks like analyzing audio and video. Later in the year, on September 12, the company previewed its first o1 model. OpenAI’s o1 series is designed to spend more time “thinking” before it responds and possesses advanced reasoning skills.
However, shortly after the model was released, The Information reported that o1 showed a slower rate of improvement compared to previous models, exposing potential limitations to continuous advancements in AI capabilities.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), while less focused on consumer-facing AI products, invested heavily in building out its cloud infrastructure and allocated another US$4 billion to AI research company and OpenAI rival Anthropic on November 22. This brings Amazon’s total investment in Anthropic to US$8 billion. As part of this expanded partnership with Amazon, Anthropic also made Amazon Web Services its primary cloud provider.
Meta (NASDAQ:META) focused on integrating generative AI across its platforms in 2024, leading to enhancements like better ad targeting and content recommendations. The company also released the MTIA v2 chip, an improved version of its AI inference chip that is designed to handle the massive amount of data generated by Meta’s customer base. The newest version of Meta’s open-sourced large language model, Llama 3, was released on April 18.
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, upgraded its large language model Grok-2. A beta version of Grok-2 was released on August 13 and was made available to all X users on December 12. Grok-2 was trained on xAI’s supercomputer Colossus, which is powered by 100,000 NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) and came online on September 11. The company held two US$6 billion funding rounds in 2024, and as of November 28 was valued at a staggering US$50 billion.
Hardware is king
Vertical integration gained momentum in 2024 as companies invested in more parts of the chip-making process.
NVIDIA maintained its dominance, attracting attention with outstanding earnings seasons and intermittently earning the title of the world’s most valuable company. The company set the stage for exponential further growth when it introduced its Blackwell architecture at the GPU Technology Conference in March.
However, the company has faced unexpected design hurdles that have delayed the debut of Blackwell GPUs. While no official release date was set, it was widely speculated that they would be available towards the end of 2024. A progress update will reportedly be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
NVIDIA performance, January 1 to December 17, 2024.
Chart via Google Finance.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) (NASDAQ:AMD), NVIDIA's most direct competitor, reported a 9 percent increase in revenue in Q2, driven by its MI300X AI chip. MI300X combines GPU and central processing unit capabilities into a single chip, giving a leg up over NVIDIA, which designs both chips separately to work together.
Also in 2024, AMD collaborated with a handful of software and hardware companies to develop a new AI accelerator standard that is capable of challenging NVIDIA's NVLink.
2024 presented chip designers with a challenge as customers like Apple and Google increasingly moved chip design in-house. Made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) (NASDAQ:TSM), Apple’s A- and M-series chips feature a neural engine to enable on-device AI and powered a slew of new products released this year.
Google released its Tensor G4 chip, designed in collaboration with Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and manufactured by TSMC. The G4 chip powers Google’s refreshed lineup of Pixel devices, released on August 13.
The shifting trends resulted in TSMC emerging as an undisputed victor. The company reported outstanding revenue and profits in 2024, fueled by a surge in demand for powerful chips and its advanced manufacturing technologies.
Its share price hit an intraday high of US$211.93 on October 17 following its Q3 results, and it recorded an all-time high closing share price of US$205.19 that same day.
According to a December 9 report by Taipei-based market intelligence provider TrendForce, TSMC increased its share of the wafer foundry market to 65 percent in the third quarter.
TSMC performance, January 1 to December 17, 2024.
Chart via Google Finance.
Another chip company, Broadcom, successfully navigated 2024 by diversifying into software through its acquisition of VMware. Broadcom, which plays a crucial role in the semiconductor industry by designing and manufacturing chips that enable the realization of software objectives, reported record revenue for its 2024 fiscal year,
The rise was driven by strong demand for its semiconductor products and the successful integration of VMware. The company’s AI-related revenue more than tripled, and its quarterly dividend rose by 11 percent.
In contrast, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), which remained largely focused on the hardware market this past year, appeared more vulnerable to the industry’s shifting tides.
Even industry giants like Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) faced their share of turbulence. While its foundry business struggled, Intel’s computer parts division did well, with its Core Ultra processors powering a lineup of AI-enabled laptops from Microsoft and Dell (NYSE:DELL). Dell also pushed into hybrid solutions and edge computing with its APEX portfolio.
Broadcom, Qualcomm and Intel performance, January 1 to December 17, 2024.
Chart via Google Finance.
AI hype pays dividends for tech giants
Despite a notable pullback in Q2 and Q3 due in part to investor concerns about the long-term returns of massive AI investments, 2024 was a year of strong financial performances for tech giants, as evidenced by their dividend payouts.
Meta announced cash dividend payments in May and September, while in Microsoft said in September that it would reward shareholders with a 10 percent increase to its quarterly dividend payment.
Alphabet also issued quarterly dividends for the first time in 2024, distributing payments three times.
It's worth noting that the initial surge in spending and subsequent pullback could have been influenced by a variety of factors, including hype cycles, macroeconomic conditions and evolving understandings of AI's capabilities and limitations.
Investor takeaway
Ultimately, despite occasional fluctuations and concerns, investor confidence in the tech sector remained strong throughout 2024, with funding continuing to flow. As of mid-December, shares of Microsoft were up over 21 percent year-to-date, while Alphabet was up by over 44 percent and NVIDIA was up an astonishing 166 percent.
In 2024, the AI sector experienced rapid advancements and fierce competition, driven by substantial investments from tech giants. As the technology continues to mature, the stage is set for continued innovation and disruption, promising an exciting future for AI and its applications.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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