Sundar land ☁️
Richest man, Car commerce, and More IPOs.
☀️ Morning, Thursday’s here.
📉 The year-end slowdown is real. But not for stocks.
👍 The Nasdaq just hit 20K—up over 35% this year, as the AI trade just won’t quit.
📈 The Sensex, up a respectable 13% so far this year, is held back by inflation and growth worries.
Let’s hit it.
1 Big Thing: Welcome to Sundar land ☁️
Google’s stock is soaring to all time highs, in a surprise comeback, as the company’s newest Quantum chip coupled with a new Gemini announcement, re-energized the markets.
Why care: ridiculed earlier for being too slow to act , despite having innovated the core of the technology powering GenAI, the shift in narrative favoring Google now is powerful to watch.
Two things brought us here:
Despite all the positing, Google’s core businesses continue to thrive in the AI era. Last quarter, they grew revenues by 15% YoY, making $90 billion.
They’re viewed as clear leaders in tech of the future. Quantum computing, Self-driving, and respectably competitive in AI.
Not to mention, they own their GenAI models, are building their own chips, have frontier research with projects like deep mind, and unrivaled consumer franchises with Android and other.
Big picture: despite the “disruptive” potential that AI holds, a lot of the value has accrued to existing market participants. The Mag 7 names are up near 75% year to date.
Zoom out: one of the biggest challenges to the Google stock was the legal hurdles it had to fight under the Biden admin. Some of those problems are expected to go away under the softer Trump admin.
2. IPO Temperature Still Hot 📈
Back home, while the Sensex and Nifty may show signs of tiring out, the IPO market continues to draw positive.
Across a few major bids, subscriptions looked positive:
In FinTech, the Mobikwik bid which is being pushed through at a considerably lower valuation is attracting solid interest. The IPO ended up being fully subscribed in less than 90 minutes of opening. Strong retail awareness around the brand has helped — as shown by nearly 27x over subscriptions received in the retail segment. The company is raising 572 crore in total.
The Vishal Mega Mart IPO is surprisingly struggling, securing only 0.51 times subscription on Day 1, which isn’t exactly bad but clearly trailing expectations. The bid is looking to raise over 8,000 crore, which is quite the size, and goes entirely to offer liquidity to the promoter, which isn’t a positive vibe.
Big picture: over 300 companies went public this year in India, up 22% YoY, while fundraising volumes grew over 140% YoY. 2025 is expected to be an even hotter year.
3. Elon tops $400 billion 🚀
The Trump-bet payed off big time, as Elon became of the firsts to hit a mind boggling $400 billion in net worth.
Why it matters: not that he needed the extra bills, but the turnaround speaks volumes about the shift in political and financial tides from just a few years ago.
In 2022, burdened with an expensive Twitter purchase, blocked from receiving his Tesla compensation, and snubbed by the Biden admin, things weren’t always this rosy for Musk.
What’s powering it: since election night, Tesla stock is up over 75%, on hopes that Trump dismantles autonomy regulation and allows robotaxis to take over America. Also, SpaceX recently raised at a $350 billion valuation.
Zoom out: this rise would put Musk in line with Rockefeller, who at one point was worth 1.5% of the U.S. GDP.
4. Who got the bag? 💸
Quick look at a few major raises from venture town:
Haber, a provider of automated water testing systems to industries, raised $44 million through a combination of equity and debt in its Series C round led by big names like Accel. Fresh money will be put towards accelerating a global expansion agenda. Haber wants to make industrial robots that automate manual processes, and is currently focused on water-testing solutions for industries like paper, food, etc.
Navanc, an early stage fintech play, raised $1 million in its seed round with the help of Inflection Point Ventures and others. Navanc ensures clear, trustworthy, and safe transactions in the property-tech sector. It is known for using AI and machine learning tools for collateral reporting to enhance credit decisions and managing portfolios for the BFSI industry.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🚗Car commerce: Amazon has launched Amazon Autos, allowing customers to find, order, and buy vehicles online, starting with Hyundai in 48 U.S. cities.
☕10-minute cafe: Zepto is launching a dedicated app for Zepto Cafe.
🚨FTC’s next chapter: Andrew Ferguson has replaced Lina Khan as FTC Chair. More acquisitions are expected to pass.
💳Level up: Swiggy introduces 'One BLCK', an invite-only membership with faster deliveries, complimentary perks, and priority support.
That’s a wrap! Don’t let the Weekday blues get to you.
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