TOP STORY
🚀 ARM Rises 19% in Nasdaq Debut, Kicking Off IPO Season

This week, British chip designer Arm Holdings ($ARM) made its debut on the Nasdaq. The stock closed the week at $60.75, up 19.11% from its initial public offering (IPO) price of $51 per share.

This comes after Nvidia's failed acquisition of the company, which fell through due to regulatory challenges.

Here’s a timeline of Arm’s ascent:

• July 2016: Softbank took Arm private for $32 billion.

• September 2020: Nvidia sought to acquire Arm for $40 billion.

• February 2022: Nvidia terminates acquisition of Arm.

• September 2023: Arm Holdings closed its first week at a ~$62 billion market cap.

Even after the IPO, a considerable portion of Arm's shares remain private, with SoftBank retaining a massive 90.6% stake. This limits the number of publicly available shares and potentially fuels future trading volatility.

📆 IPOs Are Back with a Bang

Following a 20-month drought of tech IPOs, the market is buzzing with activity as companies like Instacart, Klaviyo, Arm Holdings, and Birkenstock move to go public.

🛒 Instacart ($CART)

The grocery delivery app out of San Francisco, ramped up its proposed IPO price by 10% on Friday and is now eyeing a $10 billion valuation.

Despite the uptick, it is still a huge drop from its $39 billion valuation over two years ago.

The company plans to go public sometime next week. Read more here.

📧 Klaviyo ($KYVO)

The marketing platform for e-commerce brands is also gearing up for an IPO, targeting a valuation of up to $8.4 billion.

Although this is a step down from the $9.5 billion valuation Klaviyo fetched in its last capital raise in 2021, the company experienced a 51% YoY revenue increase in Q2 2023, and maintains a portfolio of over 130,000 customers globally.

The company is expected to debut sometime this month. Read more here.

👟 Birkenstock ($BIRK)

The iconic German footwear manufacturer filed for an initial public offering on Tuesday. The 249-year-old company had a 21% surge in revenue in the nine months leading up to June 30th.

The company will go public at an $8 billion valuation, just 2 years after being acquired for $4.3 billion.

The company is expected to debut sometime in October. Read more here

FROM OUR FRIENDS @ HARVEST ETFS

🤖 Large-Cap Technology - Leading The Way

The technology sector has been a market growth leader for much of the past 20 years. Investors in tech have come to expect innovation from big tech companies, driving growth opportunities over the long term.

In this guide to tech ETFs, Harvest ETFs offers a breakdown of why the technology sector is so attractive for many Canadian investors. It includes key stats on tech’s dominance, insights into the future prospects of the tech sector, and a video explanation of the Harvest Tech Achievers Growth & Income ETF (HTA:TSX) from Harvest ETFs President & CEO Michael Kovacs.

The guide also offers insights into two leading Harvest ETFs with technology exposure:

The Harvest Tech Achievers Growth & Income ETF (HTA:TSX)

• Core US Large Cap portfolio of dominant technology leaders

• Exposure to 20 large capitalization global technology stocks

• Attractive monthly income with opportunity for capital appreciation

• Covered call strategy used to enhance portfolio income potential and lower portfolio volatility

• Available in multiple currency classes: Hedged, Unhedged, US dollar

The Harvest Tech Achievers Enhanced Income ETF (HTAE:TSX)

• Provides enhanced exposure to the Harvest Tech Achievers Enhanced Income ETF (HTA:TSX), which provides:

  • Diversified exposure to 20 large capitalization global technology leaders

  • Direct exposure to a portfolio of large-cap tech leaders and uses a covered call strategy to increase income potential and reduce volatility

  • Attractive monthly income with opportunity for capital appreciation

• Employs a modest leverage at around 25% to achieve enhanced monthly cashflow and growth prospects

MOST TALKED ABOUT THIS WEEK
📱 Apple Unveils New iPhone and Watch, Ramps Up ESG Efforts

Apple made several product announcements at its recent 'Wonderlust' event, with a focus on the new iPhone 15 lineup and the new Apple Watch series.

Just three days after the announcement, the iPhone 15 Pro Max saw a surge in preorders, seeing delivery delays stretching into mid-November, despite the $100 price hike from its previous model.

In addition to these product announcements, the Apple event highlighted two other major areas:

🔋 USB-C

Apple revealed a significant shift in its charging infrastructure — the replacement of its proprietary Lightning port with a USB-C charging port.

This change was influenced by a European Union mandate requiring the integration of USB-C ports in mobile devices by late 2024.

It’s unclear if Apple envisions a long-term commitment to the USB-C port or if will steer towards wireless charging, similar to its decision to remove the headphone jack in the iPhone 7.

♻️ ESG Efforts

Apple introduced carbon-neutral versions of its Apple Watch Series 9, SE, and Ultra 2 models, aligning with its goal to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

The initiative leverages clean energy in manufacturing and shifts half of the shipping logistics to low-carbon options like boats and trains.

The green-tagged watches, which include recycled materials, remain priced the same as standard versions, signaling Apple's commitment to affordable sustainability.

AUTOMOBILES
🚗 United Auto Workers Strike Against GM, Ford, and Stellantis

In a significant labor action not seen since 2019, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union members have gone on strike, affecting Ford ($F), General Motors ($GM), and Stellantis ($STLA) facilities.

The strike, involving approximately 13,000 workers erupted following a contract expiration with the "Big Three" automakers on Friday amid unresolved issues about salary increases and benefits.

✊ Here were some of UAW’s demands:

• A larger share of the companys’ profits for the workers.

• Shorter work weeks to improve work-life balance.

• Restoration of benefit pensions to secure employees' retirement.

• Strengthened job security, especially with the ongoing shift to electric vehicles.

Back in 2019, approximately 46,000 GM workers rallied against plant closures. That strike resulted in GM agreeing to invest billions in a battery joint venture in Lordstown, Ohio, and permitting the closure of three other factories.

Today, under UAW President Shawn Fain, the strategy involves all 3 automakers in the negotiations. The walkout occurred at specific sites including GM in Wentzville (Missouri), Stellantis in Toledo (Ohio), and Ford in Wayne (Michigan), with the possibility of expanding to other locations.

The industry watches cautiously, noting the effects of the 2019 strike which spanned 40 days and cost GM $3 billion.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

😍 Brandon Beavis Joins Team Blossom as Co-Founder and CMO

Blossom is excited to officially welcome a new co-founder to the team - the great Brandon Beavis 😍

Brandon started working with us as an advisor about a year and a half ago, and since then has had a transformational impact on Blossom. From building the strongest fin-fluencer ambassador team in all of Canada to playing an instrumental role in growing our community from 1,000 to over 50,000 members, to leading the development of the new Blossom Learn portal (coming on Monday 👀), everything Brandon touches turns to gold and it was an absolute no-brainer making him an official member of the founding team. 🏆

For those of you who don't know, Brandon is one of the OG investing YouTubers in Canada. Brandon has amassed over 200,000 subscribers and 18,000,000 views on his YouTube where he's been making tier-1 investing content for over 6 years. Brandon is the perfect embodiment of Blossom's mission to make investing more accessible for all and has inspired thousands to get serious about investing and personal finance. 🤩

 FROM THE BLOSSOM COMMUNITY

🎙 Top Discussions This Week

🗞️ What else you might’ve missed:

• Adobe's ($ADBE) stock is down despite surpassing Q3 expectations and the commercial release of its generative AI platform.

• Google ($GOOG) is reportedly nearing the release of Gemini AI its rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

• Netflix ($NFLX) is down after its CFO said that he expects margins from advertising & password crackdowns to take time before materializing.

• Planet Fitness ($PLNT) is down after announcing the replacement of its CEO.

• Salesforce ($CRM) is hiring 3,300 people after eliminating 10% of its workforce earlier this year.

• Tesla ($TSLA) is planning to double its component sourcing from India up to $1.7-1.9 billion this year.