5i Research Weekly Rockets and Duds

Welcome to week two of 5i Research's market ROCKETS AND DUDS

AppLovin Corp. $APP   True or False? AppLovin is a social media app where millions of customers rate all their favourite Tik Tok influencers and apps. Answer: False. AppLovin is a $142 billion tech company using AI to match advertiser demand to publishing supply. The company uses a bidding technology to optimize the value and response to ads, with in-game ads a big part of its business. APP stock added to its yearly gains this week (now up 907% this year) with a 19% weekly-gain. Investors continue to buy after its strong third-quarter earnings report and guidance. But this week buying also was heavy on speculation that the company would be added to the S&P 500 Index on Friday December 6 (it was not). Still, APP was certainly getting the 'love' this week.

SoundHound AI Inc.  $SOUN  'Helloz, weldcosmer to Tyms hortzons dravh throguhh', 'so that well bee, one lorge commie with won sucker?'. Wouldn't you love it if drive-throughs restaurants actually ever got your order right. Well, maybe AI can take care of that, and SOUN investors are going gaga over the possibility of more efficient ordering through AI, and of course the cost savings that come by having a robot take your order, rather than, say, an actual person that might need a job. Nevermind, SoundHound, often dubbed 'The voice of restaurant revolution'  rose 61% this week on the back of a new contract with Torchy's Tacos. This follows earlier deals with Chipotle, Jersey Mike's, White Castle, Panda Express and Church's Texas Chicken.  Of course, if robots can actually learn to speak better, a whole world of business applications could open up for SoundHound. Frankly, we don't care if it is a robot or a person taking our order--we just want the damn french fries we paid for to be in the bag after we drive away. 

Palantir Technologies Inc. $PLTR.  Two weeks ago, most analysts would have called Palantir one of the most expensive stocks in the market. Well, last week it got even more expensive, adding another 14% weekly gain, bringing its year to date move to 345%. Valuation? Who cares? It's only 200 times' earnings and 60 times' sales. The company signed numerous deals this week, with one announcement claiming 'it will ensure that the US government leads the world in artificial intelligence'. The US government granted the company authorization for two of its cloud services, effectively giving PLTR authorization to datamine even at  the highest security-clearance level of government data. Bad guys and government administration inefficiency: watch out!

Nebius Group NV $NBIS   Quiz: How can a Russian company be one of the hottest stocks in the market this week? Answer: Because it sold all of its Russian assets and its CEO renounced the Ukraine War and fled the country. Nebius, which is in the AI, data mining, crypto and GPU-hosting space, surged 67% this week as shares of the now-Netherlands based company came off of many investors' restricted lists following its restructuring a couple of months ago. It was also boosted by a $700 million 'strategic' financing, with that little tiny company Nvidia being one of its investors. The stock also got a boost from the most unlikely of sources: Citron Research, a famous short-seller, was tweeting very positive notes about the company, calling CEO Arkady Volozh the 'real deal'. For investors, it looks like 'nyet' has turned into 'Ja'. 

Intuitive Machines Inc. $LUNR    Aren't 'to the moon' stocks supposed to go up? Intuitive, which was the first private company to land on the moon in February, is targeting its second mission in the first quarter of 2025. Called a 'mini SpaceX', the company is expected to have more than $200 million in revenue this year, and is well-positioned to integrate itself with NASA's moon-monitoring programs, according to B Riley Securities this week. Still, the stock fell 24% this week as the company announced a large financing. We are fairly sure investors will get over the decline, though, considering the stock is up 386% so far in 2024, even after this week's hit.

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Analysts of 5i Research responsible for this report have a financial or other interest in
APP and PLTR.The i2i Fund has a financial or other interest in NBIS.