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Retail Traders Did a Thing (Maybe)

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Litquidity Capital
May 16, 2025

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Good Morning,

Retail traders seemingly beat out institutional investors in the April turmoil, at a time where names like Berkshire Hathaway avoided the dip and Michael Burry sold his entire stocks portfolio.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 5/15/2025 market close.

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Markets

  • US stocks gained yesterday as traders continued to digest trade talks optimism

    • S&P rose for a fourth-straight day

  • Canada's TSX index hit a new ATH after rising for an eight-straight day 

  • India's Nifty 50 index hit a seven-month high

  • Russian ruble hit a two-year high amid Ukraine peace talks

  • Correlation between the dollar and G10 currencies fell to a seven-year low

Earnings

  • Alibaba missed Q4 earnings and revenue estimates, despite 18% growth in cloud revenue as macro headwinds and lingering US-China trade tensions continued to weigh on consumer sentiment (CNBC)

  • Applied Materials missed Q2 revenue estimates due to weaker sales in its largest segment and ongoing export control uncertainties, though it beat on earnings as strong investment in advanced chips partially offset a slowdown in ICAPS (RT)

  • Cava beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates as same-store sales jumped 11% on 7.5% traffic growth, outperforming peers amid broader consumer pullback, while maintaining its FY same-store sales forecast (CNBC)

  • Walmart beat Q1 earnings estimates but narrowly missed on sales and warned of imminent tariff-driven price hikes; the retailer also reported its first-ever quarterly profit for global e-commerce amid growth in online ads and its third-party marketplace (CNBC)

  • John Deere beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates on cost cuts and inventory management, but trimmed its FY profit forecast amid softer equipment demand from farmers and ongoing tariff-related cost pressures (RT)

  • Take-Two Interactive beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on strong performance in NBA 2K25, GTA Online, Red Dead Redemption 2, and others, but issued weak FY bookings guidance amid delays to GTA VI (BBG)

  • Full calendar here 

Prediction Markets

  • Surely, these won't create any controversy.

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Headline Roundup

  • Retail traders beat out institutional investors in April turmoil (BBG)

  • US PPI inflation slowed to 2.4% YoY in biggest drop in five years (BBG)

  • J Pow signaled changes to Fed policy framework set in 2020 (BBG)

  • Jamie Dimon still sees possibility of US recession (BBG)

  • Japan economy shrank in Q1 for first time in a year (WSJ)

  • US IPOs come off the sidelines as tariff shock eases (BBG)

  • Europe is bracing for wave of IPOs in coming weeks (BBG)

  • Legal advisers are optimistic about Chinese M&A recovery (FT)

  • Berkshire Hathaway did not buy the dip in April (BBG)

  • Michael Burry sold virtually all stocks from portfolio (BBG)

  • Quant traders are rushing into Saudi Arabia (BBG)

  • Falling rate drive best month for Brazil hedge funds since 2007 (BBG)

  • Partners Group will lobby Trump to bless PE in 401(k)s (BBG)

  • EY delayed start dates for consulting recruits for third-straight year (FT)

  • BlackRock won vote for CEO's $30M pay despite proxy opposition (RT)

  • StanChart builds financial sponsors group in US IB push (RT)

  • Jamie Dimon reiterated demand for work-from-office (BBG)

  • UAE pledged to invest $200B in US (RT)

  • Shein lowered US prices amid US-China trade deal (BBG)

  • Russia oil-export revenue fell to its lowest since June 2023 (BBG)

  • Trump agenda hit a speed bump in Congress (RT)

  • US homebuilder sentiment fell to the lowest since 2023 (BBG)

  • Harvard paid top endowment execs a combined $26M in 2023 (P&I)

  • Corporate America is leaving more jobs unfilled (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Ares' credit arm entered exclusive talks to acquire a 20% stake in Italian energy giant Eni's renewables unit Plenitude, valued at over ~$13.5B, including debt

  • Khosla Ventures-founder Vinod Khosla, Bessemer Venture Partners, and ICONIQ Growth agreed to acquire a 6% stake in NFL's San Francisco 49ers at a record $8.5B valuation

  • Strathcona Resources will sell shale oil assets in Western Canada in three separate deals totaling $2B

  • Sports goods retailer DICK'S Sporting Goods agreed to acquire footwear retailer Foot Locker for $2.4B cash at an 87% premium

  • Electric utility Vistra agreed to acquire seven natural gas-fired power plants for $1.9B to meet growing AI demand

  • Irish food manufacturer Greencore agreed to acquire UK grocery supplier Bakkavor Group in a $1.6B cash and stock deal

  • 36 indigenous groups in BC, Canada agreed to buy a 12.5% stake in pipeline giant Enbridge's Westcoast pipeline system

VC

  • Whalar Group, an influencer marketing agency representing 300+ TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube creators, raised funding at a $400M valuation from Marc Benioff, Neal H. Moritz, and Shopify

  • Entrata, an OS for multifamily communities, raised a $200M minority investment at a $4.3B valuation from Blackstone

  • Sprinter Health, a mobile healthcare provider, raised a $55M Series B led by General Catalyst

  • Zeno Power, a startup developing nuclear batteries, raised a $50M Series B led by Hanaco Ventures

  • Cognichip, an AI model to speed up chip manufacturing processes, raised a $33M seed round led by Lux Capital and Mayfield

  • AI video generator startup Hedra raised a $32M Series A at a $200M valuation led by a16z

  • Contract development and manufacturing organization Kincell Bio raised $22M in funding led by NewSpring Capital

  • Wi-Charge, an Israeli startup specializing in long-range wireless power, raised a $20M Series C led by Standard Investments

  • Fiber optic sensing startup Optics11 raised a $19M round from FORWARD.one, SET Ventures, Join Capital, and Value Creation Capital

  • Solestial, a solar energy company for space, raised a $17M Series A led by AE Ventures

  • Virtual try-on startup Doji raised a $14M seed round led by Thrive Capital

  • Defense tech startup Adyton raised $11M in funding led by Venrock

  • Row Zero, an enterprise spreadsheet built for big data and security, raised a $10M seed round led by IA Ventures

  • Indian ice cream brand Hocco raised a $10M Series B led by Chona Family Office and Sauce VC

  • Metafoodx, an AI food operations company, raised $9.4M in funding led by Trustbridge Partners

  • KYD Labs, a blockchain-based ticketing platform, raised a $7M seed round led by a16z crypto

  • TaleMonster Games, an Turkish studio bringing depth and creativity to casual puzzle games, raised a $7M seed round led by General Catalyst

  • French carbon credits startup Riverse raised a $5.6M seed round led by Alven and Racine

  • akeno, a German AI-driven software startup for real-time adaptive production planning, raised a $5M seed round led by Cusp Capital 

  • Microbe-based sensor startup Fieldstone Bio raised a $5M seed round led by Ubiquity Ventures

  • CarbonSix, a robotics startup specializing in AI-powered manipulation, raised a $4M seed round led by Foothill Ventures and Storm Ventures

  • Plakar, a French open-source backup and restore platform, raised a $3M pre-seed round led by Seedcamp

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Thoma Bravo sold its remaining 7% stake in Nasdaq for ~$3.4B

  • Chinese drugmaker Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is seeking to raise up to ~$1.3B in a Hong Kong listing

  • A unit of Singapore Telecommunications offered to sell shares in Indian wireless carrier Bharti Airtel to raise $1B 

  • Arabian Construction is planning to raise several hundred million dollars in a UAE IPO this year

  • Chinese cancer biotech BlissBio is considering a Hong Kong IPO

Debt

  • Ontario plans to borrow $42.7B to fund a larger budget deficit and infrastructure spending, with an increased portion expected from FX bond sales

  • Distressed Hong Kong developer Parkview raised a $38M private credit loan from Asian investment firm PAG

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • FTX bankruptcy advisers will distribute $5B to creditors/customers in a second payment round which will see creditors received 54%-120% of their claims

  • LG-unit LG Chemical is seeking to raise $1B in exchangeable bonds of LG Energy Solution to refinance a previous issuance

  • South African state-owned Land & Agricultural Development Bank is in talks to raise up to $1B to aid its recovery from a default five years ago

  • CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger, Giant Eagle, and others will acquire pharmacy assets from over 1k Rite Aid store locations in separate transactions as Rite Aid moves forward with bankruptcy sales

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • European PE firm Inflexion raised $3B for its first multi-asset continuation fund for four PortCos led by  Carlyle AlpInvest, HarbourVest Partners, and Lexington Partners in the largest such fund in Europe

  • Mark Cuban-led Harbinger Sports Partners launched as a $750M PE fund focused on professional sports

  • Elham Credit Partners, the private credit arm of Asian PE firm Hillhouse, is set to raise $750M for a debut private credit fund

  • PX3 Partners, UK PE firm founded by ex-Rhone Group execs in 2021, raised $560M for its debut fund

  • European boutique asset manager Unigestion raised $308M for a targeted $450M third EM PE FOF

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Coinbase experienced major hack one day after S&P 500 inclusion

  • Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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  • We are working with an anonymous VC / growth equity firm based in Los Angeles to help hire an analyst

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.

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