A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week
Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (STAR)
Oh baby, it’s cold outside – book me that trip to the Caribbean and make it pronto. Oh wait – what’s that you say? No flights? Okay then, I’ll just settle for sitting by a cozy fire at my favourite restaurant and strolling through the heated mall. Not that either? A warm movie theatre? Oh, forget it, let’s settle for a walk in the park – I’ll be sure to wear a nice parka. Canada Goose Holdings Inc. soared this past week after earnings and revenue for its most recent quarter came in far above analyst expectations even as seven of its 28 stores were closed because of the pandemic. It had a 39-per-cent surge in e-commerce sales, and booming sales in China, to thank for that. This goose might not be heading south this winter, but it sure has investors flying high.
Cameco Corp. (STAR)
Brace yourself, uranium could be poised for a “violent” move higher in the coming year. Sound familiar? You may recall this was an annual prediction that made the rounds on Bay Street for the better part of the past decade, ever since 2011′s Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan caused a freefall in the price of uranium and diminished the outlook for nuclear power. The thinking has been reactor restarts and depleting inventories of unused uranium would recharge prices – and Cameco Corp., the world’s largest producer, would benefit greatly. It never quite worked out that way. But this week, Cameco regained some glow after Bank of America speculated that U.S. nuclear plant retirements over the next 10 years could be postponed thanks to President Joe Biden’s inclusion of the fuel in his clean energy plan. Keep the faith, uranium investors.
Harley-Davidson Inc. (DOG)
Turns out, even a pandemic can’t get many people to climb onto new Harleys to escape into the socially distant outdoors. At a time when sales of many powersports are booming, Harley-Davidson Inc. is hitting fresh speed bumps, reporting fourth-quarter sales and profits this week that fell well short of expectations. Once a posterchild for rebellion, the company these days is struggling to gain traction among younger generations. To remedy that, it has now launched a new five-year strategic plan focused on things like growing electric bike sales, establishing a new pre-owned motorcycle program, and broadening the brand to appeal to those who don’t even ride the two-wheelers. With initiatives like these, it may well be time for a rebranding to Born to be Mild.
Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (STAR)
“The perfect lover is one who turns into a pizza at 4:00 a.m.” – sports and political blogger Charles Pierce
Okay, so maybe this sentiment is one that comes too easily when spending so much time of late with a significant other. But there can be little doubt that these have been boom times for pizza deliveries – and demand for those delicious pies may continue to climb with this weekend’s stay-at-home Super Bowl extravaganza. Investors have been helping themselves to extra helpings of Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund, encouraged by the resumption of distributions in December and a special payout that got delivered at the end of last month. We’ll find out how far this optimism is baked in when the company releases quarterly results this Wednesday. For now, unitholders have been seeing their dough rise for days.
S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (STAR)
Don’t look now, but the Rodney Dangerfield of stock indexes is really having its day. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index, filled with small caps and companies of an early stage, has been quietly generating some of the best index returns anywhere – surging more than 200 per cent since the lows of March, 2020. In the past year, it has not only easily outshone the S&P/TSX Composite, but also the S&P 500, the high-flying Nasdaq and even the world’s best known small-cap index, the Russell 2000. This is not your father’s Vancouver Stock Exchange – these days the Venture is filled with companies from a broad range of sectors that go well beyond resource diggers. At a time when money is easy and early stage companies are blossoming into bigger names, this exchange is finally getting some respect. And, for the most part, it doesn’t even have Redditors to thank for it.
Darcy Keith