A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week
Dream Office Real Estate Investment Trust (DOG)
D. UN – TSX
How to get workers back to the office: 1) Open bar with complimentary appetizers from 2 to 4 p.m. daily; 2) Free massages; 3) Potato sack races! Companies had better think of something quick, or workers may never return. With its units already down by more than half since before the pandemic, Dream Office REIT sank after Canaccord Genuity cut its recommendation to “hold” from “buy,” citing the real estate investment trust’s vacancy rate of 19.8 per cent, a general downturn in office leasing activity and concerns about a slowing economy. Dream Office investors wish they’d wake up from this nightmare.
Virgin Galactic Holdings (DOG)
SPCE – NYSE
It was a tragic week for ocean tourism. Why not give space tourism a try? Shares of Virgin Galactic had been rising as the company, founded by billionaire Richard Branson, prepares for its first commercial space flight later this month after a string of technical and regulatory delays. But the stock fell on Friday after the company disclosed that it completed a US$300-million equity issue and plans to raise an additional US$400-million, with proceeds to be used for “development of its spaceship fleet and infrastructure to scale its commercial operations” and for general corporate purposes. I would love to, but I’m washing my hair that day.
Northwest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (DOG)
NWH. UN – TSX
Somebody call a doctor! Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT just took a turn for the worse. Weighed down by higher leverage and rising interest rates on its variable debt, the owner of medical office buildings, clinics and hospitals had reached an agreement to sell 70 per cent of its assets in Britain to a joint venture partner. But this week, the REIT abruptly announced that the deal fell apart at the 11th hour. Northwest – which also owns properties in Canada, the United States, Brazil, Europe and Australia – said it will look for a new partner to recapitalize its British portfolio. But with its unit price tumbling and the yield exceeding 12 per cent, investors are probably wondering if the health care REIT might have to take a scalpel to its distribution.
Dice Therapeutics (STAR)
DICE – Nasdaq
There once was a drug stock named Dice
Whose investors were feeling quite nice
Eli Lilly just hollered
“Here’s 2.4 billion dollars!”
And the shares went way, way up in price
Evertz Technologies (STAR)
ET – TSX
True or false: When an analyst uses words such as “blowout,” “big,” “massive” and “strong” to describe a company’s earnings, it’s usually a sign the stock will rise. Answer: True. Shares of Evertz Technologies posted a one-day gain of 14.3 per cent after the company – which sells technology for the television, telecommunications and streaming industries – posted record quarterly revenue of $128.9-million, up 11.1 per cent from a year earlier, and earnings of $18.6-million, or 24 cents a share – beating expectations on the top and bottom lines. In addition to his other superlatives, Canaccord Genuity analyst Robert Young cited an “impressive bump” in Evertz’s order backlog, all of which prompted him to hike his price target on the shares to $19 from $15 and reiterate his “buy” recommendation. So I guess he likes the company?