Nvidia Corp. (STAR)
NVDA – Nasdaq
True or false? When a stock has an extraordinarily large gain, it eventually comes crashing back to earth. Answer: false. Consider chip maker Nvidia. Propelled by huge growth in sales and earnings thanks to the boom in artificial intelligence, the shares more than tripled in 2023 to post the biggest advance on the S&P 500. With 2024 just a couple of weeks old, they’re picking up where they left off. The shares posted a string of record highs this week after the company unveiled new desktop graphics processors that target video-game enthusiasts and also offer enhanced AI capabilities. Assuming the shares continue rising at this pace, they’ll finish the year with a gain of about 1,600 per cent. Sounds like a slam dunk.
WD-40 Co. (STAR)
WDFC – Nasdaq
WD-40 doesn’t just make stuff to squirt on squeaky hinges. According to the company’s website, it’s a “global marketing organization dedicated to creating positive lasting memories by developing and selling products that solve problems in workshops, factories and homes around the world.” Give that copywriter a raise. The company was definitely giving investors some positive lasting memories after quarterly sales rose 12 per cent to US$140.4-million and net income jumped 25 per cent to US$17.5-million, sending the stock higher. Sing it, Barbra: “Memories, light the corners of my mind, misty watercoloured memories … of that rusty bolt I got unstuck with my trusty can of WD-40.”
Match Group Inc. (STAR)
MTCH – Nasdaq
Business quiz! Shares of Match Group jumped after: a) the company launched a new dating site exclusively for right-wing voters over the age of 50, called MAGA Mates; b) Match Group announced that its Tinder app will soon be open to dogs, cats and other domestic animals looking for a no-strings hookup; c) the Wall Street journal reported that activist investor Elliott Investment Management has accumulated a stake worth about US$1-billion and plans to push Match Group management to accelerate user growth, which has slowed since a surge of activity in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Answer: c.
Aritzia Inc. (STAR)
ATZ – TSX
Fashion’s a fickle thing. So are fashion investors, apparently. Shares of Vancouver-based apparel retailer Aritzia soared 175 per cent in 2020 and 2021, as its booming e-commerce business, U.S. expansion and popular “everyday luxury” apparel helped the company defy the pandemic-related slump hitting other chains. But in 2022 and 2023 the stock sank 47 per cent amid headwinds including rising product costs and higher wages. Now, the shares are back in vogue again: With revenue rising a better-than-expected 4.6 per cent in its latest quarter as consumers responded favourably to Aritzia’s latest styles, there’s nowhere for the stock to go but up. Until it goes down again.
Grifols SA (DOG)
GRFS – Nasdaq
There once was a drug stock named Grifols
Which came down with a bad case of sniffles
A short seller’s report
Had folks say: “abort”
And the stock price proceeded to shrivel
John Heinzl