A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today
On the rise
Facebook Inc. (FB-Q) jumped 1.4 per cent on Thursday after its stock was upgraded by an equity analyst at Guggenheim.
Michael Morris said he expects investors to “continue to gain comfort with the incremental financial risk created by content and privacy concerns.”
Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ-N) was up 6.6 per cent after reporting fourth-quarter results that topped expectations.
Excluding certain items, the company earned US$1.84 per share compared to the average analysts’ estimate of US$1.71 as beer sales rose 9.3 per cent from the previous quarter.
On Wednesday, the company announced a deal to sell 30 wine and brands, along with six winemaking facilities to E. & J. Gallo Winery for US$1.7-billion.
“One of the hallmarks of our success over the years has been our ability to evolve and stay on the forefront of emerging consumer trends,” said president and CEO Bill Newlands. “This decision will help enhance organizational focus on a more premium set of wine and spirits brands that better position our company to drive accelerated growth and shareholder value. In turn, Gallo is acquiring a collection of great brands that complement their operational model and business strategy to provide quality products to consumers at every price point.”
Boeing Co. (BA-N) rose 2.9 per cent in the wake of the release of a preliminary government report into the crash of Ethiopian Airlines.
Despite following all of Boeing’s recommended procedures, pilots were unable to prevent the “persistence” of “nose diving” by the Boeing Max 8 airplane that crashed and killed 157 people last month, according to newly released summaries.
Morgan Stanley analyst Rajeev Lalwani said the initial data from Ethiopian investigators indicated that the flight control system of the 737 MAX jet was the issue, which potentially took a worst case scenario off the table of an entirely new cause.
Village Farms International Inc. (VFF-T) rose 0.7 per cent after it announced a $20-million bought-deal offering. It has an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters which have agreed to purchase 1 million shares at $20 each.
The Company said it will use the net proceeds for working capital purposes, including the growth capital needs for its U.S. hemp business.
Premier Gold Mines Ltd (PG-T) erased early losses and rose 2 per cent after it announced an option agreement with Americas Silver Corp. (USA-T) to acquire the San Felipe Property, located 55 kilometres from its Mercedes Mine in Mexico.
“San Felipe represents a strategic asset, adding resources and providing a near-term development opportunity in close proximity to an existing operation,” said Premier president and CEO Ewan Downie. “We will assess options to bring San Felipe to production to complement existing production in Mexico”.
Shares of Americas Silver were up almost 24 per cent.
On the decline
Shares of Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) fell 4.9 per cent on Thursday following the release of a report from short-seller Citron Research.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA-Q) dropped 8.2 per cent after the electric carmaker’s first-quarter deliveries dropped 31 per cent and fell well short of expectations on the Street.
After market close, the company announced it delivered 50,900 Model 3s in the quarter, falling short of analysts’ estimates of 58,900. Overall, deliveries of all models fell to 63,000 vehicles, including 12,100 Model S sedans and Model X SUVs.
“Due to a massive increase in deliveries in Europe and China, which at times exceeded 5x that of prior peak delivery levels, and many challenges encountered for the first time, we had only delivered half of the entire quarter’s numbers by March 21, ten days before end of quarter,” the company said. “Because of the lower than expected delivery volumes and several pricing adjustments, we expect Q1 net income to be negatively impacted. Even so, we ended the quarter with sufficient cash on hand.”
In reaction to the results, several equity analyst dropped their target price for Tesla shares.
Goodfood Market Corp. (FOOD-T) lost 7.3 per cent after its quarterly results fell short of analyst expectations.
The Montreal-based home meal solutions company reported second-quarter revenue and earnings per share of $36.6-million and a 13-cent loss, respectively, versus a forecast of $38.8-million and an 8-cent loss.
In a research note, Acumen Capital analyst Jim Byrne said: “We continue to rate the shares a BUY. In our view Goodfood offers investors an opportunity in an early-stage growth business at relatively attractive valuation.”
Richelieu Hardware Ltd. (RCH-T) finished 6.1 per cent lower on the release of its first-quarter financial results on Thursday.
The Montreal-based company saw a 12-per-cent year-over-year drop in EBITDA to $17.4-million, while earnings per share dipped 14 per cent to 18 cents.
“In the first quarter, generally the weakest of the year, our results were affected by lower sales in the hardware retailers and renovation superstores market. This is due to the fact that in the first quarter of 2018, in Canada, our sales were exceptionally high for a first quarter, whereas in the first quarter of 2019 they were impacted by inventory realignment by our retailer customers which have not shown sales growth. In addition, one of our major Canadian customers closed several stores. It should be noted that Richelieu did not lose any market share among retailers,” the company said in a statement.
Micron Technology Inc. (MU-Q) fell 2.6 per cent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the chipmaker’s stock to “underweight” from “equal-weight.”
“We still see the longer term range for the stock price $30 to $60, but see a much higher likelihood that we see low 30s before we see high 50s,” said analysts Joseph Moore and Craig Hettenbach.
With files from staff and wires
David Leeder