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stars and dogs

A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week

Philip Morris Int'l - STAR

Now here’s an investment you can feel good about: selling cigarettes to people all over the world. Shares of Philip Morris International - which owns six of the top 15 brands globally, including No. 1 Marlboro - surged after the tobacco giant posted better-than-expected earnings of $1.79-billion or $1.16 a share for the first quarter. With the company raising its full-year earnings outlook, investors are hacking and coughing all the way to the bank.

PM (Nasdaq), $85.26 (U.S.), up $7.36 or 9.4% over week



Netflix - STAR

Investors love Netflix, and with a P/E of roughly 200 times this year’s estimated earnings, what's not to like? Shares of the video-streaming service were getting rave reviews after the company added 4.88 million subscribers worldwide in the first quarter – about 20 per cent more than it had expected – as more people tuned in to original shows such as House of Cards. Sure, earnings missed estimates, but since when do earnings matter?

NFLX (Nasdaq), $571.81 (U.S.), up $117.24 or 25.8% over week



Canadian dollar - STAR

How to make big money on currencies:

1) Pay close attention to what the experts are saying;

2) Do the opposite.

Instead of tumbling to 75 cents, 74 cents or even 69 cents – as some currency strategists were predicting – the loonie turned sharply higher this week. With the Bank of Canada leaving its benchmark rate unchanged and predicting an economic rebound in the second quarter, the Canadian dollar bears have gone into hibernation.

Cdn. dollar, 81.78¢ (U.S.), up 2.29¢ or 2.9% over week



Amaya - DOG

Amaya gonna lose a lot of money on this stock? Actually, a lot of investors already have. Shares of the online gambling company – which is at the centre of an insider-trading probe related to last summer’s $4.9-billion acquisition of PokerStars – have lost nearly one-quarter of their value since the beginning of March. Remember that old poker saying: If you look around the table and you don’t know who the sucker is, you’re the sucker.

AYA (TSX), $27.40, down $2.64 or 8.8% over week



Panera Bread - STAR

Panera Bread investors sure are making a lot of dough (ba-dum ching!). In a series of “value enhancing initiatives,” the operator of bakery cafés in the United States and Canada said it plans to take advantage of low interest rates by issuing $500-million of new debt to repurchase shares. It also announced that it has agreed to sell and refranchise 73 company-owned stores. Nothing like the smell of fresh-baked money.

PNRA (Nasdaq), $182.77 (U.S.), up $16.47 or 9.9% over week