A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week
SLEEP COUNTRY CANADA (STAR)
Hilarious gag: Lie down on a mattress at Sleep Country just before closing time, and when the manager asks you to leave, say: “Can you wead me a stowy first, pwease?”
Sleep Country investors got a pleasant bedtime story this week, when the mattress retailer posted first-quarter results that topped analyst estimates as same-store sales rose for the 11th consecutive quarter, surging nearly 12 per cent. Investors are sleeping very well, indeed.
ZZZ (TSX), $22.26, up $2.97 or 15.4% over week
INNVEST REIT (STAR)
Having taken a big bite out of the residential real estate market in Canada, Hong Kong investors are now turning to their next target: hotels. Shares of InnVest REIT – which owns 109 properties across Canada including a minority stake in Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York – surged after Hong Kong-backed Bluesky Hotels and Resorts made a friendly $2.1-billion offer for the company. Coming soon: a sale and leaseback of the Parliament Buildings.
INN.UN (TSX), $7.04, up $1.57 or 28.7% over week
WALT DISNEY (DOG)
Money-saving tip: Instead of taking the kids to Disney World, show them hours of YouTube videos of other people’s kids visiting Disney World.
Money-making tip: Short Walt Disney shares. Hit by lower-than-expected revenue at its theme parks and TV networks that countered strong results in its movie business, Disney’s quarterly earnings per share missed analyst estimates for the first time in five years. Investors must be feeling pretty Goofy.
DIS (NYSE), $100.52 (U.S.), down $5.02 or 4.8% over week
MACY’S (DOG)
Business quiz! Shares of department store operator Macy’s plunged to the lowest since 2011 after the company:
a) posted a 5.6-per-cent drop in first-quarter same-store sales as the high U.S. dollar kept tourists away from its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores
b) reported a 40-per-cent drop in net income;
c) slashed its earnings guidance for the full year;
d) all of the above.
Answer: d.
M (NYSE), $31.22 (U.S.), down $6.43 or 17.1% over week
GAP (DOG)
Gap: A clothing retailer that owns Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic.
Gap down: A Wall Street expression that describes a sharp downward move in a stock price. Hammered by lower same-store sales at all three of its chains in the first quarter – led by an 11-per-cent skid at Banana Republic – Gap warned that profit will fall well short of expectations. With the shares off more than 50 per cent in the past year, investors are losing their shirts.
GPS (NYSE), $17.62 (U.S.), down $4.05 or 18.7% over week