A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week
Sleep Country Canada (STAR)
ZZZ - TSX
When shopping for a mattress, a good test is to bounce up and down on it as hard as you can. If the springs are good, you should be able to execute at least one flip with a half-twist. The folks at Sleep Country might ask you to leave the store, but they’re selling enough mattresses anyway: Shares of the company surged after the retailer posted a 67-per-cent increase in revenue and a 277-per-cent gain in adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter, helped by an easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Sleep Country investors are jumping for joy.
Score Media and Gaming (STAR)
SCR - TSX
Investors shoot, they Score! Shares of Score Media and Gaming went top shelf after the Toronto-based company – which evolved from a cable channel into a diversified sports media and gambling enterprise – agreed to be acquired in a cash-and-stock deal by U.S.-based Penn National Gaming for approximately US$2-billion, or about US$34 a share. Sure beats betting on the Leafs.
Fiverr International (DOG)
FVRR - NYSE
Need someone to write an article, build a website or edit some photos? Fiverr makes it easy for businesses to find freelancers online. What Fiverr shareholders really need, however, is someone to give them good investment advice. The shares sank after the company issued third-quarter and full-year guidance well below analysts’ expectations, citing reduced online activity as people spend more time outside their homes now that pandemic restrictions have eased. Investors lost a lot more than a Fiverr this week.
Zymergen (DOG)
ZY - Nasdaq
On an alphabetical list of U.S. companies, Zymergen’s name appears near the bottom. Now, its stock is racing to the bottom, too. Just months after the “biofacturing” startup’s hugely successful IPO in April, the shares lost more than three-quarters of their value in a single day after the company replaced its CEO and said it no longer expects any product revenue in 2021 and only “immaterial” revenue in 2022. According to Zymergen, “several key target customers encountered technical issues” when implementing its first commercially available product, a bio-based film called Hyaline used in touchscreens and circuits. This stock’s a biohazard.
Moderna (STAR)
MRNA - Nasdaq
You need at least two jabs of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine for full protection. But when it comes to Moderna’s surging shares, investors are lining up for a third, fourth and fifth dose. With the Delta variant showing no signs of slowing down and both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech raising prices for their COVID-19 vaccines in their latest supply contracts for Europe, Moderna’s stock has surged nearly 300 per cent this year. Investors’ portfolios have never looked healthier.
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John Heinzl