A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week
Herbalife Nutrition (DOG)
HLF - NYSE
You’ve been taking Herbalife’s “Snack Defense” tablets, using its “Personalized Protein Powder” and drinking its “Formula 1 Meal Replacement Shake Mix.” Yet you still find yourself at McDonald’s every night scarfing down two Big Macs and a large fries. Hey, it could be worse: You could be a Herbalife shareholder. Hurt by lower-than-expected sales by its independent distributors, the marketer of nutrition and weight-management products cut its full-year revenue and earnings guidance, causing the stock to shed more than one-fifth of its value in a single day. If only losing weight were so easy.
Flow Beverage (DOG)
FLOW - TSX
Water always flows downhill. So do shares of water company Flow Beverage, apparently. Even as the purveyor of “premium alkaline” natural and flavoured water posted a 79-per-cent increase in net revenue for the third quarter, the company’s weaker-than-expected 2022 guidance prompted Stifel GMP analyst Martin Landry to slash his revenue forecast and price target on the shares. Judging by the stock’s plunge of more than 60 per cent since it began trading in mid-July, a lot of investors have been liquidating their positions.
Sands China ADR (DOG)
SCHYY - US OTC
With an increasingly authoritarian China cracking down on industries ranging from technology to private education, you’d think investors in Macau’s gambling industry would have seen this coming. Apparently not. Billions of dollars in market value were wiped out from casino operators including Sands China, Wynn Macau and MGM China after officials in Macau – a special administrative region of China – announced a sweeping regulatory overhaul that could include state supervision of companies in the world’s largest gambling hub. If Xi Jinping’s goal is to destroy investor confidence in Chinese companies, he’s succeeding.
Crocs (STAR)
CROX - Nasdaq
Remember Crocs, those rubbery foam clogs best known for getting stuck in escalators and terrorizing children? They’re back. Shares of the company – which has branched into boots, sneakers and socks – have leaped more than 250 per cent in the past year, helped by demand for comfortable footwear during the pandemic and by celebrity endorsements from the likes of Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. With the company this week projecting that revenue will more than double to US$5-billion by 2026, investors had better hope Crocs’ comeback isn’t a fleeting fashion fad, or the high-flying stock could eventually be heading down its own escalator.
Bellus Health (STAR)
BLU - TSX
Business quiz! Bellus Health is: a) a joint venture between Bell and Telus that uses 5G wireless technology to jam cellphone signals of people protesting outside hospitals; b) a U.S. health care company with its head office in Bellingham, Wash.; c) a Quebec-based biotech company whose shares soared after it announced positive results in a phase 2B trial of its drug BLU-5937 to treat a form of chronic cough. Answer: c.
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John Heinzl