The Globe’s stars and dogs for the week

TC Energy (DOG)

TRP - TSX

Things that always come in over budget: 1) home renovations, 2) vacations, 3) massive infrastructure projects. Shares of TC Energy sank after the pipeline operator said it expects a “material increase in project costs and … funding requirements” for the Coastal GasLink project in Northern B.C. The 670-kilometre pipeline, which is 80-per-cent complete, has been dogged by rising labour costs, skilled worker shortages and “contractor underperformance and disputes,” the company said. With the cost already soaring to an estimated $11.2-billion in July, up from a previous estimate of $6.6-billion, TC Energy needs to act soon before this thing starts to cost some real money.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (DOG)

CM - TSX

CIBC giveth, and CIBC taketh away. Even as Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce hiked its quarterly dividend by two cents to 85 cents per share, investors in Canada’s fifth-biggest bank were in no mood to celebrate. Hit by rising expenses and $436-million in provisions for bad loans – a sharp increase from a year earlier – the bank reported an 18-per-cent drop in earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, sending its stock down 7.7 per cent Thursday. “Honey, just doing the math here. We made two cents on the dividend, but we lost nearly $5 on the share price. So I think we’re down on the day.”

Guardian Capital Group (STAR)

GCG - TSX

Business quiz! Shares of Guardian Capital jumped after the financial services company a) declared a special dividend of $100 a share “to help shareholders keep their furnaces on and put food on the table during these inflationary times”; b) agreed to merge with Guardian drug stores to create a chain of walk-in clinics where customers can receive personalized financial advice while waiting for their prescriptions; c) announced the sale of its Worldsource life insurance, mutual fund and investment distribution units to Desjardins Group for $750-million. Answer: c

Five Below (STAR)

FIVE - Nasdaq

Everything at discount store Five Below costs US$5 or less, right? No. Why would you think that? Still, it doesn’t seem to be hurting the company’s business. Shares of Five Below – which also has a “Five Beyond” section for items that cost more than five bucks – rose after the U.S. retailer posted revenue and earnings well above its own guidance. With the company benefiting from strong sales heading into the holiday period and analysts hiking their price targets on the stock, shares of Five Below are warming up by several degrees.

Greif (DOG)

GEF - NYSE

BMO Capital Markets just gave Greif investors some, well, grief. Shares of the company – which makes industrial packaging products such as cardboard boxes, gift wrap tubes and steel containers – fell after BMO analyst Mark Wilde slashed his 2022 fourth-quarter and 2023 full-year earnings estimates and reiterated his “underperform” rating on the stock. “A global drop-off in industrial and corrugated packaging markets is proving sharper than expected,” Mr. Wilde said in a note. “These are Greif’s primary markets.” Good grief.