General Mills (STAR)
GIS - NYSE
Are high grocery prices breaking the family budget? Here’s a simple solution: cereal. You’ll be amazed at how much money you can save just by eating Cheerios for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. (To avoid cereal fatigue, rotate with Cocoa Puffs, Trix, etc.) Consumers are spending more on cereal and other packaged foods, judging by General Mills’ strong fiscal third-quarter results. The food producer – whose other brands include Betty Crocker, Nature Valley and Pillsbury – said sales jumped 13 per cent to US$5.1-billion thanks to strong demand and price increases, prompting the company to raise its fiscal 2023 forecast for a fourth time. Clearly, General Mills investors have been eating their Lucky Charms.
First Majestic Silver (DOG)
FR - TSX
True or false? When the price of gold goes up, gold mining stocks always follow. Answer: false. Even with bullion trading near US$2,000 an ounce, shares of First Majestic Silver plunged after it suspended mining activities at the Jerritt Canyon gold project in Nevada. The Vancouver-based company cited weaker-than-expected production rates and high cash costs per ounce due to inflation, contractor inefficiencies, extreme weather events and disappointing ore grades. With Jerritt Canyon – which First Majestic acquired less than two years ago – accounting for 21 per cent of the company’s 2022 revenue, shareholders would probably have done better at one of Nevada’s casinos.
Coinbase Global (DOG)
COIN - Nasdaq
Crazy ideas people actually believed at one time: a) The sun revolves around the Earth; 2) sacrificing animals will curry favour with the gods; 3) Coinbase Global is worth US$100-billion. The largest U.S. crypto exchange reached that wacky valuation when it was listed back in April, 2021, at the height of crypto mania. But with crypto prices tumbling and the industry swept by a wave of bankruptcies, Coinbase’s market value has since plunged about 85 per cent. This week, the shares took another hit when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission notified Coinbase that it plans to take enforcement action for alleged breaches of securities laws. Things were so much simpler when people traded – and occasionally sacrificed – goats and bushels of wheat.
Petco Health & Wellness (DOG)
WOOF - Nasdaq
Given its stock symbol – WOOF – you knew this company would end up in the dog house sooner or later. Even as Petco Health & Wellness posted higher sales and net income for the fourth quarter, the pet products retailer missed Wall Street’s estimates by a whisker. Worse, as inflation and rising interest rates prompt consumers to cut discretionary spending, Petco warned that sales growth could slow this year just as its interest costs are expected to rise by US$44-million to US$54-million. With its stock down about 70 per cent since it began trading in January, 2021, WOOF investors are wearing one of those plastic cones to keep from chewing themselves in frustration.
Canadian Solar (STAR)
CSIQ - Nasdaq
Sunshine on my shoulders, makes me … money. Canadian Solar investors were cranking the John Denver after the solar power and battery storage company’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 29 per cent to US$1.97-billion and earnings almost tripled to US$1.11 a share. The results were driven by higher shipments of solar power modules used in residential, commercial and utility applications. “Our company and industry are at a critical turning point … where clean energy investments are attractive both economically and from a sustainability standpoint, unlocking significant global demand,” said Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar’s chairman and chief executive. Sunny days, ohhh, sunny, sunny, sunny days.
John Heinzl