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A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today

On the rise

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB-T) rose 7.9 per cent on Tuesday after it released a corporate update on selected financial metrics for the fourth quarter.

The Edmonton-based company projects net revenues for the quarter ended June 30 of between $100-million and $107-million (net of excise taxes), compared to $19.1-million during the same period a year ago and $65.1-million for the previous quarter ended March 31. Fiscalnet cannabis revenue is expected to be between $90-million and $95-million, “with growth anticipated across all key business segments including medical, both Canadian and international, and consumer markets.”

“Our Q4 2019 guidance highlights Aurora’s continued leadership,” said CEO Terry Booth. “We set out to be best-in-class cultivators, and through carefully evaluated acquisitions, that vision continues to drive exceptional results today. We are the leader in cultivation capacity, production available for sale and revenues for cannabis in the Canadian medical and consumer markets. We continue to lead the build out of European and other international medical cannabis markets. Our success to date comes from a focus on quality, regulatory compliance, appropriate Board of Directors oversight, and delivering a profitable, low risk and sustainable business for our shareholders.”

A day after announcing an agreement with the National Authority for Tunnels in Cairo to design and build two monorail lines in Egypt, shares of Bombardier Inc. (BBD-B-T) sat 1.6 per cent higher.

Desjardins Securities analyst Benoit Poirier said: “We are pleased with the contract win, which demonstrates management’s focus on leveraging past investments in key platforms while increasing its exposure to signalling and services to reduce operational risk and deliver stronger financial performance. We continue to believe management’s strategy at BT is the right one to overcome its near-term challenges and that recent share price weakness offers a buying opportunity for long-term investors.”

Ahead of the release of its quarterly results after the bell, shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS-N) were 2.6 per cent higher

See also: Disney report to shine spotlight on streaming war

Mastercard Inc. (MA-N) gained 3 per cent on Tuesday after announcing it would buy a majority of the corporate services businesses of European payments company Nets for about US$3.19-billion.

On the decline

Transat A.T. Inc. (TRZ-T) slipped 1.3 per cent after urging shareholders not to tender their shares to a hostile bidder, calling Group Mach’s attempt to block the Air Canada takeover “coercive” and “misleading.”

Transat, a Montreal-based airline and tour operator has agreed to a purchase by Air Canada worth $520-million, or $13 a share, despite complaints from some large shareholders the price is too low. Two-thirds of Transat shareholders must approve the deal in a vote on August 23.

Shares of Air Canada were down 1.8 per cent.

Snap Inc. (SNAP-N) was down 1 per cent after it announced it intends to offer US$1.0-billion in convertible senior notes due 2026 in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers.

The proceeds from the offering are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, capital expenditures, and to pay the cost of a series of capped call transactions.

Bausch Health Companies Inc. (BHC-T) declined 4.9 per cent despite raising its full-year earnings guidance with the release of better-than-expected second-quarter results.

The company, formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., now expects adjusted EBITDA of $3.425-billion to $3.575-billion, rising from its previous guidance of $3.4-billion to $3.55-billion.

“Looking to the second half of 2019, we expect a number of catalysts to drive growth across our core business segments as we continue to reduce debt, increase R&D and further grow our newly launched products," said chairman and CEO Joseph Papa. "In addition, we have raised our full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance based on our first half performance and our outlook for the second half of the year.”

Following the release of quarterly results that fell short of expectations on the Street before the bell, shares of Martinrea International Inc. (MRE-T) lost 2.5 per cent.

The Vaughan, Ont.-based auto parts manufacturer reported total sales of $948.5-million in the second quarter up from $921.7-million a year earlier and below expectations of $971.9-million.

Net income came in at $28.1-million or 34 cents per share versus net income of $55.7-million or 64 cents a year earlier. Adjusted net income was $54.6-million or 66 cents per share versus $55.5-million or 64 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of 65 cents per share.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM-A-T) slipped 0.5 per cent after Australia’s Aveo Group said that it had offered A$1.27 billion ($859.4 million) in cash to acquire the Sydney-based retirement-home operator.

The disclosure is the first time Aveo has put a value on the offer since it first revealed it was in talks with the Canadian firm nearly a month ago.

Brookfield’s proposal values Aveo at A$2.195 per share, representing a 8.1-per-cent premium to the company’s last close.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC-T) was down 8.1 per cent after Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which holds a 20 per-cent stake, intensified its criticism of the Canadian engineering and construction company, saying it needs to shake up its culture to improve its project execution and reverse its stock-price slide.

See also: SNC-Lavalin says it ‘did not deliver’ on promises, cuts dividend as shares fall

Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T) declined 1.6 per cent after saying it plans to keep the section of its Texas Eastern pipe in Kentucky shut through at least Aug. 12 after it exploded on Thursday, killing one person.

Enbridge said in a notice to customers Monday afternoon that it is working with federal and state officials investigating the incident. The company has not estimated when the damaged section of pipe will return to service.

Semafo Inc. (SMF-T) fell 7.4 per cent after announcing a pit wall failure at its Mana mine in Burkina Faso.

At the same time, the company reduced its annual production guidance for the mine to 130,000-140,000 ounces from 170,000 - 190,000 ounces.

Raymond James analyst Tara Hassan said: “We expect SEMAFO could see negative share price momentum on the back of this news given the scale of the production cut and the potential impact on cash flow this year. SEMAFO will report its 2Q19 results after market today at which time we expect to get more colour on the pit wall failure and the production ramp-up of Boungou. we remain focused on the ramp-up and operation of the Boungou project and await results post some plant upgrades made in 2Q19. We continue to expect that a market re-rating will be focused on Boungou’s ramp-up and operating metrics in 2019.”

Mosaic Co. (MOS-N) dropped 6.7 per cent after cutting its full-year earnings forecast and posting a lower-than-expected profit, as rains and flooding in the United States hit its volumes and phosphates margins.

Mosaic cut its 2019 adjusted profit forecast, for the second time, to between US$1.10 and US$1.50 per share, from US$1.50 to US$2.00 per share, to reflect lower than expected sales volumes in the first half and a slower recovery of phosphates margins.

Excluding items, the U.S. fertilizer company earned 12 US cents per share, below analysts’ expectations of 29 US cents.

With files from Eric Atkins, Nicolas Van Praet, Brenda Bouw, staff and wires

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 18/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
ACB-T
Aurora Cannabis Inc
+15.21%5
MRE-T
Martinrea International Inc
-0.34%11.6
BHC-T
Bausch Health Companies Inc
+1.93%12.7
DIS-N
Walt Disney Company
+1.7%113.85
BBD-B-T
Bombardier Inc Cl B Sv
+3.02%56.65
TRZ-T
Transat At Inc
-3.33%3.77
SNAP-N
Snap Inc
-1.16%11.06
ENB-T
Enbridge Inc
+0.06%48.09
SNAP-N
Snap Inc
-1.16%11.06
MOS-N
Mosaic Company
+0.37%32.22

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