Andrew Ryan/The Canadian Press
After Canada won its first World Cup game ever, we did the predictable thing and our household is officially on the bandwagon. My husband is thrilled. He now has an audience for all the information I previously had no capacity for. That includes how Switzerland didn’t beat Qatar, and how all we need is a tie game to advance. (“It’s called a draw,” he says in the background.) Go sports!
Here are five things to know this week:
Don’t call it a comeback: The second-best-performing company on the TSX in 2026 reports results Thursday morning. That’s right, I am talking about BlackBerry Ltd. BB-T Don’t look now, but the legacy tech company is up roughly 130 per cent so far this year. Enthusiasm for its physical artificial-intelligence platform is driving the stock and investors will look for signs it can drive the business. BlackBerry’s key technology is QNX, which powers systems within cars. But now it is being used to power things such as an AI-driven heart pump. As QNX use cases expand beyond the auto market, investors are rushing back in to the once-iconic smartphone maker. Its market cap has increased by $3-billion, but the revenue coming in stands at just $60-million, RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Treiber pointed out. “We believe greater investor visibility to [QNX’s other] revenue, growth, backlog and backlog conversion is needed to help sustain BlackBerry’s valuation re-rating,” Mr. Treiber wrote.
Stacking the chips: It seems impossible that Micron Technology Inc. MU-Q can best expectations, given the stock is up almost 300 per cent so far in 2026. But even in the face of elevated expectations, thanks to a surge in demand for memory chips, Micron has beat profit forecasts in eight of the past eight quarters. Revenue is expected to increase 280 per cent and free cash flow is estimated to explode from US$1.6-billion to US$11.8-billion, according to analysts. Much of the capital expenditure increases we saw from hyperscalers were actually due to the same projects costing more money because memory chip prices have soared. Just last week, Apple Inc. AAPL-Q capitulated and said it has no choice but to increase the price of iPhones. Is the cure for high prices high prices? Not so easy when spending on AI seems like it is not optional. Even with the eye-watering rally, the stock only trades at 18 times forward earnings. While most analysts rate the stock a buy, the average price target suggests there’s downside. Ahead of earnings, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Brian Chin increased his price target to US$1,500, implying 30-per-cent upside. Some worry that demand will lead to overproduction, but Mr. Chin argued that demand is set to outpace supply through 2027. “There is even a case to be made for the supply deficit worsening” as AI models move from training to running agents, he wrote.
Inflation check: Canadian inflation could poke its head above 3 per cent for the first time since the end of 2023 – but that doesn’t necessarily mean rate hikes are around the corner. This backward-looking print for May could be less important than the fact that oil prices are falling right now. Indeed, near-term Canadian bond yields have been falling along with crude oil prices. “Our view is that those rate hike expectations should eventually fully be erased, at least in Canada, should oil prices stay down,” Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter wrote in a note to clients. “GDP and hours worked have both dropped over the past year, core inflation is on target at 2 per cent, and USMCA uncertainty lingers. That’s no environment for rate hikes.”
Pressure at the pump: How did a surge in fuel prices affect convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. ATD-T? We will find out when it reports results Monday after the bell. Intuitively, it may seem like sales would have taken a hit because people avoided filling their gas tanks. However, peers revealed the opposite was true – there were more trips to the gas station to fill up less. The Street is modelling about 2.5-per-cent merchandise growth, which would be better than the past two quarters. Fuel margins could also be a positive surprise, said TD Securities managing director Michael Van Aelst. “A fuel margin beat doesn’t normally have the same degree of share price impact, but could boost shares this time as it would be proof that ATD’s investments to enhance its fuel procurement can deliver stronger margins,” he wrote in a preview note.
Better apart: FedEx Corp. FDX-N will report for the first time since spinning off its less-than-truckload (LTL) business into its own separately traded company. Investors have loved this with FedEx stock up 81 per cent over the past year, compared with rival United Parcel Service Inc. UPS-N, which is only up roughly 5 per cent. The results, due out Tuesday after the bell, will offer a glimpse at how much the company can reduce costs now that the spinoff is complete, as it works to combine its ground and express units as part of its CEO’s “One FedEx” vision. It may be helping win market share: FedEx is catching up to UPS when it comes to average daily volume, and FedEx volumes have been growing while they have been falling at UPS. FedEx Freight Holding Co. Inc. will also report results with its first quarter as a separate unit due on Thursday – with its former parent reporting US$24-billion in third-quarter revenue, it is the largest LTL carrier in North America.
In the Money with Amber Kanwar is Canada’s top investing podcast. New episodes out Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe at www.inthemoneypod.com