Empire Co. Ltd. (STAR)
Apparently, Empire Co. Ltd. didn’t get the memo about the slowing economy. The parent of supermarkets including Sobeys, FreshCo and Farm Boy posted same-store sales growth, excluding fuel, of 3.8 per cent for the fourth quarter ended May 3, as net earnings rose to $173-million from $149-million a year earlier. “What we’re seeing in our customer behaviour is tough to reconcile against published consumer sentiment, which is near its lowest level in many years,” Michael Medline, Empire’s president and chief executive officer, told analysts on a conference call. Is it possible that Empire is inserting subliminal messages into its in-store music to manipulate shoppers? A full investigation is required.
Aurora Cannabis (DOG)
Wait. You mean to tell me artificial intelligence – the technology that is supposedly going to revolutionize every aspect of our lives – just makes stuff up out of thin air? Aurora Cannabis found that out the hard way when Investing.com posted two erroneous articles, one stating Aurora had agreed to acquire New Zealand-based MedLeaf Therapeutics and a second claiming Aurora had entered into an agreement with MediPharm to distribute medical cannabis in Germany. “The company categorically denies both Investing.com articles,” Aurora said, noting the stories, which have since been removed, were generated “with the support of AI.” Separately, Aurora released fiscal fourth-quarter results that included a net loss of $17.2-million. Unfortunately for shareholders, that information was true.
Groupe Dynamite Inc. (STAR)
Test your business knowledge! Groupe Dynamite is: a) a TV production company founded by American actor Jimmie Walker, whose character popularized the catchphrase “Dyn-o-mite!” on the 1970s sitcom Good Times; b) a French heavy metal band that used TNT and other explosives on stage, often with fatal results; c) a Montreal-based women’s fashion retailer, operating under the Dynamite and Garage banners, whose same-store sales surged 13 per cent in the fiscal first quarter ended May 3, prompting the company to raise its full-year sales forecast and sending its stock higher. Answer: c.
Scholar Rock Holding Corp. (STAR)
Scholar Rock, a pharmaceutical company – not to be confused with School of Rock, a comedy starring Jack Black – just issued news that was music to the ears of investors. On Wednesday, the company reported that its drug, apitegromab, significantly reduced lean mass loss in patients taking Eli Lilly’s weight-loss treatment tirzepatide, sold commercially as Mounjaro and Zepbound. The phase 2 results suggest that apitegromab could help patients shed fat without losing as much healthy muscle mass, addressing one of the main drawbacks of some weight-loss drugs. No wonder the stock is rockin’ and rollin’.
Surgery Partners Inc. (DOG)
Thanks to modern anesthesiology, patients don’t feel a thing during surgery. Investors in Surgery Partners, on the other hand, must have been screaming in agony this week. Shares of the company, which operates more than 200 surgical facilities in 30 U.S. states, plunged to a nearly five-year low after a special committee of independent directors rejected shareholder Bain Capital’s offer to take Surgery Partners private at US$25.75 per share. The committee “ultimately determined that Surgery Partners’ prospects to deliver long-term growth and value creation as an independent publicly-traded company exceeded the value of the proposal,” the company said. No word on how long the stock will be in the recovery room.