A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today
On the rise
Shares of Dye & Durham Ltd. (DND-T) soared on Thursday in the wake of the premarket announcement of the “transformational” acquisition of DoProcess LP, an Ontario-based provider of practice-specific software for legal professionals, from OMERS Infrastructure for approximately $530-million.
As part of the transaction, OMERS will acquire $30- million of Dye & Durham common shares.
AltaGas Ltd. (ALA-T) rose on Thursday after increasing its monthly dividend by 4 per cent alongside an update to its strategic plan and introducing 2021 financial guidance.
The company expects normalized earnings per share of $1.45 to $1.55, up 20 per cent year-over-year. The consensus forecast on the Street is $1.47.
“AltaGas is acutely focused on growing earnings per share and creating earnings durability in the years ahead,” it said.
It will now pay a monthly dividend of 8.33 cents per share (or $1 annually).
Crew Energy Inc. (CR-T) was up after the premarket release of its 2021 guidance and two-year plan.
The Calgary-based company projects capital spending for the year of $120-$145-million, blowing past the Street’s expectation of $58.3-million
In a research note, ATB Capital Markets analyst Patrick O’Rourke said: “While most peers in the market have continued to focus on maintenance capital budgets in the near-term, minimizing capital expenditures in an attempt to generate FCF in 2021, CR has chosen a different path with this budget, outspending projected 2021 capex by 28 per cent, while growing production 26 per cent, with a focus on growing into current fixed cost commitments and increasing per barrel margins in 2022 and beyond (with a projected 50-per-cent growth in production from 2020 levels leading to 240-per-cent growth in 2022 CF over 2020) putting the company in a FCF position in 2022 and beyond (projected 2022 FCF of $35-65-million.”
Pfizer Inc. (PFE-N) was narrrowly higher as a panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration met on Thursday to weigh whether to recommend that the agency authorize its coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, one of the last steps before vaccinations could begin.
The committee of outside experts is expected to vote on whether the vaccine, developed along with German partner BioNTech, has shown effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 and if the benefits of taking the shot outweigh the risks.
They are also likely to discuss potential safety concerns after two vaccine recipients in Britain reported anaphylactoid reactions associated with receiving the shot.
The country’s regulator on Wednesday advised some people with a history of anaphylaxis, an overreaction of the body’s immune system related to medicine or food, should avoid the shot.
FDA Commissioner Steven Hahn, ahead of the meeting on Thursday, said the agency was carefully reviewing all the data on Pfizer’s vaccine, including potential allergic reactions in the wake of the UK’s warning.
“We’re working very closely with our UK partners to understand what went on with respect to those allergic reactions,” Mr. Hahn told CBS News’ CBS This Morning program, adding that the vaccine’s label would ultimately include any details about who the vaccine was recommended for - and who should not get it - after looking at the current clinical trial data if it is ultimately approved.
“FDA is the gold standard for regulatory approval or authorization of medical products,” he added. “If our career scientists say that the vaccine is safe and effective, I have complete confidence in that decision, and I think the American people should as well.”
See also: How an entire industry sped up the vaccine timeline
United Airlines Holdings Inc. (UAL-Q) gained after it said on Thursday it had committed to a multimillion-dollar investment in a project to remove carbon dioxide from the air through air direct-capture technology as part of a plan to be 100-per-cent “green” by 2050.
The project, iPointFive, is a partnership between Occidental Petroleum Corp subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Rusheen Capital Management that plans to build the first U.S. industrial-sized direct air capture plant that would permanently sequester 1 million tons of CO2 each year.
That’s the equivalent of what 40 million trees can do, but covering a land area about 3,000 times smaller, United said, adding that direct-capture technology is one of the few proven ways to correct for aircraft emissions.
United declined to provide further details on the investment amount.
Speaking to reporters about the project, United CEO Scott Kirby said carbon capture and sequestration is the only scalable technology that removes carbon from the atmosphere and buries it in the ground.
“Sequestration is a real and permanent solution,” Mr. Kirby said.
On the decline
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect Canadians’ food-buying habits, Sobeys owner Empire Company Ltd. (EMP.A-T) is planning to accelerate the expansion of its e-commerce business.
Shares of the Stellarton, N.S.-based retailer fell after it announced on Thursday that it will move up construction of a third order-fulfillment centre in Calgary for its online grocery service Voilà. The company launched the service in the Greater Toronto Area this past summer, with plans to launch Voilà under its IGA banner in Quebec and in Ottawa in early 2022. Now, Empire says that it will launch online ordering for store pick-up under the Voilà brand in Alberta next year, and will launch home delivery from the new fulfilment centre in 2023.
Empire has planned to build four fulfilment centres for the Voilà service across Canada, but is speeding up the expansion to Alberta as demand for online grocery has swelled during the pandemic.
Empire reported a profit of $161.4-million or 60 cents per share for the quarter ended Oct. 31.
Sales in the quarter totalled nearly $6.98-billion, up from nearly $6.44 billion in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales, a key metric for retailers, were up 7.3 per cent. Excluding fuel, same-store sales were up 8.7 per cent.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of 65 cents per share for the quarter and $6.93 billion in sales, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.
- Susan Krashinsky Robertson
A day after it soared on its market debut, shares of Doordash Inc. (DASH-N) fell on Thursday.
The San Francisco-based company raised US$3.4 -billion in the offering, making it the largest IPO so far this year, according to Renaissance Capital, which tracks IPOs. Shares jumped 85.8 per cent to close at US$189.51 after DoorDash priced them at US$102 each late Tuesday. The closing price valued the company at around US$72-billion.
DoorDash’s IPO came one day ahead of another San Francisco startup, Airbnb, which planned to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
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Facebook Inc. (FB-Q) was down on concerns it could be forced to sell its prized assets WhatsApp and Instagram after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and nearly every U.S. state filed lawsuits against the social media company, saying it used a “buy or bury” strategy to snap up rivals and keep smaller competitors at bay.
With the filing of the twin lawsuits on Wednesday, Facebook becomes the second big tech company to face a major legal challenge this year after the U.S. Justice Department sued Alphabet Inc’s Google in October, accusing the $1 trillion company of using its market power to fend off rivals.
The lawsuits highlight the growing bipartisan consensus to hold Big Tech accountable for its business practices and mark a rare moment of agreement between the Trump administration and Democrats, some of whom have advocated breaking up both Google and Facebook.
The complaints on Wednesday accuse Facebook of buying up rivals, focusing specifically on its previous acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014.
Federal and state regulators said the acquisitions should be unwound - a move that is likely to set off a long legal challenge as the deals were cleared years earlier by the FTC.
Moderna Inc. (MRNA-Q) declined after saying on Thursday it had dosed the first participant in a mid-to-late stage study testing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in adolescents aged 12 to less than 18.
The study is being conducted in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
“Our goal is to generate data in the spring of 2021 that will support the use of mRNA-1273 in adolescents in advance of the 2021 school year,” said Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel.
The news comes as the United States prepares to begin distributing the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines from both Moderna and rival Pfizer/BioNTech to adults, upon regulatory nod for emergency use.
With files from staff and wires