A survey of North American equities heading in both directions
On the rise
Barrick Mining (ABX-T) closed 1.2 per cent higher after it reported a first-quarter profit on Wednesday that beat analysts’ estimates, driven by a surge in gold prices that helped offset lower production.
Gold prices surged above US$3,100 per ounce in the first quarter of 2025, driven by rising safe-haven demand amid growing uncertainty over tariffs that could fuel inflation and impact global economic growth.
Bullion has gained around 29 per cent so far this year, after rising more than 27 per cent in 2024.
Operations at Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto complex, its largest mine in Mali and a key contributor to its gold output, have been suspended since January after the government seized about 3 metric tons of gold following accusations related to the company’s tax non-compliance.
For 2025, the company continues to expect total gold production between 3.15 million ounces and 3.50 million ounces, with Loulo-Gounkoto output excluded from its outlook.
“We expect to update our guidance to include Loulo-Gounkoto when we have greater certainty regarding the timing for the restart of operations,” Barrick said.
The miner, which has been streamlining its operations since it merged with Africa-focused Randgold Resources, said it is moving forward with plans to divest its Tongon mine in Ivory Coast and Hemlo operations in Canada.
The company’s average realized gold price for the first quarter rose to US$2,898 per ounce from US$2,075 per ounce. Total gold production fell to 758,000 ounces from 940,000 ounces.
Barrick’s all-in sustaining costs for gold, an industry metric reflecting total expenses, rose 20.4 per cent to US$1,775 per ounce in the first quarter.
The per-ounce cost is expected to trend lower over the rest of the year on higher production, the company added.
On an adjusted basis, the company, previously known as Barrick Gold, earned 35 cents per share in the quarter, compared with analysts’ average expectation of 28 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
St. John’s-based Fortis Inc. (FTS-T) saw gains of almost 2 per cent in the wake of reporting its first-quarter profit and revenue rose compared with a year ago.
The electric and gas utility says it earned a profit attributable to common equity holders of $499-million or $1.0 per share for the quarter ended March 31.
The result was up from a profit of $459-million or 93 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities and the end of Central Hudson’s 2024 general rate application including a shift in quarterly revenue effective July 1, 2024.
It says higher U.S. dollar-to-Canadian dollar exchange rate also helped boost results.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $3.34-billion, up from $3.12-billion a year earlier.
Walt Disney‘s (DIS-N) quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations on Wednesday as visitors to its U.S. theme parks increased spending and the company saw an unexpected rise in Disney+ streaming customers.
The entertainment giant released its earnings report shortly before announcing plans for a new theme park in United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.
Shares of the company were up 10.9 per cent on the day.
The company aims to increase profits from streaming as traditional television declines and to expand its popular theme parks and cruise line in the midst of a shaky U.S. economy.
“We remain optimistic about the direction of the company and our outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
Disney posted adjusted earnings per share of US$1.45 for January through March, ahead of the US$1.20 consensus forecast of analysts polled by LSEG.
Revenue rose 7 per cent to US$23.6-billion. Analysts had expected US$23.14-billion. Operating income came in at US$4.4-billion.
Disney forecast adjusted earnings per share of US$5.75 for fiscal 2025, an increase of 16 per cent from the prior fiscal year.
The company reiterated guidance for 6 per cent to 8 per cent operating income growth in the parks-led Experiences division during the fiscal year, and for double-digit percentage operating income growth during that time in the entertainment unit.
Disney said it picked up 1.4 million customers for the Disney+ streaming service during the just-ended quarter. Three months ago, it had warned of a modest decline in Disney+ subscribers following a price increase.
Disney stock has fallen 17 per cent this year compared with a 4.7-per-cent decline in the S&P 500. The shares have fallen 6.6 per cent since April
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD-Q) forecast a US$1.5-billion hit to revenue this year due to new U.S. curbs on chips, which require the company to obtain a license to ship advanced artificial-intelligence processors to China.
But it issued a second-quarter revenue forecast that topped Wall Street estimates, which analysts attributed to customers buying more chips ahead of tariffs. Its shares were up 1.8 per cent on the news.
Under the Biden and Trump administrations, the U.S. has pursued increasingly aggressive curbs on AI chip exports to China. These controls are aimed at hobbling China’s ability to build advanced AI models and applications that, according to the U.S., could have national security implications.
AMD CEO Lisa Su said on a conference call on Tuesday that most of the impact from the curbs would affect the second and third quarters this year. Despite the new controls, Su said she expects AI chip revenue from the company’s data center business to grow this year by “strong double digits.”
“It’s certainly a headwind, but one which we think is well contained given everything else that we have going on,” she said.
In April, AMD said it would record an US$800-million charge from the new U.S. tariffs on chip exports to China. On Tuesday, it forecast adjusted gross margin of 43 per cent, which represents an 11 percentage-point drop from the gross margin excluding the charge.
On the conference call, Su said the company had not seen a lot of “tariff-related activity” in the first quarter.
The company expects revenue of about US$7.4-billion for the second quarter, plus or minus US$300-million, compared with analysts’ average estimate of US$7.25-billion.
Total revenue jumped a better-than-expected 36 per cent to US$7.44-billion. Adjusted profit of 96 US cents a share was ahead of estimates by 2 US cents a share.
Drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NVO-N) expects a recovery of Wegovy weight-loss drug sales in the United States once a ban on compound copycats is enforced this month, its CEO said on Wednesday, boosting the shares by 1.9 per cent.
Booming sales of Wegovy helped to make Novo the most valuable listed company in Europe, worth US$615-billion at its peak.
But prescriptions in the United States, its biggest market, have not grown since February despite Novo having increased supplies of Wegovy to meet demand.
“Growth is expected to pick up in the second-half of the year,” CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said on a call with journalists.
Investors have been concerned that Novo’s first-to-market drug is losing its lead to Eli Lilly (LLY-N), whose U.S. prescriptions for its Zepbound obesity shot have surpassed Wegovy since mid-March.
Novo Nordisk said first-quarter sales of Wegovy were 17.36 billion Danish crowns (US$2.64-billion), declining 13 per cent from the previous quarter, and below the 18.7 billion crowns expected by analysts.
On the decline
Shares of Suncor Energy (SU-T) were lower by 2.8 per cent after it reported first-quarter profit above analysts’ expectations on Tuesday, as it benefited from greater refinery production and sales volumes.
The upbeat results come amid a broader rebound in North American refining margins. Last week, peer Imperial Oil posted record first-quarter earnings, driven primarily by stronger margins in its refining and fuel sales business.
Suncor said its refined product sales rose to 604,900 barrels per day in the quarter compared to 581,000 bpd last year. The jump was primarily driven by higher refinery throughput and the benefit of the company’s extensive sales and retail network.
Refinery utilization also jumped to 104 per cent from 98 per cent a year ago.
Calgary-based Suncor’s upstream quarterly production rose to 853,200 bpd, but sales volumes dropped due to a build-up in inventory.
Talking about the earnings, CEO Rich Kruger said Suncor’s “integrated business model, and continually improving cost structure, enables the company to deliver free funds flow and shareholder value despite the current volatile business environment.”
About 80 per cent of Canada’s crude and 40 per cent of its natural gas production are sold in the U.S. This interdependence faced uncertainty when U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canada. Although these duties were briefly implemented in February, most were rolled back within days.
In February, CEO Rich Kruger said the integrated nature of the company’s assets gives the company a “natural hedge” against tariffs.
The company reported an adjusted profit of $1.31 per share for the quarter, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.21 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
In a research note, Desjardins Securities analyst Chris MacCulloch said: “Suncor released constructive 1Q25 financial results headlined by a modest 4-per-cent cash flow beat. More importantly, operations continued running smoothly within the upstream and downstream segments, despite February’s extremely cold temperatures, which further validated the structural rigidity of recent operational improvements. We continue highlighting the stock as one of our top picks in the Canadian energy sector.”
Cenovus Energy (CVE-T) was 0.2 per cent lower on news it has educed its employee headcount ahead of the release of its first-quarter earnings report this week.
“We have reviewed some team structures, which has led to some employees and contractors leaving the company,” Cenovus said, adding the job cuts were part of an effort to be more competitive across all areas of the business, and were also due to the conclusion of a number of projects.
The company did not say how many jobs were affected. Cenovus’ profit has trailed analysts’ estimates for much of the past 12 months. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the company saw a fall in profit in large part due to ongoing weakness in its U.S. refinery division.
Cenovus’ share price closed up 1.4 per cent on Tuesday at $16.33 per share, but has fallen more than 25 per cent since the start of 2025.
Cenovus is set to report its first-quarter 2025 earnings on Thursday.
Oilsands producer MEG Energy Corp. (MEG-T) dipped 1.5 per cent after saying its first-quarter profits more than doubled from a year earlier.
Net earnings for the first three months of 2025 were $211-million, or 82 cents per diluted share, up from $98-million, or 36 cents per share, during the same 2024 period.
Funds from operations, a measure of operational performance and cash flow generating ability, were $3800million, up from $329-million.
Production for the quarter was 103,224 barrels of oil per day, down from 104,088 barrels per day.
MEG’s steam-to-oil ratio, an oilsands efficiency measure where a lower number is better, was 2.28 during the quarter, down from 2.37.
Revenues for the quarter were $1.16-billion, compared to $1.36-billion.
“We remain focused on disciplined spending, operational excellence and delivering value to our shareholders,” said chief executive Darlene Gates.
“We’ll continue to navigate market dynamics with agility and prudence, ensuring we’re well positioned for long-term success.”
In a research note, Raymond James analyst Michael Barth said: “Bottom line: Slightly positive. While the quarter was relatively uneventful, the stronger netbacks and corresponding FCF beat should be received positively at the margin.”
Calgary’s TransAlta Corp. (TA-T) slid over 5 per cent despite reporting its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago.
The power utility says it earned a profit attributable to common shareholders of $46-million or 15 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31.
The result compared with a profit of $222-million or 72 cents per share for the same period in 2024.
On an adjusted basis, TransAlta says it earned 10 cents per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 41 cents per share a year ago.
Revenue totalled $758-million, down from $947-million in the same quarter last year.
TransAlta chief executive John Kousinioris says the company’s portfolio in Alberta was partially impacted by softer power prices, while its hedging strategy and active asset optimization continued to generate realized prices well above spot prices.
In a note, RBC analyst Maurice Choy said: “With the Q1/25 EBITDA being weaker than our estimate and consensus (both lowered heading into the results release), the reaffirmation of its 2025 guidance (despite the lower Q1/25 performance), and its strategic investment in a developer of U.S. renewable energy projects, we expect the announcement to have a slightly negative impact on the company’s share price.”
Uber Technologies (UBER-N) missed quarterly revenue estimates as growth in its ride-hailing unit slowed to its weakest since the pandemic, stirring fears of slowing demand against the backdrop of a murky economic outlook and clouding an upbeat forecast.
Shares of the company fell 2.6 per cent on Wednesday.
Total revenue rose 14 per cent to US$11.53-billion in the first quarter, compared with analysts’ expectations of US$11.62-billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Uber has struggled to match the high growth from the post-pandemic quarters and is also contending with lower ride prices with some customers seeking cheaper transport options.
In February, Uber launched its Price Lock Pass, a US$2.99 monthly subscription offering consistent fares on designated routes, to attract budget-conscious commuters, competing with a similar feature Lyft (LYFT-Q) started offering last year.
In the reported quarter, revenue in Uber’s ride-hailing unit rose 15 per cent. It increased about 18 per cent in the delivery business, in line with Street expectations.
Uber expects gross bookings to be between US$45.75-billion and US$47.25-billion for the current quarter. This compared with Wall Street expectations of US$45.83-billion.
The company forecast second-quarter adjusted core earnings between US$2.02-billion and US$2.12-billion. Analysts were expecting US$2.04-billion.
Profit in the first-quarter was 83 US cents per share, surpassing analysts’ estimates of 50 US cents.
Uber’s stock has soared roughly 42 per cent this year, making it among the top 10 gainers in the benchmark S&P 500 index, while smaller rival Lyft is flat during the same period.
With files from staff and wires