A look at some small-cap stocks making news - or about to. This report will be updated with more stocks to watch on Thursday morning.
Canada’s S&P/TSX Small Cap Index (TXTW-I) is up by about 58 per cent over the past 52 weeks. It hit a record 1,472.51 on March 2. The Russell 2000 in the U.S. is up about 21 per cent over the past 52 weeks. It hit a record of 2,735.10 on Jan. 22.
Small-cap summary:
Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp. (PZA-T) reported flat same-store sales for the fourth quarter, while the company noted that “momentum has softened” in the more cautious economic environment.
After markets closed on Wednesday, the company that indirectly owns the Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 Rights and Marks, reported same-store sales rose 0.2 per cent for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared to the same period a year earlier. The expectations was for same-store sales to be flat.
Total system sales came in at $164-million, up from $160.5-million a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings were $8.12-million or 24 cents per share, which was in line with expectations and compared to $8-million or 24 cents a year earlier.
“While we delivered positive sales in a very tough environment, it is clear that momentum has softened as customers become more deliberate in how they spend. That said, we will leverage our strong everyday value leadership position, backed by ongoing enhancements to our menu, restaurants and digital customer experience to continue to grow successfully,” CEO Paul Goddard said in a release.
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Dominion Lending Centres Inc. DLCG-T shares closed up 15 per cent in Wednesday trading after the company hiked its quarterly dividend by 25 per cent and reported fourth-quarter results that beat expectations.
After markets closed on Tuesday, the company reported revenue of $26.6-million, up 19 per cent from $22.3-million a year earlier. The expectation was for revenue of $26-million, according to S&P Capital IQ. Funded mortgage volumes grew 20 per cent in the quarter to $23.5-billion in Q4 2025, up from $19.6-billion a year earlier.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 36 per cent to $14-million from $10.3-million a year earlier and was ahead of expectations of $12.9-million.
Net income of $1.9-million or 2 cents per share compared to a loss of $138.8-million or $2.63 a year earlier. Adjusted net income of $10.5 million or 13 cents per share was up from $3-million or 5 cents a year earlier. The expectation was for adjusted EPS of 10 cents.
The company also increased its quarterly dividend to 5 cents per share from 4 cents.
“We view the Q4 results as positive for the shares given the year-over-year growth, strong margin performance, and continued momentum in mortgage renewals,” Acumen Capital analyst Jim Byrne said in a note. “Organic growth will be driven by further consumer adoption of brokers, and the significant volume of mortgage renewals in the next couple of years.”
He maintained his “buy” rating and $12.50 target price.
The stock was up 17 per cent in Wednesday afternoon trading.
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Ag Growth International Inc. (AFN-T) shares dropped 33 per cent in Wednesday trading after the company suspended its dividend and reported mixed fourth-quarter results and a negative outlook. The company also slashed its leadership team, among other cost-cutting moves, following a recent board shakeup.
“Against a backdrop of continued market headwinds, particularly in North America, our financial results reflect the need for decisive action to position the company for improved performance,” stated interim CEO Paul Brisebois in a release.
After markets closed on Tuesday, the company reported revenue of $396-million, up 4 per cent from $381.2-million a year earlier. The result was ahead of expectations of $362.7-million, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Adjusted EBITDA of $48.3-million was down 38 per cent from $78.1-million a year earlier and below expectations of $63.3-million.
The company said its adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.2 per cent was down 829 basis points from 20.5 per cent year over year. It said the drop was “primarily due to lower farm volumes impacting overhead absorption, execution‑related issues on traditional equipment-only projects in Brazil that led to cost overruns, warranty charges, and bad debt write-offs, as well as product mix and production efficiency issues in our North American Commercial business."
It reported a loss of $49.7-million or $2.64 per share compared to a loss of $32.6-million or $171. a year earlier. Adjusted profit of $1.8-million or 9 cents per share was down from $31.2-million or $1.47 a year earlier.
In its outlook, the company said its order book as of Dec. 31 was down 26 per cent year over year to $543-million, “primarily owing to the execution of several significant projects in our International Commercial segment.”
It also said the farm segment “remains exposed to ongoing cyclical market conditions which limits near-term visibility.” It also said its commercial segment order intake “softened” in late 2025 and early 2026 “amid longer customer review cycles.”
After the departure of its CEO and the reconstitution of the board earlier this year, the company said it has conducted a “comprehensive and critical review” of its business and, as a result, cut the management team to eight members from 17 and suspended the current quarterly dividend of 15 per share, effective immediately.
“Addressing areas of our financial position is a key focus and we recognize that free cash flow generation as well as leverage levels need to improve,” said chief financial officer Jim Rudyk. “Our fourth quarter margins reflect the combined impact of lower volumes and execution pressures, which is exactly why we’re leaning into a tighter operating discipline. Our restructuring program is designed to drive margin recovery, better cash conversion, and a stronger balance sheet over time.”
Raymond James analyst Steve Hansen downgraded the stock to “market perform” from “outperform” and slashed his price target to $30 from $52.
“While we acknowledge this likely represents a ‘kitchen sink’ quarter in concert with management’s new restructuring plan, our faith in the company’s outlook has again been materially eroded with this latest print,” Mr. Hansen wrote in a note.
TD analyst Michael Tupholme described the fourth-quarter results as “negative” in an early-morning note on Wednesday.
“EBITDA was well below expectations (on weaker margins),” he wrote. “Meanwhile, AFN outlined a broad restructuring and suspended its dividend. Near-term pressure on the commercial order book is expected as AFN reevaluates its approach to large international Commercial projects. Cyclical ag market conditions continue to limit near-term visibility in Farm.”
Shares were down 34 per cent in late afternoon trading.
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Boralex Inc. (BLX-T) shares closed up 11 per cent on Wednesday after the renewable energy company announced a deal to be bought by Brookfield Corp. (BN-T) and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for $3.8-billion.
Early Wednesday, Boralex announced it had accepted an offer of $37.25 per share from the two global asset managers. The Caisse is already a significant shareholder in Boralex, with a 15-per-cent stake.
“We believe that the friendly privatization offer from a Brookfield/La Caisse consortium represents fair value for BLX shareholders and see minimal chances of a higher bid emerging,” TD analyst Sean Steuart said in a note. “Based on our estimates, the implied 2026E EV/EBITDA multiple is 11.8x, which is consistent with valuation terms for the La Caisse/Innergex transaction last year and long-term precedent deal averages.”
Read the full Globe story here
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MDA Space Ltd. (MDA-T) dropped 5 per cent on Wednesday amid NASA’s changes to its Artemis mission, which appears to have concerned investors and led the company to issue a statement.
“NASA has announced that it intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained Lunar surface operations, and to repurpose equipment and leverage international partner commitments for use on the Lunar surface,” the company stated.
“MDA Space management reiterates that the company’s Canadarm3 program associated with the Artemis program is a contract with the Canadian Space Agency and not with NASA or the US government.”
It added: “There has been no change to any MDA Space contract and our work on the Canadarm3 program continues to progress. We remain fully focused on executing our existing contracts and advancing our commercial opportunities to expand further.”
The company also noted that Canadarm3 contract serves multiple markets, including space agency and commercial opportunities.
“As a result, the Canadarm3 architecture was developed with flexibility to support multiple use cases, including in low Earth orbit, in cislunar space, and on the Lunar surface. Canadarm3 is currently in the design phase of the program, providing flexibility to pivot to an alternate operating environment,” it stated. “We are in continuous dialogue with the Canadian Space Agency and expect that Canada will continue to contribute robotics technology to the Artemis mission.”
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ACT Energy Technologies Ltd. (ACT-T) fell on Wednesday after the company reported lower profit and revenue for the fourth quarter.
The company, formerly Cathedral Energy Services Ltd., said revenue came in at $109.3-million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from $128.1-million a year earlier. It said the drop was due to a 19-per-cent decrease in operating days in the most recent quarter, offset by a 5-per-cent increase in average revenues per operating day. The revenue result beat analysts’ expectations of $106.3-million.
Net income of $3.1-million or 8 cents per share was down from $14.9-million or 38 cents a year earlier. The expectation was for earnings of 16 cents, according to S&P Capital IQ.
“We view the results as positive for the shares given improvement in margins despite the lower activity levels,” Acumen Capital analyst Jim Byrne said in a note. “The company has been adding accretive acquisitions to its U.S. operations in 2026, and we anticipate solid results in the next few quarters.
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Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR-B-T) has received court approval to proceed with its recapitalization plan to reduce debt and liabilities, following a January shareholder vote that failed to achieve the necessary level of support.
Corus said in a release Tuesday evening that it had received an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice allowing it to proceed with the transaction, which will reduce the beleaguered media company’s total debt and liabilities by more than $500-million, and decrease its interest payments by up to $40-million.
Read the full Globe story here
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Goeasy Ltd. (GSY-T) announced amended financing agreements after markets closed on Tuesday. The S&P Dow Jones Indices also announced the removal of the company from the S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index, effective April 1.
The update comes after the personal lender for subprime borrowers, shocked investors earlier this month by announcing surging loan losses and suspending its dividend.
The company said the agreements are with the lenders and other counterparties under its syndicated revolving credit facility, consumer securitization warehouse facility and loan purchase and sale agreement.
“We are pleased to have reached this outcome with our lenders and other financing counterparties,” stated the company’s CFO, Felix Wu.
“We believe these amendments will alleviate any immediate-term liquidity concerns investors may have had and will provide GSY a few extra months to demonstrate a path to normalization,” National Bank Financial analyst Jaeme Gloyn wrote in a note. "That said, the story for us is earnings power and earnings visibility that primarily hinge on credit quality and loan growth. These factors remain uncertain. In addition, the credit facilities are up for renewal in October 2026 and July 2027, meaning the terms of those funding arrangements could still change significantly (including necessitating an equity raise). Overall, a positive step, but lots for GSY to still deliver."
He has a “sector perform” (hold) rating and $50 price target on the stock.
Related: Goeasy shares dive 57% on surging loan losses, suspended dividend
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Aimia Inc. (AIM-T) reported lower revenue and adjusted EBITDA for its fourth quarter.
Before markets opened on Tuesday, the investment company reported revenue of $118.5-million, down from $127.2-million a year earlier. “The decline was attributable to unfavourable macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions that impacted Cortland and Bozzetto in the quarter,” the company stated.
Adjusted EBITDA of $16.7-million was down from $17.3-million a year earlier.
Its net loss of $9.9-million or 13 cents per share, which the company said was due mainly to a non-cash goodwill impairment charge. In the same quarter a year earlier, Aimia incurred a net loss of $41.2-million or 21 cents.
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VersaBank (VBNK-T) announced this week that it sold assets associated with its only bank branch in Holdingford, Minn. to Stearns Bank National Association.
“The sale of our only retail bank branch back to Stearns Bank is consistent with our highly efficient branchless, partner-based, digital banking model and the resulting cost savings will contribute to our operating leverage as we continue to steadily ramp up our Structured Receivable Program business in the U.S.,” said David Taylor, founder and President, VersaBank.
The company said the sale will have “de minimis impact” on its tangible book value and is expected to result in a one-time, non-cash intangible asset write-off of approximately $1.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2026.
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Quarterhill Inc. (QTRH-T) swung to a loss in its fourth quarter, while adjusted EBITDA increased. One analyst described the quarter as “encouraging.”
Before markets opened on Monday, the software and technology solutions company reported revenue of $38.5-million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down slightly from $38.9-million a year earlier.
Adjusted EBITDA totaled $4.4-million, compared to $1.2-million a year earlier.
Its net loss was $34.5-million, or 29 cents per share, compared to a profit of $272,000, or nil per share, a year ago.
“Quarterhill’s Q4 results were encouraging,” CIBC analyst Todd Coupland wrote in a note. “Revenues were slightly below consensus at $38.5MM (vs. FactSet $39.7MM), while adjusted EBITDA was $4.4MM (vs. FactSet $2.5MM). These results reflect QTRH’s ongoing business transformation.”
He said the company expects higher revenue and expanded adjusted EBITDA margins.
“In our view, QTRH’s backlog that provides coverage for revenue, the recent ~15% restructuring (or 100 staff) and a $2B bid pipeline support the expected improvements. This report and actions by QTRH are consistent with our investment thesis,” he wrote.
He has a $2 target and “outperformer” (buy) recommendation on the stock.
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Fiera Capital Corp. (FSZ-T) announced that its CEO Maxime Ménard would take a medical leave of absence, effective immediately.
“The company expects Mr. Ménard to return to his role,” it stated in a release on Friday.
The company said Gabriel Castiglio, executive director and chief operating officer, has been named interim CEO. Mr. Castiglio has been with the company since 2019.
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Upcoming small-cap earnings:
March 31: Grown Rogue International Inc. (GRIN-CN), Intermap Technologies Corp. IMP-T
April 1: D2L Inc. (DTOL-T), Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY-T)
April 9: Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (RET-X)
April 10: Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR-B-T)
April 14: AGF Management Ltd. (AGF-B-T), Blue Ant Media Corp. (BAMI-T)
- with files from Darcy Keith