A look at some small-cap stocks making news - or about to.
Canada’s S&P/TSX Small Cap Index (TXTW-I) is up by about 40 per cent over the past 52 weeks. It hit a record 1,496.55 on June 2. The Russell 2000 in the U.S. is up about 20 per cent over the past 52 weeks and reached a high of 3,069.71 on Aug. 14.
Small-cap summary:
Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (RET-X) reported lower sales and profit for its second quarter.
After markets closed on Thursday, the retailer reported revenue of $211.8-million for the quarter ended Aug. 1, down 2 per cent from $215.9-million a year earlier.
Same-store sales fell 1.5 per cent year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA was $18.8-million, down from $21.4-million a year ago.
Net earnings were $10.1-million, or 20 cents per share, compared to $13.1-million or 26 cents a year earlier.
The company operates 385 stores under the Reitmans, Penn and RW&Co banners. The company has no analyst coverage, according to S&P Capital IQ data.
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Computer Modelling Group (CMG-T) announced a five-year software licensing and software support agreement with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., Brazil’s largest oil and gas producer.
“The agreement renews and expands a prior agreement covering CMG’s reservoir and production simulation software,” the company stated in a release before markets opened on Thursday.
No terms were provided.
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Sienna Senior Living Inc. (SIA-T) announced a deal to buy Stonemont On the Park, a 305-suite retirement residence in Ottawa for $170.7-million.
The transaction includes an additional $10-million earnout contingent upon exceeding certain financial targets and is expected to close in the fourth quarter. In the release before markets opened on Thursday, the company said it intends to finance the acquisition with available cash on hand and its credit facilities.
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Calian Group Ltd. (CGY-T) announced an agreement to advance drone-enabled defence training and operational readiness with SkyFall, a Ukrainian technology and defence company.
After markets closed on Wednesday, the Ottawa-based company said the partnership will advance unmanned systems training and operational readiness for Canada, the United Kingdom, NATO and allied forces.
Acumen Capital analyst Jim Byrne said management expects the partnership to strengthen its global defence training portfolio “by integrating operational knowledge of unmanned systems into its training, simulation and mission-readiness solutions.”
He also noted that the announcement follows last week’s signing of the 100-year partnership between Canada and Ukraine.
No financial details were disclosed, he added.
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NanoXplore Inc. (GRA-T) reported mixed fourth-quarter results.
After markets closed on Tuesday, the Montreal-based graphene company reported revenue of $33.9-million for the fourth quarter ended June 30 compared to $31.7-million a year earlier. The result was slightly below expectations of $34.4-million, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Its loss of $1.6-million or a penny per share was in line with expectations and compared to a loss of $2.3-million last year.
Adjusted EBITDA of $1.9-million compared to $2.5-million a year earlier and was below expectations of $2-million.
In its outlook, the company said it expects revenues for fiscal 2027 to range between $130-million and $140-million, below expectations of $150.7-million and between $160-million and $170-million for fiscal 2028, versus expectations of $169.5-million, according to S&P Capital IQ.
National Bank analyst Baltej Sidhu maintained his “sector perform” (hold) rating while reducing his target price to $2.20 from $2.80.
“Following Q4/26 results and the introduction of management’s FY2027 and FY2028 outlook, we reduce our FY2027 estimates to reflect the Volvo program delays and a more measured conversion of new graphene applications,” he wrote.
In a separate release on Thursday, the company announced that it has been selected as a qualified supplier under the Government of Canada’s Defence Drone Initiative (DDI) Marketplace.
“The qualification covers both NanoXplore’s graphene-enhanced composite components and the graphene-enhanced lithium-ion battery cells produced by VoltaXplore Inc.,” it stated in a release.
The DDI Marketplace is being established as Ottawa advances a planned investment of approximately $180-billion in direct defence procurement over the next decade, the company added.
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Cineplex Inc. (CGX-T) announced reported August box office revenues of $98-million, which the company said was the highest monthly box office performance in its history, driven by movies such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey.
“August box office revenues doubled compared to the prior year, with Cineplex outperforming the domestic box office market during the month,” the company stated in a release on Monday.
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Savaria Corp. (SIS-T) announced a 5.4-per-cent increase in its monthly dividend.
On Monday, the company behind accessibility equipment such as home stairlifts and elevators said the dividend would increase to about 4.9 cents per share monthly or 59 cents per share annually. The increase will apply to the dividends payable monthly starting on October 9 to shareholders of record on Sept. 30.
“This dividend increase reflects our confidence in continuing to deliver strong profitability in the coming years, while maintaining ample balance sheet flexibility by paying down debt and having the ability to invest in growth opportunities as they arise,” stated executive chair Marcel Bourassa in a release.
“Although such a raise is relatively small and follows raises in 9/10 past years, we see the signal as highlighting capital allocation flexibility and likely additional M&A to catalyze shares,” Stifel analyst Justin Keywood said in a release.
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High Tide Inc. HITI-X reported record third-quarter results, including revenue and earnings per share that beat expectations.
After markets closed on Monday, the cannabis company reported revenue of $198.8-million for the quarter ended July 31 compared to $149.7-million during the same period last year and ahead of expectations of $194.6-million.
“This was the fifth consecutive quarter marking a new all-time high in revenue,” the company stated.
Adjusted EBITDA was a record $16.2-million the company stated, up 53 per cent compared to last year.
Net income was a record $12.7-million or 12 cents per share, up from net income of $832,000 or a penny per share a year ago. Expectations were for earnings to come in at 2 cents per share, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Canaccord analyst Luke Hannan reiterated his “buy” recommendation and $7.50 target price following the results.
“We came away from the call feeling incrementally positive about High Tide’s growth outlook,” he wrote in a note. “While acknowledging that the company could see some pressure from consumer weakness in Canada as a function of macro headwinds, we note that the company remains a best-in-class operator that has materially outperformed its closest peer, with strong brand affinity and customer stickiness. In Germany, Remexian continues to outperform, as it has for the last several quarters, a testament to robust end-consumer demand.”
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Evertz Technologies Ltd. (ET-T) reported mixed first-quarter results.
After markets closed on Monday, the Burlington, Ont.-based video and audio infrastructure company reported revenue of $118.3-million for its first quarter ended Aug. 31, up from $112.1-million in the prior year. The result was in line with expectations of $118.1-million, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Net earnings of $8-million or 10 cents per share compared to $11.9-million or 15 cents a year earlier. The expectation was for earnings of 13 cents.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Robert Young lowered his rating to “hold” from “buy” after the earnings and reduced his target to $15 from $18.
“Evertz currently trades at ~12.3x EV/C2027E EBITDA, above its historical range (9-11x). While we continue to see support from growing defence exposure, a healthy backlog, and an increasing software/services mix, we believe the current valuation leaves less room for upside as underlying growth and near-term cash generation moderate, with incremental margin pressure from component costs and tariffs,” he wrote.
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Upcoming small-cap earnings:
Sept 23: AGF Management Ltd. (AGF-B-T)
Sept. 24: Vecima Networks Inc. (VCM-T), BlackBerry Ltd. (BB-T)