Inside the Market’s roundup of some of today’s key analyst actions
After a “mixed” third quarter for Canada’s airlines and aerospace companies, RBC Dominion Securities analyst James McGarragle sees valuations “trending higher” as earnings season approaches.
“For Q3, our Canadian Airlines Heatmap, powered by RBC Elements, highlights mixed leading indicators, with airline pricing and Canadian travel search interest trending lower, largely impacted by the flight attendant strike, which we see as having limited implications for Air Canada this quarter given the Q3 pre-release,” he said.
“On a positive note, bizjet activity posted strong results, up 6.6 per cent in Q3 vs last year, with September delivering 11-per-cent growth, led by 20-per-cent-plus gains from fractional operators, which we see as a favourable readthrough for Bombardier. Meanwhile, pilot hiring at commercial airlines remained weak during the quarter, averaging below the replacement rate of 300 pilots per month, but showed an encouraging positive inflection in August. That said, we see risks to CAE Civil results given the continued softness in pilot hiring trends, which could weigh on near-term demand for training solutions.”
In a client report released before the bell, Mr. McGarragle reaffirmed Air Canada (AC-T) as his “top idea” in the industry after updating his forecast and rolling forward his valuation period to 2027.
“Our Q3/25E EBITDA moves to $976-million (from $1,028-million) in line with consensus of $975-milion,” he said. “Our 2025E moves to $2.9-billion, at the low end of updated guidance of $2.9-$3.1-billion and below consensus of $3.1-billion, however we believe the strike to be a clearing event and see lower fuel costs and cost controls creating potential upside to our FY estimates. We roll our valuation year to 2027 and lower our target multiple to 3.5x (from 4x) on temporary book away due to the strike resulting in our unchanged $25 PT. We highlight AC as a top investment idea, anticipating a significant FCF inflection in 2028-2029. Key on the call will be the arbitration outcome for the flight attendants and potential impacts to costs, and the demand outlook given the weaker macro environment.”
With an “outperform” rating, the analyst kept a $25 target for Air Canada shares. The average target on the Street is $24.69, according to LSEG data.
Mr. McGarragle made a pair of target adjustments to stocks in his coverage universe:
* Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B-T, “outperform”) to $230 from $202. The average is $194.50.
Analyst: “Our Q3/25E EBITDA remains unchanged at $369-million, in line with consensus of $371-million. Our 2025E FCF of $795-million remains unchanged, at the high end of guidance of $500-$800-million, given strong order and activity flow to date. We temper our 2026E FCF estimate to $900-million (from $952-million) on continued engine supply chain pressures requiring higher NWC investment. We roll our valuation year to 2027 and keep our valuation multiple unchanged at 10.5 times resulting in our PT of $230. Key on the call will be updates on defense contract wins, the engine supply chain and impact from solid bizjet activity numbers.”
* Exchange Income Corp. (EIF-T, “outperform”) to $85 from $81. The average is $82.08.
Analyst: “Q3E EBITDA is unchanged into the quarter at $236-million, above consensus $228-milion. We introduce 2027E EBITDA of $918-million, in line with consensus of $916-million, representing high single-digit growth off our 2026 estimates. Our blended target multiple moves to 7.3 times (from 7.7 times) to reflect the weaker industrial backdrop on the manufacturing segment, and when applied to our new 2027 estimates results in our $85 PT.”
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Raymond James analyst Michael Barth upgraded Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE-T) in response to its revised offer for MEG Energy Corp. (MEG-T), seeing what he think is “increasingly see as the best risk-adjusted return in the space.”
Early Wednesday, Cenovus announced it has boosted its offer for its smaller peer to $8.6-billion in an attempt to win a hotly contested Alberta oil sands takeover battle. Its cash-and-share bid of $29.80 per MEG share is up $1.32 per share from the offer the two companies announced in late August. The increased offer is meant to trump a hostile, all-share offer from Strathcona Resources Ltd. (SCR-T).
“Pro forma accretion still looks good with the revised offer, and the balance sheet improves,” said Mr. Barth. “Our run-rate AFFO/share accretion under the current offer (which we now include in the model) sits at approximately 4 per cent, which we still view favourably. Notably, with the revised equity mix, CVE’s pro forma leverage actually falls into the middle of the peer group range, which ultimately means that the buyback cadence ramps back up faster than we expected. We continue to like this deal for CVE, and with the combination of a revised headline price and higher equity mix, we believe this is the deal that gets done.
“Is the synergy target too conservative? We explain our thinking in more detail on page 3, but we increasingly hold the view that the $400-million synergy target initially presented by CVE will ultimately end up getting revised higher. To be clear, the additional upside we think could transpire would require capital (not a true ‘synergy’), but we expect this combination creates a long runway for capital efficient organic growth that might not have existed to the same degree with the legacy assets. We include no upside value in our model, but believe investors get that option value for free at the current share price.”
Mr. Barth moved Cenovus to a “strong buy” recommendation from “outperform” previously, calling its operations update a “banger” and seeing it as “a cherry on top.”
“Despite revising the MEG offer higher, we note that CVE outperformed the peer group yesterday, and we suspect that’s solely because of the encouraging operations update,” he said. “Upstream production for 3Q25 of 832 mboe/d was 1/2 per cent ahead of RJL/consensus, and set a new record. More importantly, total refining throughput of 712 mbbl/d came in 5 per cent ahead of RJL/consensus estimates and also broke a new record, with U.S. Downstream specifically running at 606 mboe/d (6 per cent ahead of our estimate and a whopping 98.9-per-cent utilization on operable capacity). Excluding the impact of FIFO accounting, our revised U.S. Downstream operating profit is now the highest since 3Q23, and we’ve revised our longer-term estimates higher in tandem.
“Great absolute and relative value persists ... CVE has the highest Sustaining Free Cash Flow yield in the peer group on our 2026 estimates, with pro form leverage in-line with the group. In addition, we have cumulative CVE production growth over the subsequent two years (2026-2028) nearly double the group average. Even when adjusting for differences in buyback cadence, we have CVE well above the group on both production/share growth and AFFO/share growth from 2026-2028. For all these reasons, we reiterate the view that CVE provides the best risk-adjusted returns in the large cap space today.”
Mr. Barth’s target for Cenovus shares rose to $32 from $30. The average on the Street is $27.01.
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It is “a ‘pick your spots’ kind of market” for North American oil and gas services providers heading into earnings season, according to RBC Dominion Securities analyst Keith Mackey.
“Covered stocks are down 5 per cent year-to-date, but increased 16 per cent over the quarter,” he said in a client report. “Stock performance has varied and those with strongest performance generally have exposure to 1) Natural gas production growth, 2) Power generation demand, 3) Market-specific strength in E&P spending.
“Our preferred list across our global coverage is: SLB (SLB), Baker Hughes (BKR), TechnipFMC (FTI), Enerflex (EFXT), Trican Well Service (TCW), Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN), Hunting (HTG) and CES Energy Solutions (CEU).”
Mr. Mackey made “minimal” changes to our North America rig count forecasts and continies to expect steady activity through 2026 and into 2027. Internationally, he increased our expectations for the Middle East and Latin America activity “slightly, reflecting slight uptick in activity heading into YE25.”
“Investors continue to support names with offshore/international-leverage (FTI, SUBC, SPM), with continued FID of offshore projects driving strong 3Q performance and orders,” he said. “We think investors keenly await commentary on margin growth into 2026 and order outlooks under current macro volatility.”
“We have decreased our 3Q estimates by 1 per cent on average, with AESI, LBRT, and NOV seeing the largest decreases. Our revised 3Q EBITDA estimates are generally below the street, but we are above for EFXT and TCW. We are most below the street for AESI, LBRT, and NOV.”
Mr. Mackey downgraded Ensign Energy Services Inc. (ESI-T) to “sector perform” from “outperform” previously, pointing to flat rig near-term rig demand and seeing it better aligned with peers with the lower recommendation base on its potential return following recent outperformance versus land drilling peers . However, he removed his “speculative risk” qualifier, seeing improved financial liquidity as the recent expansion of its credit facility reduces the risk from a previous ”tight" debt payback schedule
“Investors can be paid to wait for a recovery in global rig counts in other land drilling names,” he said. “Given Ensign has above-average financial leverage, we believe it makes sense to continue to focus on debt repayment in the near-term. However, investors can get paid to wait for a recovery in other land drillers which offer shareholder returns in the form of dividends and/or buybacks. Less-levered land drilling stocks under coverage are set to return 6.7 per cent of market caps in 2025 on average.”
His target for Ensign shares rose to $3 from $2.50. The average on the Street is $2.67.
“Ensign trades at 2025E/26E EV/ EBITDA multiples of 3.6 times/3.5 times, versus land drilling average of 3.8 times/3.9 times. We believe a modest discount is justified given higher financial leverage and slightly lower EBITDA margins,” he added.
Mr. Mackey also made these target adjustments:
- CES Energy Solutions Corp. (CEU-T, “outperform”) to $11 from $10. Average: $10.
- Pason Systems Inc. (PSI-T, “outperform”) to $14 from $16. Average: $15.20.
- Precision Drilling Corp. (PD-T, “outperform”) to $110 from $100. Average: $98.98.
- Trican Well Service Ltd. (TCW-T, “outperform”) to $7.50 from $7. Average: $6.42.
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In a research report released late Wednesday titled Party like it’s 1995, National Bank Financial analyst Maxim Sytchev argued industrial companies “generally perform” well during “a rare combo when rate cuts are combined with positive GDP growth.”
“In 1995, there was no ‘crisis’ per se when the Fed cut rates and hence no falling cliff when it came to GDP growth; it was in response to slowing inflation (amid a good but cooling labor market) while fiscal policy was neutral (it also came on the back of 7 rate hikes in 1994),” he argued. “Today, we find ourselves in a similarly strong labour backdrop in the U.S. (even though there are some cracks appearing) and rate cuts are occurring alongside “expansionary” fiscal policy, the latter being generally stimulative for our coverage. In 1995 Consumer Staples was the best performing sector, not entirely surprising as during times of instability investors are flying to relative quality in the form of highly defensive names. On the opposite side of the ledger, “Dr. Copper” performed the worst among a slew of indices and commodities in the 1995-time frame; perhaps today is different given the renewable push, much lower ore grades, EV, and data centre thematic attributed to the bullish stance at the moment."
Previewing the approaching third-quarter earnings season in the sector, Mr. Sytchev said there have been only four instances in the past 50 years when the U.S. central bank was cutting rates amid positive economic growth, adding: “1995 in particular provides the most relevant blueprint / comparator as at the time we did not witness a decelerating GDP dynamic (contrary to 1966, 1984, and 1989), a similar set-up to now, propped up by deficit spending, generational investment into AI and decoupling from the Asian manufacturing base. Of note, Industrials on a 12-months subsequent returns basis, were the 2ndbest performing sector then, further supporting our bottom-up positive skew for our diversified coverage (function of funding visibility, healthy tax receipts, and material infrastructure commitments across most geographies of relevance – U.S., Canada, UK, Europe, Middle East, and Australia)."
The analyst now sees some areas of the industrial sector performing well, notably equipment and consulting, however he sees his coverage universe as largely “in arrears” with a year-to-date gain of 15 per cent on average through Oct. 3. That lags the broader TSX at 23 per cent, which he attributed to gains in materials, financials and tech stocks.
"Laggards are farm, EV, and policy-implicated idiosyncratic exposures (TTEK - USAID curtailment),“ he said. ”While it’s always ‘easier’ to make the case for pure momentum, incremental deployment at these levels are most attractive to us in ATS (permanent CEO is only a matter of time / thematically well positioned), TTEK (one of the very few engineers down YTD as we cycle through policy uncertainty but underlining water fundamentals are solid), CIGI (direct beneficiary of moderating interest rate backdrop, further cyclical upside in transactional business, less bad capital raising environment and growing engineering practice, all at lower than CBRE’s valuation) and BDT (direct beta on “nation-building” projects without the legacy of execution issues)."
The analyst made these target adjustments:
* AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. (ATRL-T, “sector perform”) to $101 from $100. The average on the Street is $111.92.
Analyst: “Given the tougher Q3/24 comps for ESR, we moderated our Q3/25E margin assumptions for the segment but offset full-year numbers with a more pronounced expansion in Q4/25E on positive operating leverage and progress on operational efficiency initiatives. Given the sustained turnaround in Linxon, we now also model consistently positive (but modest) profitability in the segment. Lastly, we raised our assumptions around pro-forma interest costs to reflect the maintenance of cash on hand (vs. more debt repayments) for expected M&A.”
* RB Global Inc. (RBA-N/RBA-T, “sector perform”) to US$111 from US$113. Average: US$118.79.
Analyst: “We slightly tweaked our line items below the EBITDA line (amortization, interest expense, share based compensation) to accurately reflect the cadence of the past couple quarters, which lowers our EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter. With shares flat this quarter we do not see a material rise in SBC vs. last year.”
* Russel Metals Inc. (RUS-T, “outperform”) to $56 from $55. Average: $50.43.
Analyst: “We lowered our forecasts for Q3/25E to account for the continued downward drift in HRC prices as well as a degree of caution in end-client sentiment amid higher rates and trade uncertainty. In addition, we incorporated the incoming cash from the pending sale of Delta and Saskatoon real estate and the recent acquisition of seven U.S. service centres from Kloeckner.”
* Stella-Jones Inc. (SJ-T, “outperform”) to $95 from $92. Average: $86.13.
Analyst: “While we are not changing our forecasts for H2/25E, we now model a year-end close for the Brooks Manufacturing acquisition, which is expected to incrementally accelerate the organic growth profile (increases exposure to the electrification and grid expansion/modernization theme) in a margin-accretive manner (we estimate Brooks EBITDA margins to be in the low-to-mid 20-per-cent range). We also fine-tuned our cash outflow assumption for the back half of the year to reflect the positive share price momentum in the last 6 months.”
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Citing valuation concerns, CIBC World Markets’ energy infrastructure analyst Robert Catellier downgraded a pair of stocks:
- Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T) to “neutral” from “outperformer” with a $70 target, up from $68. The average is $67.58.
- TC Energy Corp. (TRP-T) to “neutral” from “outperformer” with a $77 target, up from $76. Average: $73.09.
“Based on recent share price performance and lower returns to target, we are downgrading both ENB and TRP to Neutral from Outperformer, on valuation,” he said. “While both have respectable growth rates and opportunities, both are trading at relatively high multiples relative to 2026 and 2027 forecasts. We believe both ENB and TRP could see yield support in this renewed rate cutting cycle and grow into more attractive valuations given enough time, in light of their exposure to the U.S. gas infrastructure buildout. Returns to our revised targets now favour companies with higher expected growth rates, such as KEY and BIP.”
Mr. Catellier also made these target adjustments:
- AltaGas Ltd. (ALA-T, “outperformer”) to $46 from $44. Average: $44.
- Keyera Corp. (KEY-T, “outperformer”) to $57 from $56. Average: $51.31.
- Pembina Pipeline Corp. (PPL-T, “outperformer”) to $62 from $60. Average: $59.35.
- South Bow Corp. (SOBO-N/SOBO-T, “neutral”) to US$28 from US$27. Average: US$25.78.
“We are modifying our price targets to reflect a lower market risk premium in our discounted cash flow models of 6.0 per cent (vs. 6.8 per cent previously), while also modifying for a lower risk-free rate of 4.25 per cent (vs. 4.5 per cent previously),” he said. “The result is an increase to price targets. Despite the increased price targets, recent share price gains have compressed returns to target on most names, notably the large caps.”
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Canada’s telecommunications companies saw “a quieter quarter for a sector historically appreciated for its stability,” according to Desjardins Securities analyst Jerome Dubreuil.
“Promotional intensity was under relative control in the quarter as the discipline of the back-to-school season should somewhat reassure investors,” he said. “That said, we do not anticipate meaningful immediate improvement in ARPU [average revenue per user growth as the subscriber base is still being repriced downward and U.S. travel dynamics have likely hurt roaming fees in 3Q25. The sector continues to offer decent protection against potential macroeconomic deterioration.”
Calling BCE Inc. (BCE-T) his top pick in the medium term, Mr. Dubreuil raised his target for its shares to $41 from $40.50 with a “buy” rating. The average target on the Street is $35.23.
“Our 3Q25E EBITDA is slightly below the Street due to a tough media comp, but we are hopeful the investor day (October 14) will help the market better appreciate the prospects of: (1) organic EBITDA growth resuming in 2026; and (2) the benefits of the Ziply deal and PSP partnership,“ he said.
The rest of his pecking order is:
2. Telus Corp. (T-T, “buy”) with a $24 target, down from $25. Average: $22.94.
Analyst: “We have reduced our numbers slightly to reflect management’s tempered expectations on certain items during conference season. Healthcare is a focal point as the next potential monetization item.”
3. Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B-T, “buy”) with a $53 target, up from $51. Average: $55.55.
Analyst: “We are below the Street for the quarter and do not anticipate a sports-related catalyst (go Jays go, nonetheless) before at least December. Sports monetization remains a probable 2026 catalyst.”
4. Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B-T, “buy”) with a $47 target, up from $43. Average: $44.52.
Analyst: “The wireless thesis is intact and we have lowered our capex estimates to reflect more gradual ramp-up expectations for wireless build. However, QBR’s valuation is now comfortably above BCE and RCI despite limited expected FCF growth in the coming years. We therefore now see limited potential for relative multiple expansion.”
5. Cogeco Communications Inc. (CCA-T, “hold”) with a $73 target (unchanged). Average: $75.10.
Analyst: “CCA is set to release its annual guidance, which we expect will show the company is on its way to deliver FCF of $600-million in FY27.”
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TD Cowen analyst Derek Lessard now sees Dorel Industries Inc. (DII.B-T) having time to monetize its Juvenile products business and fix its Home segment following a recent balance sheet “recap.”
Accordingly, following the Sept. 29 announcement that it has completed the closing of new credit facilities with a group of lenders, led by TCW Asset Management Company, for US$310-million and a private-placement with Alberta Investment Management Corp. of preferred shares for US$75-million, he raised his rating for its shares to “hold” from “sell” previously.
“We have been covering the company for well over a decade now and operating through these last post-pandemic years has been extremely challenging,” he explained. “We downgraded the shares to Sell on March 1 (the shares were trading at $4.12), given a challenging path back to profitability (for Home) and the ongoing liquidity crunch. More recently, operating results have been challenged by U.S. tariffs, resulting in the pausing of customer orders.
“Although we expect the challenging industry conditions to persist, the good news is that we believe the new credit facilities should help advance Dorel’s strategic agenda by granting the company some breathing room to execute on its plan to monetize the Juvenile business and reposition the Home segment. To be clear, this is expensive paper (i.e. 12 per cent for the credit facilities, albeit on a sliding scale and tied to SOFR, and a 17-per-cent dividend yield for the preferred shares) and not what an optimal capital structure should look like, but it is a short-to-medium term stop-gap measure. A key feature of the preferred share issue is paid-in-kind (PIK) interest, allowing Dorel to defer cash payments until asset monetization.”
Mr. Lessard also emphasized new partners should benefit if the Montreal-based company’s is “successful.”
“In connection with the new credit facilities, Dorel issued warrants to TCW (and certain other lenders) under the credit facilities in an amount equal to 5 per cent of the number of Dorel’s outstanding shares,” he noted. “Meanwhile, in connection with the issuance of the preferred shares, Dorel issued warrants to AIMCo in an amount equal to 8 per cent of the number of Dorel’s outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis.
“Given the new capital structure and greater certainty around liquidity, we have assigned a higher probability to the going-concern vs. liquidation scenario (i.e. 75 per cent/25 per cent compared with 50 per cent/50 per cent previously). The liquidation case, where Dorel would be forced to sell Juvenile to repay debt and distribute the remaining proceeds to shareholders, is now less likely after securing new financing.”
He hiked his target for Dorel shares to $2.50 from $1. The average is $1.50.
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Seeing regional tailwinds continuing, Scotia Capital analyst Kevin Fisk raised his updated his commodity price forecast along with company estimates for his coverage universe on Thursday as is 2025 and 2026 Canadian oil price forecast increased “modestly.”
“We are still expecting oil prices to weaken in 2026,” he said. “Additionally, our forecast for Canadian oil prices in 2027 decreased 8-10 per cent due to a weak global oil price outlook.
“We maintain a structurally positive view of Canadian differentials, underpinned by years of underinvestment, sustained capital discipline, surplus pipeline egress capacity, and robust global demand for heavy crude. TMX has brought structural change to the Canadian oil market by improving transport efficiency, reducing price volatility, and diversifying market access beyond PADD’s 2 and 3 to Asia. Additionally, approximately 780 mbbl/d of pipeline optimization and debottlenecking opportunities have been identified, potentially extending the egress runway well into the 2030s. We anticipate that excess pipeline capacity, coupled with resilient heavy oil demand, will support WCS differentials in the US$12–$15/bbl range on an annual basis."
In a client report released before the bell, Mr. Fisk raised his 2026 cash flow per share estimates increased by 3 per cent while net asset value per share projections decreased by 3 per cent.
“Further, we have broadcast our 2027 estimates,” he added. “Our target prices increased 6 per cent on average with PXT (up 18 per cent), WCP (up 17 per cent), and BTE (up 14 per cent) having the largest increases.”
For Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ-T), which is top pick in the sector, he raised his target to $58 from $54 with a “sector outperform” rating. The average is $53.21.
“The company’s industry-leading cost structure provides downside protection from weaker oil prices, and we estimate that CNQ can fund its dividend and sustaining capex at less than $50 WTI,” he said. “Further, CNQ is positioned to benefit from stronger natural gas prices. On Scotia’s price deck, which assumes $5.35 AECO in 2026, CNQ has a DAFCF [debt-adjusted free cash flow] yield of 6 per cent vs SU and IMO at 5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. At strip prices we estimate that CNQ can achieve its $15-billion net debt target in mid 2027, which will trigger buybacks increasing from 60 per cent to 75 per cent of free cash flow after dividends. $70 WTI accelerates the net debt target to late 2026.”
Other notable target changes include:
- Athabasca Oil Corp. (ATH-T, “sector perform”) to $7 from $6.50. Average: $6.75.
- Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE-T, “sector perform”) to $4 from $3.50. Average: $4.
- International Petroleum Corp. (IPCO-T, “sector perform”) to $24 from $23. Average: $25.04.
- Parex Resources Inc. (PXT-T, “sector perform”) to $20 from $17. Average: $19.46.
- PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. (PSK-T, “sector perform”) to $29 from $28. Average: $30.
- Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET-T, “sector perform”) to $14 from $13. Average: $13.68.
- Whitecap Resources Inc. (WCP-T, “sector outperform”) to $14 from $12. Average: $13.19.
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In other analyst actions:
* Desjardins Securities’ Brent Stadler raised his Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN-N, AQN-T) to US$6.75 from US$6.25 with a “buy” rating.
“We maintained our estimates ahead of 3Q25 results and remain in line with consensus,” he said. “Higher cooling degree days in Missouri could be a slight tailwind on core EPS. We believe AQN trades at a discount to peers on execution risk, and the recent non-unanimous settlement in Missouri is a step toward derisking guidance. Therefore, we have bumped our valuation P/E to 18.0 times (from 17.0 times), which increased our target to US$6.75. We expect AQN to continue to execute, which should close the valuation gap vs peers.”
“We continue to believe AQN has a top-notch management team and that investors should be buying the stock as AQN executes toward becoming a premium utility.”
* Canaccord Genuity’s Carey MacRury hiked his Barrick Mining Corp. (ABX-T) target to $57 from $39, keeping a “buy” recommendation. The average is $51.26.
“We reiterate our BUY rating and we have increased our target ... on Barrick based on the following: 1) the company’s Fourmile PEA and project update, 2) updating our model to reflect the Reko Diq FS, 3) the recent Hemlo and Tongon asset sales, 4) the recent departure of CEO Mark Bristow and 5) our recently updated price deck,” he said. “Overall, we view the recent Fourmile announcement as significant as an emerging world-class asset (24Moz at 15 g/t) that is situated near existing infrastructure. The timing of Mark Bristow’s departure comes as a surprise given the recent strength in the company’s share price and the Fourmile announcement. That said, Barrick has been a relative underperformer vs. its senior peers and the gold price since the Randgold/Barrick merger and in our view, the move adds a layer of uncertainty whether deeper strategic changes are in the works.”
* Previewing its Oct. 23 quarterly release, Canaccord Genuity’s Aravinda Galappatthige increased his target for Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B-T) to $55 from $52 with a “buy” rating. The average is $55.55.
“Optically, we expect a somewhat light quarter with adj EBITDA down 2.7 per cent year-over-year, impacted by the Media segment (which now includes MLSE) owing to the steep seasonality of the financials of MLSE and also a tough base in Media generally,“ he said. ”Additionally, we see some softness in wireless service revenue due to lower international roaming, resulting from recent travel trends. On the other hand, we expect steadier returns in cable. We have adj EPS of $1.25 in Q3, down from $1.43 last year and below cons. $1.32. We maintain our BUY rating but have ticked up our target price to $55 from $52 to reflect a higher valuation in SportsCo.”
* TD Cowen’s Aaron MacNeil bumped his Superior Plus Corp. (SPB-T) target to $9 from $8 with a “hold” rating. The average is $9.58.
“We expect Q3/25 to be uneventful from both results and new disclosure perspective,” he said. “Things get more interesting post-quarter, with a likely reboot of the NCIB and more tangible disclosures around Superior Delivers with Q4/25. Recent weather forecasts are calling for above average temperatures which may negatively impact Superior’s ability to meet its guidance.”
* National Bank’s John Shao increased his Toronto-based business security solutions provider Zedcor Inc. (ZDC-X) target to $7.50 from $5.50 with an “outperform” rating. The average is $6.14.
“We had the opportunity to host investor meetings in Toronto and Montreal with Zedcor’s CEO, Todd Ziniuk, and CFO, Amin Ladha, for an update on the company’s growth trajectory and operational progress. The conversation highlighted new opportunities with large national accounts, upselling opportunities, and meaningful advances in AI-driven efficiency gains. As Zedcor scales, its direct service model and disciplined sales approach continue to set it apart from larger competitors. But more importantly, as we spend more time on the road with Management, we become increasingly aware of Zedcor’s market position as the only mobile security solution provider that covers the entire ‘Build - Rental - Monitor - Service’ value chain. This unique market stance, along with the extensive local presence, will largely protect the Company in the future if competition intensifies,” said Mr. Shao