First here's a little biotech.
RepliCel Life Sciences (TSX: V.RP, Stock Forum) has been a little favourite of mine for the past while as the company looks to
revolutionize the hair loss treatment market with a potentially permanent solution involving a minimally invasive process that cultivates important healthy hair follicle cells, known as dermal sheath cup cells, from a small sample taken from the patient.
These cells can be reinserted into affected areas of compatible patients and stimulate the growth of hair with a possibly permanent solution not known to creams, involving the patient’s own hair unlike weaves and toupees, and in a minimally invasive manner unlike painfully prolonged and extremely limited procedures like hair transplants.
There’s more to hair loss treatment for this company even though the sector currently brought in $590 million in annual revenues at the end of 2014 in the U.S. alone. RepliCel has other innovative solutions for both rejuvenation of aging and sun-damaged skin as well as a ground-breaking treatment for chronic tendinosis, each utilizing something called NBDS fibroblast therapy.
Wait, that’s not it,
the company has also developed an industry-leading patented dermal injector that can be used for a variety of procedures beyond the aforementioned treatments.
Okay, the company’s still bringing all of this to market, but it has
made significant headway and has an active slate for both 2015 and 2016, that is expected to see the completion of some late stage clinical trials and the market-readiness of their dermal injector device. To this end
, the company has been garnering attention from not just me, but industry analysts. In fact, just recently Euro Pacific Canada analyst, Douglas Loe, initiated coverage of his own volition giving the company a
speculative BUY rating with a $1.50 target price.
Click here if you want to read the particulars.
There’s still work to be done, but the company has its collective nose to the grindstone and stands to capitalize on some fairly substantial markets. If all the pieces can be put into place over the next three years,
RepliCel, could be a long-term investment winner.
SoMedia Networks (TSX: V.VID, Stock Forum) is pushing to take
corporate online video and social media engagement to the next level. I spoke with co-CEO Ben Pickering regarding the company and its offering back in October and we walked through the offering and the market potential. In short,
it was poised to disrupt the market with its ability to crowd-source its services to enable a ground-breaking scalable video production solution with a 14-day or less delivery timeframe anytime, anywhere. Not only that, the company is able to ensure top quality material through its vetted stable of contract video professionals.
Now,
the train doesn’t stop with video production. Corporate video is a powerful vision form of story-telling in a market that currently generates approximately $2.7 billion annually, but online presentation and
advanced analytical support is the formative wave of the future which
allows companies to stay on top of both their sector trends and their customers’ needs in real-time.
When I talked with Benthe company had just finished massive round of 14 integration deals with such entities as Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud, Web.com and Google Chrome Store. SoMedia was still bringing itself out of the gates so I was curious if they could continue their ambitious journey to market domination. It seems they have been busy doing just that.
They announced launching more integration deals with top email marketing service MailChimp, social relationship platform giant, Hootsuite, back in December.
Among this flurry of activity,
the company released its Q4 and year-end financial results today, noting that the company had pushed its sales growth to record levels with a 125% increase over fiscal 2014. Revenues also jumped 71% with its sales backlog hitting $990,694 by the end of 2014, a 145% increase over the year before. The positive data continued, so you should click
here to read about it. In the end,
I see a pretty bright 2015 for SoMedia Networks and smart investors would do themselves a favour by finding out more about this potentially explosive investment opportunity.
Shares were up 5.17% to $0.305 per share by the end of trading.
WiLAN (NASDAQ: WILN, Stock Forum) has been taking a hit in the market due to both some disappointing performance in its legal pursuits, most notably including its
failed pursuit of Apple in one of its recent patent litigations, and the
shifting ideology regarding the established patent rules in the world of technology with industry insiders and political figures calling for a complete reformation by citing the process stagnates innovation and needlessly ties up the courts.
IP is something I think still needs to be protected, but the business seems to have turned into an ambulance chasing affair with teams of lawyers launching frivolous lawsuits of patent infringement against innocent innovators and industry giants based on specious, if not completely false grounds. All of this,
traps progress, ties up capital and puts a drain on an already burdened legal system.
Now
some are calling for a complete abolishment of patent protection when it comes to tech. I don’t know if I would go that far, but there definitely needs to be some tinkering so as to ensure that lawsuits are legitimate and in the best interests of both the public and the patent holder.
All of this said,
WiLAN is feeling the heat, especially now since Canaccord dropped its rating of the company to HOLD. The company’s Q1 performance was weak as it slightly bested analyst estimates and with its lowballing guidance for Q2 of $18.3 million,
WiLAN has seen its share value drop 12% since the release of its Q1 results. Management continued to assure shareholders that it has continuously beat its sales guidance for more than 3 years. My question would be:
how hard is it to hit your target if you continually underestimate your performance? I’m not a big fan of WiLAN, mostly because of what they do and in my opinion, what they do ineptly, but that is my opinion
. It will be interesting to see how this company fares as the industry undergoes a long overdue regulatory change.
SENSIO Technologies (TSX: V.SIO, Stock Forum) has continued to move according to plan and within stated timeframes. This company wishes to make good on the 3D trend in entertainment with the provision of
3D technologies for both business and consumers with such offerings as SENSIO® Hi-Fi 3D and 3DGO!
The key for success in this type of venture are strategic partnerships to take advantage of the provided technologies. SENSIO has done that by
teaming with such industry giants as Samsung and LG. It also recently announced launching a 3D movie service in Canada which would see the biggest catalogue of 3D feature films for rent on demand with over 70 3D studio titles to choose from.
I think 2015 will be the make or break year for SENSIO as needs to ramp up its marketing efforts and seriously explore expansion opportunities, but on the cash plus side, it will also begin to see more revenue flow from its deals with LG and Samsung. You never know about new patent revenue adding to the bottom line as well.
In the end, the company’s till is full and its running on a low burn rate which will most likely see SENSIO through to the end of 2016 if not a little into 2017. This strengthened capital float will help push the company through its milestones this year that would probably include the all-important Samsung launch. The whole effort depends on the maturation of the 3D entertainment trend and how it inevitably shapes itself, but
SENSIO seems to be on the forefront, and in my mind, possesses an ability to keep up with, if not set market trends, but don’t take my word for it, look for yourself.
Fundamental Applications (CSE: FUN, Stock Forum) has made some interesting adjustments over the last little bit with its
acquisition of Foro Technologies that saw the company add some important items to its portfolio and the appointment of Ali Saheli, founder of Foro Technologies, as CTO.
One of the portfolio additions is an innovative student-focused mobile e-commerce platform called Foro. Saheli developed it as a smart alternative to Craiglist and eBay by combining the best aspects of both in one app.
Foro allows university and college students to buy and sell items with other students from their campus from their mobile devices. It also gives them piece of mind by letting them know who they are dealing with and the convenience of knowing where they are located.
Foro’s got its feet wet with approximately 8000 users, but adoption is strong and
Fundamental’s new CEO, Richard Whitehead, has every confidence that he can
drive Foro into every campus across Canada by the end of fiscal 2015 and serious expand its footprint in campuses across the U.S.
The
market penetration of nearly 25 million post-secondary students in the US alone and
monetization potential of Foro paints a pretty picture for Fundamental as it focuses on Foro. I like this new corporate direction, all that’s left is the execution.
Richard impressed me as a man capable of the task, I look forward to see how the company progresses over the next 24 months and I think investors should take an interest as well, but again, do your own due diligence.
Here’s a peek at Tech on the TSX today:
| Symbol |
Last |
|
Change |
% Change |
High |
Low |
Volume |
| T.SW |
43.890 |
 |
+1.500 |
+3.54% |
43.920 |
42.620 |
74.73k |
| T.ESL |
52.660 |
|
+1.040 |
+2.01% |
53.100 |
52.000 |
10.19k |
| T.GIB.A |
51.640 |
|
+0.860 |
+1.69% |
51.800 |
50.560 |
637.71k |
| T.CLS |
15.100 |
|
+0.370 |
+2.51% |
15.230 |
14.840 |
482.39k |
| T.DW |
2.990 |
|
+0.290 |
+10.74% |
2.990 |
2.790 |
11.23k |
| T.OTC |
61.230 |
|
+0.270 |
+0.44% |
61.440 |
60.850 |
349.44k |
| T.BB |
12.500 |
|
+0.250 |
+2.04% |
12.530 |
12.265 |
1.73m |
| T.KXS |
27.950 |
|
+0.240 |
+0.87% |
28.050 |
27.430 |
20.44k |
| T.CMG |
13.530 |
|
+0.220 |
+1.65% |
13.710 |
13.300 |
90.98k |
| T.DSG |
18.320 |
|
+0.190 |
+1.05% |
18.410 |
18.180 |
66.21k |
| T.AVO |
21.010 |
|
+0.190 |
+0.91% |
21.330 |
20.700 |
214.08k |
| T.CDV |
5.070 |
|
+0.130 |
+2.63% |
5.080 |
4.950 |
205.39k |
| T.MDA |
95.900 |
|
+0.120 |
+0.13% |
96.020 |
94.010 |
58k |
| T.ET |
16.600 |
|
+0.110 |
+0.67% |
16.620 |
16.530 |
27.29k |
| T.SVC |
4.260 |
|
+0.050 |
+1.19% |
4.270 |
4.140 |
374.83k |
| T.ESP |
3.850 |
|
+0.040 |
+1.05% |
3.950 |
3.810 |
348.36k |
| T.AJX |
0.750 |
|
+0.030 |
+4.17% |
0.750 |
0.740 |
7.9k |
| T.SMA |
1.420 |
|
+0.030 |
+2.16% |
1.430 |
1.370 |
1.85k |
| T.NLN |
1.150 |
|
+0.020 |
+1.77% |
1.160 |
1.130 |
154.11k |
| V.FLY |
0.240 |
|
+0.015 |
+6.67% |
0.240 |
0.220 |
168.06k |
| V.SYD |
0.150 |
|
+0.010 |
+7.14% |
0.150 |
0.145 |
61.54k |
| T.HDX |
0.330 |
|
+0.010 |
+3.12% |
0.330 |
0.325 |
125.5k |
| T.UR |
2.250 |
 |
0.000 |
0.00% |
2.280 |
2.210 |
103.96k |
| V.PKK |
0.020 |
|
0.000 |
0.00% |
0.025 |
0.020 |
627.9k |
| V.TNG |
0.050 |
|
0.000 |
0.00% |
0.050 |
0.045 |
415.75k |
| T.NII |
6.000 |
|
0.000 |
0.00% |
6.000 |
5.990 |
2.3k |
| T.WIN |
2.950 |
|
0.000 |
0.00% |
2.975 |
2.880 |
605.33k |
| T.RDL |
3.300 |
|
0.000 |
0.00% |
3.310 |
3.300 |
1.1k |
| V.CNS |
0.330 |
|
0.000 |
0.00% |
0.355 |
0.330 |
57k |
| C.FUN |
0.250 |
|
0.000 |
0.00% |
N/A |
N/A |
0 |
| V.SY |
0.320 |
 |
-0.005 |
-1.54% |
0.320 |
0.320 |
16.63k |
| T.DBO |
0.305 |
|
-0.005 |
-1.61% |
0.330 |
0.305 |
384.83k |
| V.SEV |
0.650 |
|
-0.010 |
-1.52% |
0.660 |
0.640 |
440.79k |
| V.SIO |
0.205 |
|
-0.010 |
-4.65% |
0.215 |
0.200 |
188.24k |
| T.CCV |
0.570 |
|
-0.010 |
-1.72% |
0.570 |
0.570 |
5k |
| T.DWI |
0.890 |
|
-0.010 |
-1.11% |
0.890 |
0.880 |
3.8k |
| T.EXF |
4.090 |
|
-0.010 |
-0.24% |
4.100 |
4.060 |
1.6k |
| T.RC |
3.710 |
|
-0.020 |
-0.54% |
3.710 |
3.670 |
19.01k |
| T.AXX |
3.180 |
|
-0.030 |
-0.93% |
3.215 |
3.150 |
13.18k |
| T.WEW |
1.870 |
|
-0.030 |
-1.58% |
1.870 |
1.870 |
350 |
| T.EFL |
0.700 |
|
-0.040 |
-5.41% |
0.780 |
0.690 |
535.43k |
| T.RKN |
4.260 |
|
-0.050 |
-1.16% |
4.320 |
4.200 |
146.16k |
| T.PUR |
7.810 |
|
-0.090 |
-1.14% |
7.940 |
7.720 |
91.74k |
| T.NXJ |
2.000 |
|
-0.100 |
-4.76% |
2.000 |
1.820 |
16.52k |
| T.MNW |
11.100 |
|
-0.140 |
-1.25% |
11.240 |
10.980 |
198.97k |
| T.HMM.A |
2.300 |
|
-0.150 |
-6.12% |
2.350 |
2.300 |
9.75k |
| T.LMP |
14.250 |
|
-0.200 |
-1.38% |
14.400 |
14.200 |
11k |
| T.DH |
41.750 |
|
-0.530 |
-1.25% |
42.500 |
41.120 |
360.58k |
| T.CSU |
469.680 |
|
-3.320 |
-0.70% |
478.520 |
468.740 |
42.99k |