Despite the Venture exchange’s sluggish performance so far in 2015, there were a few stocks that were stellar performers. Here are the 10 best performers in the first quarter according to S&P Capital IQ.
10. Noront Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NOT) +100% : Noront is developing its flagship Eagle's Nest nickel, copper, platinum and palladium deposit as well as its Blackbird chromite deposit, both of which are located in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario, also known as the Ring of Fire. Like most junior resource companies, its stock price has suffered the past five years but has bounced back somewhat after Noront announced it would buy Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite assets in the Ring of Fire for $20 million, financed by a loan from Franco-Nevada. The area’s economic potential is dependent on government funding and although both the provincial and federal governments have pledged support, in the case of Ontario it may not start until 2018.
9. SoMedia Networks (TSXV: VID) +107% : SoMedia produces what it calls “Scalable Video,” which is professionally shot video content, in any volume, anywhere in North America, delivered in 14 days or less. The company is driven to make video advertising affordable to small and medium sized businesses, by managing a network of 3,700 videographers that are ranked internally on various criteria, such as framing, lighting, and sound quality.
On March 10, 2015, SoMedia reported that auto collision repair company Maaco Franchising, LLC, has selected it to deliver video production to its network of more than 460 franchises in the U.S. and Canada. The company’s most recent quarter (Q3) saw sales surge 136% from the same period last year to $306,653, while its operating costs decreased by 31% over the same time. SoMedia has yet to turn a profit and ended fiscal 2013 with a working capital deficit of $2,388,925.
8. Urban Communications Inc. (TSXV: UBN) +114% : Urban specializes in the construction, operation and management of fibre optic telecommunications networks and the delivery of broadband subscriber services throughout high density corridors of Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. The company considers itself a low-cost, high-margin Internet Service Provider, and it announced on March 19, 2015, that it has launched Canada's first-ever 1Gbps high-speed Internet service to residential users in Metro Vancouver. For fiscal 2013, Urban recorded revenue of $894,234 with a loss of $0.14 a share, which was an improvement from a $0.19 per share loss in 2012.
7. VANC Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSXV: NPH) +142% : VANC is a pharmaceutical company focused on the Canadian generic drug and over-the-counter markets, which has gross margins that exceed 70%. During the first three months of 2015, VANC reported inventory purchase orders and an expected sales launch in the second quarter of the year, and has signed a supplier Letter of Intent with a Western Canadian-based multi-chain pharmacy, among other announcements.
6. Pivot Technology Solutions, Inc. (TSXV: PTG) +163% : Pivot provides Information Technology solutions to help its customers streamline operations, generate cost savings, and improve daily business processes. Its stock price soared 55% on March 2, 2015, after the company announced the initiation of a $0.03 per share annual dividend, to be paid quarterly. Pivot, though, warned that the first-quarter of year would be weaker than the same period in 2104.
5. Luxor Industrial Corporation (TSXV: LRL) +200% : Luxor provides engineered wood products for residential and commercial use, as well as manufacturing wood mat products for various applications including transmission lines, pipelines, wind farms, staging areas, boardwalks and pathways and oil and gas and mining operations. On February 23, 2015, the company announced that its 2014 sales exceeded $2.8 million, up from $2.2 million in 2013. More recently, Luxor said its first quarter sales in 2015 surpassed $995,000, as compared with $383,778 during the same period last year. It also anticipates “significant sales growth in 2015.”
4. Select Sands Corp. (TSXV: SNS) +247% : Select Sands is a supplier of industrial silica sand for the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, industry to extract oil and gas from rock. This type of sand when added to the fracking fluid mix keeps the fractures propped open and allows more hydrocarbons to flow out of the rock, at higher rates and for longer periods of time. Fracking a single well apparently requires as much as four million pounds of silica sand. Investors have been pushing its stock price higher despite reports of an oil and gas industry slowdown in North America.
3. Brilliant Resources Inc. (TSXV: BLT) +310% : Speculators got excited when Brilliant announced on January 22, 2015, that its wholly-owned subsidiary Ivory Resources will receive US$31.5 million in cash from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to give up its exploration rights in that country. Since the quarter’s end, Brilliant has announced a special dividend of $0.145 per share and it is planning to become an investment company with a proposed name of FCF Capital Inc.
2. Wealth Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: WML) +317% : Wealth did a share rollback at the end of 2014, and on February 2, 2015, announced an option agreement with Balmoral Resources to acquire up to a 75% interest in the N1/N2 Gold Project in Quebec. The company also said recently that it is in negotiations to acquire the Yanamina Gold Project in Peru. Wealth Minerals CEO Hendrik van Alphen, according to the company, acquired an iron deposit in Peru for $500,000 and later sold it for $100 million in cash.
1. Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc. (TSXV: YFI) +775% : Edgewater's WiFi3 is redefining Wi-Fi technology with its wide-band, multi-channel radio and high-capacity Access Point solutions, delivering next generation WiFi. Edgewater compares its Wi-Fi to a six-lane super highway as opposed to traditional Wi-Fi, which is like a one-lane country road. It was an eventful quarter for Edgewater in terms of announcements, which included dealing one of its patents to a major handset and tablet manufacturer, in addition to forming a strategic partnership with G2 Industries to provide WiFi3 powered solutions for telecommunications firms and public authorities in the Caribbean.
