(The Global 7500 aircraft. Image via Bombardier Inc.)
If there is one thing that we have learned one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we must often take things as they come, week by week, especially in a volatile market.
It's no April Fool's prank. Each week, we see markets dive, only to resurface and notch a new record high for various indexes.
With fluctuating crude futures, new restrictions coming into effect and businesses reporting further negative effects of the pandemic, and investors have had to deal with a wildly different ball game over the last 12 months.
However we continue to find companies and opportunities that not only curb any downward trends, they manage to defy it (but isn’t that the fun of investing?). Over on the Stockhouse Bullboards, which, following the onset of the pandemic, has seen new audiences converge to discuss stocks that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (or benefiting from it).
In this week’s edition, we highlight the stocks small-cap investors are keeping their eyes on. We begin with Canadian transport manufacturer
Bombardier Inc. (TSX: BBD , Forum) who made headlines after completing its
50th delivery of the Global 7500 business jet, the first business jet to have an Environmental Product Declaration.
The delivery milestone was reached just three years after the aircraft entered into service in 2018. Since 2018, the Global 7500 business jet has demonstrated an outstanding dispatch reliability rate of 99.7% in-service and has proven to be the highest-performing aircraft in the industry by completing various key speed records and challenging flights.
It is a milestone that Chief Executive Officer Éric Martel pointed out had been in the works for some time, as the company had already delivered 35 of the aircraft in 2020, including a record 16 deliveries in Q4.
“It provides an unmatched combination of speed, range, comfort and reliability, making it both the industry flagship and a key driver of our growth strategy," he said of the Global 7500 aircraft.”
As businesses like those in travel and shipping try to revive their operations under COVID, some like
Xebec Adsorption Inc. (TSX-V: XBC, Forum) are working to meet new demands the pandemic has created, such as for medical oxygen, which is highly sought after, the world over.
XBC’s subsidiary
Inmatec has received an order for
14 point of contact (POC) medical on-site oxygen generators for hospitals in Moldova. Oxygen is used by patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19, in addition to patients requiring oxygen for other disease states such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF) and asthma. Hospitals get access to immediate, stable production at up to 60% lower cost and lower carbon emissions than traditional supply options by adopting these products.
Canadian clean tech company
Exro Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: EXRO, Forum) is launching
a facility in Calgary with automotive class manufacturing.
At 37,000 square feet of production lines, product showrooms, and office spaces capable of producing units for the entire Coil Driver product line, the new facility will feature clean energy solutions including solar power and battery energy storage solutions with a net zero carbon emissions objective. This is expected to bring new clean technology jobs to Calgary across functions like engineering, operations, supply chain, and more.
Even more investor attention has been gravitating towards
Therma Bright Inc. (TSX-V: THRM, Forum) ever since it had received institutional review board approval and subsequently submitted to Health Canada seeking approval to conduct a clinical performance study of its
AcuVid COVID-19 Rapid Saliva-based Antigen Test.
Therma Bright’s Chief Executive Officer, Rob Fia called this another significant milestone in moving the AcuVi test closer to market.
“We look forward to beginning the trial in Ontario, Canada as we explore other potential sites in the US, South America and Europe that will generate additional data to support our applications in those jurisdictions.”
The medical device technology company also
made recent news when it entered into business agreement with Ridge Global, the consultancy founded by Governor Tom Ridge, the first US Secretary of Homeland Security. The agreement focuses on supporting the company's reach across the United States and Global marketplace business community along with extending policy advisory services in the US.
CEO Fia called this a solid asset to THRM’s advisory team.
“Governor Ridge will serve as a Senior Advisor and support his team in corporate strategy and business development on behalf of Therma Bright.”
While the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic have been discussed in great detail on the Bullboards, judging by our recent Investor Pulse Poll, a solid majority of you who responded have been marching along, business as usual ….
With that in mind, we want to know where you are putting your money as of spring 2021, so consider this our quarterly(ish) check-in on which sector/s you are most “invested” in. Make sure to add your voice by heading over to
Stockhouse homepage, or clicking the image below to cast your vote.
(Click image to go to the poll)
Toronto-based
Aleafia Health Inc. (TSX-V: ALEF, Forum) just reported its financial results for Q4 and fiscal year 2020, highlighting a
233% increase in quarter-over-quarter cannabis net revenue.
Along with $4.3 million in positive adjusted EBITDA from Q4 2020, ALEF also saw a 42% and 501% quarter-over-quarter increase in medical cannabis and adult-use net revenue, respectively. This has translated into a continued upward trend for ALEF stock.
(Aleafia Health Inc. stock chart – October 2020 to March 2021. Click to enlarge.)
The company’s Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Benic commented that following the successful licensing of all three of its production facilities in 2020, ALEF has now introduced new cannabis derivative and dried flower formats under a distinct brand family.
“Our expanded product portfolio is having an immediate impact, with record quarterly revenue and strong sequential growth in our priority adult-use, medical and international cannabis sales.”
Shareholders of public clinical stage pharmaceutical outfit
Theralase Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: TLT, Forum) have been awaiting today’s launch of the company’s
Anti-Cancer Therapy research centre located within the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, relocating its research team from University Health Network.
Mineral exploration and development company
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX: IVN, Forum) is advancing several opportunities to accelerate the planned expansion at its
Tier-One Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The company said that proceeds from the recently completed $575 million (USD), 2.50% convertible senior notes offering may be used to fund exploration assets. Such high-priority opportunities include accelerating the Phase 3 expansion at the copper mine. The funding also will provide opportunities to expand and accelerate the copper exploration program on the company's Western Foreland exploration licences, located near the Kamoa-Kakula mining licence.
(Image via Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.)
Ivanhoe plans to report Kamoa-Kakula's regular progress update for the month of March on Tuesday, April 6th, 2021, after the international Easter holidays, allowing time to double check the assays and tonnages produced in the March reporting period.
Meanwhile, gold miner
Novo Resources Corp. (TSX-V: NVO, Forum) has completed the
preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its 100%-owned Beatons Creek conglomerate gold project, located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
In addition to the potential viability of mineral resources at the Project reported by the PEA, Beatons Creek displays significant upside resource potential from deposit extensions. Novo has identified numerous new near-surface exploration targets across its approximate 1,250 km
2 of land holdings across the Nullagine mining district.
Finally, we have
Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V: CYP, Forum), who reported that it had begun selecting and purchasing materials to commission a
pilot plant and extraction facility. This pilot plant program is a required step in advancing the Clayton Valley Lithium Project to production. The purpose of the program is to ensure all the processes work together as a single unit and to identify and resolve any scale-up or potential operational issues.
As we head into a long weekend, we will see one less trading day in the North American markets, yet the news from around the world will continue to flow.
Stay safe and healthy wherever you are, and we will be back next week to report the latest trends from the markets and movements in the Stockhouse Bullboards. For previous editions of Buzz on the Bullboards:
click here.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Therma Bright Inc. is a client of Stockhouse Publishing.