Buzz on the Bullboards: New Year, New Stocks?

The beginning of a new year always sparks hope and signals new possibilities — and that same logic can be applied to the stock market.

2021 certainly had its plethora of ups and downs, but the Canadian market finished off the year strong and the sentiment remains bullish for 2022 — at least at this point so far of the new year.

Although uncertainties remain as a result of the ongoing pandemic, investing for the long term is still the way to go — and, if one thing's for certain our Stockhouse Bullboards is already generating plenty of investor discussion in some of our most popular sectors.


While the year is still new, some companies closed out 2021 by providing an outlook as to what their 2022 will look like.

Take New Found Gold (TSXV:NFG, OTC Pink: NFGFF, Forum), which concluded 2021 with a series of highlights and, most importantly, included its plans for 2022 that investors should be watching for.

The company said its 2022 goals include:

• Continue diamond drilling stepping out along strike and to depth of existing discoveries but also test multiple new targets along highly prospective and underexplored areas

• Execute initial diamond drill programs at drill-ready targets including the Eastern Pond target located on Queensway South property block and on the Twin Ponds property block located 15km northwest of the Keats Zone

• Reconnaissance exploration programs to generate new targets in underexplored regions on both the Queensway North and Queensway South property blocks using a variety of exploration techniques including prospecting, mapping, soil sampling, till sampling, and geophysics.

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Collin Kettell, founder and executive chairman of New Found Gold, stated: “With over 32,000 meters of core pending assay, we look forward to a steady flow of assay results being released starting in early January. Drilling has continued to expand the extent of high-grade gold mineralization at Keats, Lotto, Golden Joint, and more broadly along the Appleton Fault Corridor."

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN, OTCQX:IVPAF, Forum) kicked off the new year by announcing it will reveal its 2021 year-end results and its production and cost guidance for 2022 — which only means investors will have something to look forward to in the second week of January.

Headquartered in the Congo, Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa: the development of major new, mechanized, underground mines at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discoveries in the Democratic Republic of Congo and at the Platreef palladium-rhodium-platinum-nickel-copper-gold discovery in South Africa; and the extensive redevelopment and upgrading of the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Meanwhile Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSXV:CNC, OTCQX:CNIKF, Forum) started the year by announcing on January 5 it had closed its previously announced US$10 million loan facility with Auramet International, which will allow the company to remain well-funded as it continues advancing its Crawford Nickel Sulphide project through the first quarter of this year.

The loan will become due on April 5 of this year and carries an interest rate of 1 percent per month and an arrangement fee of 2 percent of the loan amount.

In addition to its nickel-cobalt sulphide projects, Canada Nickel Company has also registered and applied for trademarks in various jurisdictions for NetZero Nickel, NetZero Cobalt and NetZero Iron.

BlackBerry Limited (TSX:BB, NYSE:BB, Forum) started the first week of the year by announcing how it is laying the groundwork for the software-defined vehicles with an automotive-grade hardware demonstration of BlackBerry IVY, which is the company's Intelligent Vehicle Data Platform that is co-developed with Amazon Web Services.

The company said it will be demonstrating the product at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas between January 5 and January 8, 2022, which will showcase how it is leveraged to develop enhanced experiences for families going on roadtrips in an electric vehicle.

"BlackBerry IVY allows automakers to develop a better understanding of how vehicles are used and can be improved while allowing software developers to create enhanced services and experiences for drivers. Being able to see in real-time how the platform enables all this is incredibly powerful and a great a catalyst to help those from across the transportation industry re-imagine all that is possible when you have the right tool, and I'm sure there will be no shortage of these 'light bulb' moments when visitors see it for themselves," Vito Giallorenzo, SVP of corporate development and chief operating officer at BlackBerry, said in a release.

Quarterhill Inc. (TSX:QTRH, OTCQX:QTRHF, Forum) ended 2021 and began 2022 by announcing that one of its companies, Wi-LAN's subsidiary Polaris Innovations h ad entered into a license agreement with Marvell Technology to grant certain Polaris patents to Marvell.

Quarterhill is a growth-oriented company that is involved in the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) sector and, through its subsidiary Wi-Lan, a leader in Intellectual Property licensing.

Fobi AI Inc. (TSXV:FOBI, OTCQB:FOBIF, Forum) began the year with an announcement that it had signed a $300,000 annual license with a global insurance provider that will use Fobi's Wallet Pass platform in order to issue digital proof of insurance passes for auto and general coverage within five European countries.

Under the terms of the agreement, Fobi will earn revenue from an annual license fee in addition to monthly license fees per Wallet Pass issued.

"Our focus for 2022 will be to continue to expand and continue to grow our scale with the goal of solidifying our position as the leading Wallet Pass provider for the insurance industry,” Rob Anson, CEO of Fobi AI, said in a release.

Fobi AI is a data intelligence company that turns real-time data into actionable insights and personalized customer engagement.

In the cannabis sector, HEXO Corp.(TSX:HEXO, NASDAQ:HEXO, Forum) announced this week that it had appointed a new board member in William Todd Montour following the resignation of Jason Ewart and Curtis Solsvig as acting CFO.

"We are fortunate that Curt was able to join HEXO," said Scott Cooper, CEO of HEXO. "I look forward to leveraging Curt's many years of financial leadership, particularly his experience with complex restructuring situations. The Board and I have confidence in Curt's ability to lead our financial team while HEXO searches for a permanent CFO."

HEXO is a licensed producer of products in the global cannabis market. HEXOS's brand portfolio includes HEXO, Redecan, UP Cannabis, Namaste Original Stash, 48North, Trail Mix, Bake Sale, REUP and Latitude Brands.

Canadian licensed producer Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED, NASDAQ:CGC, Forum) issued its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report for the 2020 calendar year and also gave qualitative details on some of the company's key activities from 2021.

Some highlights from the reprot include Canopy Growth conducting its first-ever baseline assessment of its Scope 1 and SCope 2 energy use and GHG emissions, investing over $1 million in supporting record-clearing, wrap-around and ancillary services for those impacted by the war on drugs, and registering 23,000 patients for its Compassionate Pricing Program through Spectrum Therapeutics.

"As the cannabis industry becomes more established, we recognize the role we must play to ensure that progress is achieved responsibly and sustainably," said David Klein, CEO Canopy Growth. "We are committed to realizing our vision of unleashing the power of cannabis to improve lives and our inaugural ESG report is the next step in our leadership journey, creating accountability for ourselves, and the cannabis industry."

In between the last week of 2021 and the first week of 2022, 1933 Industries Inc. (CSE:TGIF, OTCQB:TGIFF, Forum) released its Q1 2022 financial results for the three months ended on Ocotber 31, 2021.

Highlights of the results include revenue was $2.5 million for the quarter compared to $2.7 million for the same quarter in 2021gross margin at $1.1 million compared to $0.7 million for Q1 2021 and net loss at $0.9 million for Q1 2022 compared to a net loss of $2.8 million in 2021.

"Over Q1 2022, the Company continued to make strategic cost reductions across all divisions, with the goal of achieving consistent profitability. The Company successfully extended its convertible debt to mature in September 2022, reduced operating expenses by 45%, improved gross margins by 18%, and reduced net loss by 66% compared to Q1 2021," Paul Rosen, CEO of 1933 Industries, said in a release.

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