Investors dealt with another rate increase from the U.S. Federal Reserve, but could it be the finale for awhile?
Time will tell, but many hope this, the 10th straight rate increase reaching its highest point in 16 years, will be enough to help calm unreasonably high inflation.
It doesn’t help that the financial sector’s woes south of the border continue, following JPMorgan’s First Republic Bank takeover, two more West Coast lenders, PacWest and Western Alliance, both sunk this week, leading many to believe that the trouble among regional banks is far from over.
Let’s dive into some of the newer names claiming their stake on the most-viewed company charts.
Big news from BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB) this week.
The Waterloo-based tech company said it would conduct a review of strategic alternatives, which include the possible separation of one or more of its businesses.
BlackBerry stated that the possibilities include, but are not limited to, the separation of one or more of its operations.
Its executive chairman and CEO John Chen said the review aims to identify and evaluate opportunities to further enhance shareholder value.
“Although we expect achievement of this plan to deliver significant shareholder benefits, we do not believe that this is fully reflected in the market’s current valuation of the company.”
No timeline has been set for completing the review and there is no guarantee that the process will result in any transaction.
The company is also pushing ahead with sale of substantially all of its non-core patents and patent applications to Malikie Innovations Ltd., a new subsidiary of Key Patent Innovations Ltd., to sell a portfolio of non-core patents in that could be worth up to US$900 million.
Quipt Home Medical Corp. (TSXV:QIPT) is moving up in the world.
The home medical equipment provider has received conditional approval to graduate its listing from the TSX Venture Exchange to the TSX.
Final approval of the listing is subject to certain conditions required by the TSX, which the company said it is working toward satisfying.
Source: Quipt Home Medical.
Quipt’s Chairman and CEO, Greg Crawford explained that up-listing demonstrates the company’s evolution through the years and the ongoing momentum across the business in real time as the team strives to become a national leader in respiratory care.
“This up-listing is an important step towards improving liquidity and increasing our investor audience in North America and abroad,” he said. “Given the continued financial and operational success, this up-listing, and our effort to inform investors of our robust growth, have us extremely optimistic about the future.”
A subsidiary of PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (TSXV:PYR), Pyro Green-Gas, has completed an integrated cold test for a key client.
The test pertains to a previously announced $9.3 million project with one of the world’s top diversified steel producers.
The project will see Pyro Green-Gas supply coke oven gas purification solutions and hydrogen production processes with the goal of extracting hydrogen with a 99.999 per cent purity level and improving the client’s environmental performance.
The test demonstrates that all systems, equipment, and their components meet and exceed the required operation and safety standards. The milestone triggers a payment of $460,000 to Pyro Green-Gas, which is expected to be received in the coming weeks.
Pyro Green-Gas’ hydrogen extraction technology is being implemented as a cleaner energy source for the client’s annealing, galvanizing and acid recovery processes.
By next week, the story for each sector is likely to change and sometimes even more quickly. Now it is more important than ever for small-cap investors to stay up to date on the current conversations and company movements.
Investors should stay as up to date as possible, and for the latest on small-cap stock movements, there is no better place than the Bullboards. For previous editions of Buzz on the Bullboards: click here.
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