For many businesses, this time represents the beginning of the final quarter of the year. The week has ushered in a fresh yearly low for the Toronto Stock Exchange and a U.S. government narrowly avoiding a shutdown.
In this week’s Buzz on the Bullboards, we look at three companies that our users have been talking about with fresh quarterly financial reports. Has business been booming, or is it one bust after another? Let’s find out.
First up, cannabis-lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company Tilray Brands (TSX:TLRY, Forum) reported its Q1 results for fiscal year 2024, highlighting record Q1 net revenue of C$243.2 million, representing 15 per cent growth year over year.
Tilray grew its No. 1 cannabis market share position to 13.4 per cent in Q1 2024. The company continued to hold the top market position across all major markets and a leading share across most product categories. The Leamington, Ontario-based operator grew Canadian cannabis revenue by 16.5 per cent and international cannabis revenue by 37 per cent.
Tilray closed on its acquisition of eight beer and beverage brands from Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD). The acquired brands, consisting of Shock Top, Breckenridge Brewery, Blue Point Brewing Company, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Square Mile Cider Company and HiBall Energy, possess strong consumer loyalty and further diversify Tilray’s growing U.S. beverage alcohol segment. Their expected sales volume elevates Tilray Brands to the fifth largest position in the high-growth U.S. craft beer market, up from the ninth.
“Tilray Brands is the most diversified global cannabis-lifestyle and CPG company in the world with four distinct and complementary business segments – medical and adult-use cannabis, beverages including craft beer, spirits, ready-to-drink mixed cocktails in a can, non-alcoholic drinks, THC and CBD beverages, wellness products, and medical distribution,” Irwin D. Simon, Tilray Brands’ chairman and chief executive officer, said in a news release. “The balance we have brought to our diversified business model has positioned Tilray Brands as the No. 1 Canadian cannabis LP, the market leader in medical cannabis across Europe, a leader in the hemp foods industry, and a formidable player in the fast-growing craft beverage-alcohol industry with a growing leadership position. We have strategically diversified our company globally over the past several years and, as a result, Tilray is now ideally positioned to capture a wide range of opportunities across multiple industries driving value through organic and acquisitive revenue growth, operating efficiencies and improved margins and profitability. We will continue to invest in our future and accelerate our vision of becoming a multi-billion-dollar company with a portfolio of best-in-class brands.”
“Since the beginning of our FY 2024, we have closed on three transactions: HEXO Corp. in June, Truss Beverage Co. in August, and the acquisition of eight beer and beverage brands from Anheuser-Busch earlier this week. The HEXO and Truss acquisitions have already boosted our competitive cannabis positioning in Canada, the largest, federally legalized cannabis market in the world, by increasing our leading market share,” Simon continued.
BlackBerry (TSX:BB, Forum) reported results for fiscal Q2 2024 marked by a US$0.07 loss per share on a GAAP basis.
Q2 financial highlights
- Revenue of C$181 million
- Non-GAAP gross margin of 65 per cent and GAAP gross margin of 64 per cent
- IoT revenue of C$67.3 million, a 9 per cent sequential increase, with IoT gross margin of 84 per cent, increasing by 4 per cent sequentially
- Cybersecurity revenue of C$108.5 million with gross margin of 54 per cent
- Cybersecurity ARR of C$383.3 million
- Cybersecurity billings of C$101,6 million
- Licensing and Other revenue of C$5.4 million
- Non-GAAP basic loss per share of $0.04
- Non-GAAP operating loss of C$38.4 million and GAAP operating loss of C$64.5 million
- Total cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments decreased by C$81 million to C$713 million
What the “Buzz”
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Q2 operational highlights and strategic announcements
The company has produced negative net income in each of the past six quarters, and has been nominally profitable in only two out of the past five fiscal years, as it continues to struggle in its transition from its legendary smartphones to a profitable provider of cybersecurity, IoT and data privacy.
“Our IoT business continues to win new designs and add royalty backlog at a strong rate, illustrating how well-positioned this business is in the medium to long term. We expect a strong finish for IoT revenue this fiscal year, with the fourth quarter forecasted to be the strongest ever,” John Chen, BlackBerry’s executive chair and CEO, said in a statement.
“Further, we are excited by the response from beta customers to our next-generation QNX Software Development Platform 8.0, and its potential to enable embedded Generative AI applications. We also expect a strong second half for revenue in our cyber business, with a pipeline of deals that includes large, mainly perpetual government opportunities that can deliver meaningful in-year revenue. Therefore, we are reiterating our full-year cyber revenue outlook,” Chen added.
Finally, Thermal Energy International Inc. (TSXV:TMG, Forum) released its Q4 2023 numbers this week, capping off what the company calls “a banner year”.
The energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction solutions provider earned C$21.1 million for the year and C$8.2 million for the quarter, a 84 per cent increase compared with the same quarter last year.
The increase in revenues was mainly because of increased sales orders received in fiscal year 2023. Gross profit for the year was C$9.6 million, an increase of C$2.8 million, or 42 per cent, mainly caused by the increased revenue from its GEM steam traps product.
Highlights
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA): C$1.7 million for the year and C$1.2 million for the quarter, a 476 per cent increase compared with the same quarter last year
- Net income: C$720 thousand for the year and C$971 thousand for the quarter
- Order intake: C$27.3 million for the year and C$5.2 million for the quarter
- Order backlog: C$13 million as at May 31, 2023 and C$21.4 million as at September 26, 2023
“The fourth quarter was one of our best quarters ever, setting new records for revenue and gross profit, and was a great finish to an excellent year,” William Crossland, Thermal Energy CEO, said in a statement. “For the fiscal year, we had record gross profit and our second highest annual revenue and EBITDA. We saw a return in demand for our turn-key solutions, adding to the already strong growth we had in custom equipment. Additionally, our order intake and number of signed project development agreements in fiscal 2023 were higher than ever.”
“We continue to see strong interest from companies looking to save money while reducing their carbon emissions. Since the end of our fiscal year, we’ve received C$8.4 million in new orders, including a C$4 million order from a multinational pharmaceutical company – our largest turn-key order since before the pandemic. Additionally, we have several active project development agreements that we expect to convert into orders, and we have a robust and growing business development pipeline, positioning us well for a solid fiscal 2024,” he added.
The first week of October has already given us a wild market ride and some small-cap stocks that the Stockhouse Bullboards have gotten excited about.
Next week will be a shorter one for Canada’s stock market with the Thanksgiving long weekend, but U.S. markets will stay open and so will Stockhouse’s Bullboards.
When you’ve had your fill of food, trimmings and political debates, come back to Stockhouse for some lively discussion on the hottest stocks around.
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