Buzz on the Bullboards: More tricks than treats in today’s stock market?

It has been an uneasy week for markets on Bay Street and Wall Street.

After the TSX hit a two-week low a few days ago, the Bank of Canada voted to keep interest rates at 5 per cent, kicking off a risk rally.

U.S. markets have also fared well as optimism grows that the Federal Reserve could signal a slower pace of interest rate hikes.

This week, another batch of earnings news and updates from big-name companies is expected to continue that trend.

Many stocks have been moving independent of the market, and quite often, against the market. We track many of the big movers on the Bullboards who regularly gather to discuss the top companies of the moment. Some of them have strong followings and a healthy investment base. Others swung so widely that hungry investors picked up their scent. In either case, the sectors highlighted today are normally hotly contested, but saw clear frontrunners dominate discussions.

Tilray Brands Inc. (TSX:TLRY, Forum) has received a $7.27 million cash settlement to resolve a commercial agreement dispute with MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSX:LABS, Forum).

On Oct. 2, the two companies came to a mutual resolution and established a long-term supply relationship. After the settlement agreement, MediPharm’s team announced this week that the company has now received its cash settlement consisting of:

• $3 million cash payment
• 1,573,152 total Tilray common shares that have been sold for gross proceeds of $4.27 million

Non-cash elements also included in the settlement agreement are ongoing product considerations:

• $1 million in Tilray products (including but not restricted to high-quality flower and extractable biomass)
• $500,000 four-year supply agreement to provide Tilray with MediPharm products and services

MediPharm has already started working with Tilray management to add MediPharm Labs products to Tilray’s Medical platform, and to qualify the most appropriate products to be sourced from Tilray.

Thanks to this long-term supply agreement, MediPharm is in a better position to establish a positive ongoing business relationship with a major player in the global cannabis industry. This supply agreement allows Tilray to access MediPharm’s pharmaceutical products and services domestically and internationally, including products produced under the company’s U.S. FDA foreign drug site registration and Canadian drug establishment license.

Datametrex AI Ltd. (TSXV:DM, Forum) is evaluating opportunities to restart its COVID-19 testing business because of increasing interest from the film industry.

According to The Public Health Agency of Canada, COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise with patients occupying 3,797 hospital beds across the country as of Oct. 10, a figure not seen since last winter.

The company’s health security revenue reached C$25.9 million in 2022, C$45 million in 2021, and C$8.3 million in 2020, with COVID-19 testing being the primary contributor.

“We are pleased to see the film and production industry express interest in our COVID-19 testing services,” Marshall Gunter, Datametrex’s CEO, said in a statement. “The safety and well-being of individuals working on set are paramount, and we are committed to offering reliable testing solutions to help the industry maintain a safe and productive environment.”

Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (TSXV:CRE, Forum) has unveiled grab sample results from a new high-grade spodumene-bearing pegmatite 8 kilometres west of its Rose deposit in Québec.

The company’s flagship Rose lithium-tantalum project is in the Rose and Rose South property blocks, which make up 395 square km or only 38 per cent of its 1,050 square km exploration portfolio. A feasibility study for the project estimates an after-tax internal rate of return of 65.7 per cent with an after-tax net present value of US$2.2 billion at an 8 per cent discount rate.

Initial prospecting during summer 2023, including 866 rock samples, sought to identify new pegmatite bodies, refine the geological interpretation of the property, and prioritize further exploration work. These efforts led to new outcrops in the Rose pegmatite swarm with an apparent strike length exceeding 400 metres.

Results from an initial 10 rock samples are all lithium-bearing, with 50 per cent grading over 3 per cent Li2O. The company is devising a large-scale drill program to test the new discovery.

Selected sample results from the new discovery:

We can only capture small fragments of the large dialogue at the Bullboards, so don’t forget to come back throughout the week to see how the conversations change.

We’ll be able to see how the dust starts to settle in the following days with the release of major earnings results, and where investors stand. Given the lively discussion and serious investment passion on the Bullboards, you can bet that things will get heated.

We head into November next week with fresh minds, an extra hour of sleep coming in the first week of next month courtesy of switching from Daylight Savings Time (how is that still a thing?), and a fresh batch of market activity to dissect. Lately it feels like every week has been a rollercoaster of news and findings, and the next should prove no different, so expect the Bullboards to be as lively as ever.

For previous editions of Buzz on the Bullboards: click here.

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