On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% (but had been down more like 1.2% earlier in the day). Toronto ended the day about unchanged.
CRH Medical was up 3.0% to $4.08 in Toronto and 4.9% to U.S. $3.20 in the U.S. It has held onto the gains it achieved after releasing earnings on Tuesday. RBC Capital markets indicates that the Q1 results were better than expected and they raised their target although only to Canadian $4.75. There could certainly be some selling pressure as some investors will take advantage of the increase to move out of what has been a volatile stock and a company that is down substantially from its former highs. On the last rally a few months ago I had sold some of the shares I bought near the bottom. At this time I am inclined to hang onto my position which represents 1.8% of my equity portfolio.
Linamar was down 2.9% to $70.90.
AutoCanada was down 2.6% to $20.63.
After the close, the Melcor REIT released Q1 earnings. It’s a somewhat mixed picture. “Rental revenue grew 6% over the prior year as a result of portfolio growth over the same period. Net operating income also grew by 3% to $11.08 million. AFFO was down 7% due to the timing and non-cash costs related to the Melcor Acquisition.” But this AFFO was about unchanged versus Q4. I plan to dig through the results in detail in the next few days.
Also after the close, AutoCanada released Q1 results. At a quick look, the Q1 results were okay with some improvement versus the prior year but not spectacular by any means. We shall see how the market reacts to the news tomorrow. If the shares decline I will likely add modestly to my position. (I do tend to be stubborn that way).
Berkshire Hathaway reports earnings tomorrow and has its famous annual meeting on Saturday. I just saw news that Berkshire bought a stunning 75 million Apple shares in Q1.