A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week.
Tilray (STAR)
Tilray’s revenue in the latest quarter: US$9.7-million. Tilray’s peak market value during its extraordinary rise – and subsequent plunge – this week: US$28-billion. Despite the valuation’s complete disconnection from reality, investors were buying the cannabis producer’s shares by the kilo on news the University of California plans to use Tilray products to study the drug’s effects on patients with a tremor disorder. What we really need is a study of cannabis’s effects on investors prone to irrational exuberance.
TLRY (Nasdaq), US$123, up US$13.95 or 12.8% over week
Cool Holdings (STAR)
Business quiz! Cool Holdings is: a) a global distributor of cold-storage equipment used by food processors, restaurants and morgues; b) a German bobsled and luge manufacturer; c) a Miami-based reseller of Apple products that announced plans to expand its OneClick chain – with 17 stores in Florida, Argentina and the Dominican Republic – to about 200 locations by 2021, sending its stock up sharply. Answer: c.
AWSM (Nasdaq), US$19, up US$13.82 or 266.8% over week
Medifast (DOG)
Momentum stocks are a great way to make money. Unfortunately, they’re also a great way to lose money. Just ask a Medifast investor. Shares of the provider of weight-loss meal plans had more than tripled this year, propelled by rising sales and earnings, analysts’ buy ratings and positive media coverage. But as investors locked in their profits this week, chumps who hopped on the Medifast bandwagon too late saw their portfolios lose a shocking amount of weight in a hurry.
MED (NYSE), US$214.97, down US$33.44 or 13.46% over week
Dow Jones Industrial Average (STAR)
The bull market is “dead,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch declared this week. Wait, it still has a pulse! Defying trade disputes, rising interest rates and high corporate- and consumer-debt levels, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record levels for the first time since January, as investors focused on positive economic data including a drop in first-time jobless claims and strong manufacturing numbers. How long can this continue? Forever, obviously.
Dow Jones Industrial Average, 26,743.50, up 588.83 points or 2.25% over week
Thor Industries (DOG)
Thor: a mythological god associated with thunder, lightning and storms. Thor Industries: a company that just created a storm in investors' portfolios. Citing higher promotional costs and reduced production levels to balance dealer inventories, the maker of motorhomes under brand names such as Airstream and Jayco posted a 3.1-per-cent drop in fiscal fourth-quarter sales and a 26.1-per-cent decline in earnings per share. Investors are cutting their vacations short.
THO (NYSE), US$89.05, down US$9.81 or 9.2% over week