Category: Uncategorized

Stock futures rise ahead of key Fed decision, Microsoft and Alphabet pop after earnings

Stock futures climbed early on Wednesday morning, boosted by strong gains from Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft, as traders await the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision, scheduled for later in the day.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 133 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.8%, and Nasdaq 100 futures increased 1.4%.

Alphabet shares rose nearly 4% premarket after the tech giant’s quarterly report showed strong revenue from Google’s search business. That said, the company’s overall earnings and revenue came in below expectations.

Microsoft popped 3.7% even after the company’s earnings and revenue came in below analyst estimates.

Enphase Energy also popped on the back of its latest results, trading 9.7% higher. Chipotle also added 8% following its mixed second-quarter earnings release.

There are more major earnings reports to come. On Wednesday, Boeing and Shopify are expected to release their quarterly results before the bell. Qualcomm, Ford and Meta Platforms will report at the end of the day.

More than 150 S&P 500 companies have reported calendar second-quarter earnings thus far. Of those names, roughly 70% have beaten analyst expectations, FactSet data shows.

Investors are also awaiting a key announcement from the Federal Reserve. The central bank will announce its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon. Markets widely expect a three-quarter percentage point increase in the benchmark rate.

“With so many moving parts to consider, we expect markets to remain volatile after the FOMC meeting,” wrote Mark Haefele of UBS Global Wealth Management. “With the markets anticipating a 3.3% fed funds rate by year-end, this means that after this week’s meeting, there may be around 100bps of rate hikes by end-December. But the pace of hikes remains uncertain.”

This map shows the massive gas pipeline that Russia and China are building

• “Power of Siberia” — as the portion located in Russia is called — began delivering natural gas to northern China in December 2019, according to Chinese state media.
• In China, the pipeline runs down the eastern side of the country, past the capital city of Beijing and down to Shanghai.
• State-owned energy companies, Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp., have been building the pipeline for about eight years.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/map-of-power-of-siberia-gas-pipeline-that-china-russia-are-working-on.html

Putin’s new gas squeeze condemns Europe to recession and a hard winter of rationing

• Germany, the region’s largest economy and traditional growth driver, has a particular reason to worry.
• It’s largely reliant on Russian gas and is sliding toward a recession.
• The possibility of a recession in Europe now seems “clear-cut,” Citi economists and strategists said in a note Tuesday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/putins-new-gas-squeeze-condemns-europe-to-recession-and-winter-of-rationing.html

Property stocks drop as Hong Kong shares slip in mixed Asia trade; Australia’s inflation rises

• Real estate stocks in Hong Kong dropped as Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday. Investors also looked forward to the Fed’s policy decision.
• Prices in Australia rose 6.1% in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, up from 5.1% in the first quarter of the year. Economists polled by Reuters saw inflation hitting 6.2%.
• The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its global GDP forecasts for 2022 and 2023. It now expects growth to come in at 3.2% this year, 0.4 percentage points lower than its April projection.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/asia-markets-australia-inflation-cpi-economic-growth-currencies.html

FirstService Reports Second Quarter 2022 Results

TORONTO, July 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FirstService Corporation (TSX: FSV; NASDAQ: FSV) today reported results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2022. All amounts are in US dollars.

Consolidated revenues for the second quarter were $930.7 million, a 12% increase relative to the same quarter in the prior year, including 6% organic growth. Adjusted EBITDA (note 1) increased 2% to $91.3 million, and Adjusted EPS (note 2) was $1.12, compared to $1.21 in the prior year quarter. During the second quarter, FirstService reported GAAP Operating Earnings of $59.8 million, down from $61.4 million in the prior year period. The GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.78 in the quarter, compared to $0.83 for the same quarter a year ago.

For the six months ended June 30, 2022, consolidated revenues were $1.77 billion, a 14% increase relative to the comparable prior year period, Adjusted EBITDA was $153.7 million, up 3%, and Adjusted EPS was $1.85, in line with $1.87 in the prior year period. FirstService’s GAAP Operating Earnings were $88.9 million in the current year period, versus $95.3 million in the prior year. The GAAP diluted earnings per share for the six months year-to-date was $1.09, compared to $1.32 in the prior year period.

“We are pleased to have delivered another quarter of balanced, double-digit top-line growth across both of our divisions,” said Scott Patterson, Chief Executive Officer of FirstService. “We continue to see strong demand for our services and remain active with recruiting talent to capitalize on the growth opportunities within all of our markets,” he concluded.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/07/27/2486760/36351/en/FirstService-Reports-Second-Quarter-2022-Results.html

Crescent Point Announces Q2 2022 Results

CALGARY, AB, July 27, 2022 /CNW/ – Crescent Point Energy Corp. (“Crescent Point” or the “Company”) (TSX: CPG) (NYSE: CPG) is pleased to announce its operating and financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Generated approximately $380 million of excess cash flow in second quarter, allowing for increased returns to shareholders.
• Enhanced return of capital offering with an increased base dividend and an updated framework, as previously announced.
• Achieved strong IP30 rate of 900 boe/d per well, comprised primarily of liquids, on second fully operated pad in Kaybob Duvernay.
• Established new targets to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions and freshwater use, as previously announced.

“Our second quarter results highlight our excess cash flow generation, continued operational execution and commitment to returning capital”, said Craig Bryksa, President and CEO of Crescent Point. “Upon attaining our near-term debt target, we announced our updated framework, which now targets to return the majority of our excess cash flow to shareholders. We remain focused on creating long-term value through a combination of returning capital while also enhancing the balance sheet strength and sustainability of the business.”

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/crescent-point-announces-q2-2022-results-854888506.html

Cameco Announces Second Quarter Results, Continued Disciplined Execution Of Strategy; Well-Positioned As Multi-Asset Nuclear Fuel Supplier Across The Fuel Cycle

Business Wire – 1 hour ago

Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) today reported its consolidated financial and operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

“Our results reflect the very deliberate execution of our strategy of full-cycle value capture. And, we are benefiting from higher average realized prices in both our uranium sales and our fuel services sales as the market continues to transition and geopolitics continue to highlight concentration of supply concerns,” said Tim Gitzel, Cameco’s president and CEO.

“In the drive for a clean energy profile, policy makers and business leaders must recognize that there is a need to balance affordability and security. Too much focus on intermittent, weather dependent, renewable energy, has left some jurisdictions struggling with power shortages and spiking energy prices, or dependence on Russian energy supplies. The good news for us is that many are turning to nuclear – which provides safe, reliable, affordable, carbon-free baseload electricity while also offering energy security and independence.

“It is still early days, but we are seeing some utilities beginning to pivot toward procurement strategies that more carefully weigh the origin risk. This year has already been a contracting success with over 45 million pounds added to our portfolio of long-term uranium contracts and we continue to have a significant and growing pipeline of contract discussions. And, we are being strategically patient as our primary driver is value and we have significant leverage to market improvements with unencumbered pounds in the ground. Additionally, we are focusing our efforts on capturing conversion business as conversion prices are at record-highs.

“We remain committed to our supply discipline. Discipline that balances delivering low-cost pounds into committed sales contracts and maintaining unencumbered supply for future years, by preserving our tier-one assets. Tier-one assets like Cigar Lake, that will benefit us for years to come, and where we announced in May that we had increased our ownership of this proven, permitted and fully licensed Saskatchewan mine. Further, at Cigar Lake we have been able to catch up on development work and we are now expecting to produce 18 million pounds (100% basis) in 2022. However, our overall production forecast remains unchanged at up to 11 million pounds our share, a benefit of being a multi-asset producer, as the increase at Cigar Lake largely offsets a slower rampup at the Key Lake mill due to some delays in our work schedule.

“We continue to transition from care and maintenance to operational readiness at McArthur River and Key Lake, increasing the workforce on site and moving into early-stage commissioning. At the Key Lake mill, we have encountered some challenges with respect to the availability of critical materials, equipment and skills for some of our critical automation, digitization and other projects. In addition, after four years on care and maintenance, we have experienced some normal commissioning issues as we work to safely and systematically integrate the existing and new assets with updated operating systems at the mill. We have adjusted our schedule to accommodate these delays and anticipate first production will be deferred to later in the fourth quarter. As a result, we are expecting up to 2 million pounds production (100% basis) this year.

“Thanks to our deliberate actions and conservative financial management we have been and continue to be resilient. With $1.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments on our balance sheet, improving fundamentals for our business and our decision to prepare McArthur River/Key Lake for production, we have line of sight to a significant improvement in our future financial performance.

“We are optimistic about Cameco’s role in capturing long-term value across the fuel chain and supporting the transition to a net-zero carbon economy. We have tier-one assets that are licensed, permitted, long-lived, are proven reliable, and that have expansion capacity. These tier-one assets are backed up by idle tier-two assets and what we think is the best exploration portfolio that leverages existing infrastructure. We are vertically integrated across the nuclear fuel cycle. We have locked in significant value for the fuel services segment of our business in the recent price transition in the conversion market and we are exploring opportunities to further our reach in the nuclear fuel cycle and in innovative, non-traditional commercial uses of nuclear power in Canada and around the world.

“We believe we have the right strategy to achieve our vision of ‘energizing a clean-air world’ and we will do so in a manner that reflects our values. Embedded in all our decisions is a commitment to addressing the environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities that we believe will make our business sustainable over the long term.”

• Q2 net earnings of $84 million; adjusted net earnings of $72 million: Results are driven by normal quarterly variations in contract deliveries and the continued execution of our strategy, including the operational readiness activities to reach planned tier-one production by 2024. Adjusted net earnings is a non-IFRS measure, see below.
• Strong performance in the uranium and fuel services segments: Second quarter results reflect the impact of higher average realized prices in both the uranium and fuel services segments under our long-term contract portfolio. In our uranium segment we produced 2.8 million pounds (our share) during the quarter and delivered 7.6 million pounds at an average realized price 41% higher than the same period last year. In our fuel services segment average realized prices were 8% higher than in the second quarter of 2021.
• Contracting success continues while maintaining leverage to higher prices: In our uranium segment, since the beginning of 2022, we have been successful in adding over 45 million pounds to our portfolio of long-term uranium contracts. Nevertheless, we maintain leverage to higher prices with significant unencumbered future productive capacity and a large and growing pipeline of uranium business under discussion. However, we are being strategically patient in our discussions to capture as much value as possible in our contract portfolio. In addition, we are focusing our efforts on capturing the improved pricing for our UF₆ conversion services under long-term contracts.
• Cigar Lake ownership increase: As announced in May, we along with Orano acquired Idemitsu Canada Resources Ltd.’s 7.875% participating interest in the Cigar Lake Joint Venture. Our ownership stake in Cigar Lake now stands at 54.547%, 4.522 percentage points higher than it was prior to the transaction.
• Cigar Lake production update: We have been successful in catching up on development work that had been deferred from 2021 and now expect to produce 18 million pounds at Cigar Lake (100% basis) in 2022; our share including our increased ownership is approximately 9.5 million pounds.
• Update to operational readiness for McArthur River/Key Lake: During the quarter we continued to advance the recruitment, training and operational readiness activities at the McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill. We expensed the operational readiness costs directly to cost of sales, which totaled approximately $45 million during the quarter. There are now approximately 670 employees and long-term contractors employed at the mine and mill. When we resume operations later this year, we expect to have approximately 850 employees and long-term contractors. Our operational readiness activities are transitioning from construction to early-stage commissioning of our mining and milling circuits at McArthur River and Key Lake. Critical automation and digitization projects are being tied into existing infrastructure. In addition, asset condition assessments and subsequent repair and reassembly of all equipment is winding down. However, we have seen some delays to our work schedule at the Key Lake mill. We have encountered some challenges with respect to the availability of critical materials, equipment and skills. In addition, after four years on care and maintenance, we have experienced some normal commissioning issues as we work to safely and systematically integrate the existing and new assets with updated operating systems. We have adjusted our schedule to accommodate these delays and anticipate first production will be deferred to later in the fourth quarter. As a result, we are expecting up to 2 million pounds production (100% basis) this year.
• JV Inkai shipments still delayed: We continue to work with Inkai and our joint venture partner, Kazatomprom, to secure an alternate shipping route that doesn’t rely on Russian rail lines or ports. In the meantime, we continue to delay shipment of our share of Inkai production destined for our Blind River refinery. Year-to-date we have taken no deliveries from our share of Inkai’s 2022 production. While the work on enabling shipping via the Trans-Caspian route continues, we have no confirmed date for when the first shipment with our share of Inkai’s production will proceed via that route. Should JV Inkai be unable to execute its sales transactions due to its inability to ship our share of its 2022 production, our 2022 equity earnings and our dividend may be impacted, depending on how and when the issue is resolved.
• Strong balance sheet: As of June 30, 2022, we had $1.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments and $997 million in long-term debt. In addition, we have a $1 billion undrawn credit facility.
• 2022 outlook updated: The split between Cigar Lake and McArthur River/Key Lake has changed as noted above however, overall, our share of production from our tier-one assets remains unchanged at up to 11 million pounds for 2022. We have updated our outlook for purchase, sales/deliveries, average realized price and direct administration costs. See Outlook for 2022 in our second quarter MD&A for more information.

TOROMONT ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2022 AND QUARTERLY DIVIDEND

Consolidated results

• Revenues decreased 4% in the quarter against a tough comparable. Revenues in 2021 benefited from timing of project construction activity, as well as accelerated purchasing by customers as COVID restrictions began to ease and reflecting historically high activity. Equipment sales were down 19% compared to prior year, with the Equipment Group down 16% and CIMCO package revenues down 38%, as both groups continue to experience delays in construction project schedules and deliveries due to supply chain constraints in the current year. Product support revenues were 14% higher on increased demand and technician headcount, with work-in-process levels remaining high, while rental revenues grew 19% on a larger fleet and higher utilization.
• Revenues on a year-to-date basis were largely unchanged at $1.9 billion, as the improved activity in rentals (up 23%) and product support (up 12%) offset reductions in equipment and package revenues (down 12%) against a tough comparable last year, coupled with continuing supply chain issues in the current year.
• Operating income⁽¹⁾ increased 28% in the quarter on a favourable sales mix (higher percentage of rentals and product support revenues to total revenues) and improved gross margins. Expense levels were up slightly at 12.1% of revenue (11.7% in Q2 2021), reflecting continued cost focus in an inflationary environment, consistent with gradual business openings.
• Operating income increased 26% in the first half of 2022, and was 12.5% of revenues compared to 10.0% in the similar period last year, reflecting the continued favourable sales mix and improved gross margins, offset by a higher expense ratio.
• Net earnings increased $26.3 million or 31% in the quarter versus a year ago to $111.7 million or $1.35 EPS.
• For the first half of the year, net earnings increased $37.9 million or 28% to $171.2 million, or $2.08 EPS.
• Bookings⁽¹⁾ for the second quarter were 34% lower compared to last year and were 25% lower on a year‑to‑date basis. Both the Equipment Group and CIMCO reported strong bookings in 2021, after a period of lower activity stemming from COVID restrictions. Backlogs⁽¹⁾ were $1.5 billion at June 30, 2022, compared to $957.8 million at June 30, 2021, reflecting strong order activity over the past year coupled with ongoing supply constraints.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/toromont-announces-results-for-the-second-quarter-of-2022-and-quarterly-dividend-817989361.html

First Quantum Minerals Reports Second Quarter 2022 Results

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (“First Quantum” or “the Company”) (TSX:FM.TO) today reports results for the three months ended June 30, 2022 (“Q2 2022”) of net earnings attributable to shareholders of the Company of $419 million ($0.61 earnings per share) and adjusted earnings¹ of $337 million ($0.49 adjusted earnings per share²). As at June 30, 2022, First Quantum had achieved its debt reduction target of $2 billion, from the peak in Q2 2020, and, as previously announced, continues to target a further $1 billion reduction in debt in the medium term.Read more at globenewswire.com