Cameco Corp. (CCJ) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $96.5 million.

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company said it had profit of 22 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 26 cents per share.

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The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 23 cents per share.

The uranium producer posted revenue of $845.5 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported profit of $125.5 million, or 28 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $2.29 billion.

Cameco shares have fallen slightly more than 9% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 12% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CCJ at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CCJ

Teck Resources Ltd. reported a $748-million loss from continuing operations attributable to shareholders in its latest quarter as it took a one-time asset impairment charge related to its Trail operations.

The Vancouver-based mining company says its loss amounted to $1.45 per diluted share for its third quarter compared with a loss of $48 million or nine cents per share a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $2.86 billion, up from $1.99 billion in the same quarter last year.

In its outlook, Teck says it now expects its 2024 copper production to amount to 420,000 to 455,000 tonnes, down from earlier guidance for 435,000 to 500,000 tonnes. The company also lowered its 2024 guidance for molybdenum and refined zinc production and reduced its expectations for zinc net cash unit costs.

On an adjusted basis, Teck says it earned 60 cents per diluted share for its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 37 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TECK.B)

TFI International Inc. says it earned US$88.1 million dollars in its fourth quarter, down from US$131.4 million a year earlier. The company says revenues were US$2.1 billion, up from US$2.0 billion during the fourth quarter of 2023.  Earnings per diluted share were US$1.03, down from US$1.53.  TFI says the higher revenue came primarily from acquisitions, and was offset by reduced volumes driven by weaker end-market demand.  It says total revenue for the truckload segment increased 64 per cent due primarily to its acquisition of Daseke.  Earnings for the full financial year declined to US$422.5 million, while revenues rose to US$8.4 billion. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:TFII)

 Nutrien Ltd. (NTR) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $113 million.

On a per-share basis, the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company said it had net income of 23 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 31 cents per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 33 cents per share.

The producer of potash and other fertilizers posted revenue of $5.08 billion in the period, which also missed Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.15 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $674 million, or $1.36 per share. Revenue was reported as $25.97 billion.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on NTR at https://www.zacks.com/ap/NTR

Manulife Financial Corp. says its earnings dipped slightly in the fourth quarter but rose overall in 2024.  The company’s net income attributable to shareholders was $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter, down three per cent from $1.7 billion a year earlier.  Core earnings were $1.9 billion, up six per cent from $1.8 billion. Earnings per share were 88 cents, up from 86 cents during the same quarter last year.  Manulife announced a 10 per cent increase in its common share dividend as it released its results for the quarter and the year.  Net income for the full year came in at $5.4 billion, up five per cent from $5.1 billion in 2023. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:MFC)

President Donald Trump said he may broaden the scope of U.S. tariffs on imports to include automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

In remarks to reporters Tuesday, Trump said the duties would be around 25% and “go very substantially higher over a course of a year.” The president did not indicate whether the new tariffs would apply to all vehicles coming into the U.S. or be targeted toward certain countries but said they could start as early as April 2.

However, the threat represents a broadening in the administration’s aggressive trade policy that already has included 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports set to take effect in March.

The nations with the biggest auto exports to the U.S. are Mexico, Japan and Canada.

Trump said the tariffs already are having the desired effect, with companies domiciled overseas wanting to come back to the U.S.

“I’ve been contacted by some of the biggest companies in the world, and because of what we’re doing economically and through tariffs and incentives, they want to come back into the United States,” he said.

“When they come back into the United States and they have their plant or factory here, there is no tariff,” Trump added. “So we want to give them a little bit of a chance.”

On pharmaceuticals, the nations feeling the biggest impact likely would be Japan and India. The economic impact would be unclear, though the tariffs might aggravate costs and cause shortages initially.

“The tariffs could drive up drug prices for US patients, exacerbate drug supply shortages, and push manufacturers to seek alternative markets,” said Ophelia Chan, senior business fundamentals analyst at GlobalData. Chan also noted that companies in the industry “may respond by relocating manufacturing and trials to the US or other tariff-free countries, though the full effects are still uncertain.”

On semiconductors, Trump did not indicate when they would happen. Those levies would impact Taiwan Semiconductor, which provides chips to companies including Nvidia and Apple

S&P 500 closes at another record Wednesday as investors look past Trump tariff fears: Live updates

The S&P 500 climbed to a fresh record on Wednesday, as stocks remain resilient despite President Donald Trump’s threat of more tariffs and a continuously cautious Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 rose 0.24%, settling at 6,144.15 and earning its second record close in a row. The index also touched a fresh all-time high during the session. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.07% to close at 20,056.25, while Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 71.25 points, or 0.16%, to end at 44,627.59.

Shares of Microsoft gained 1.3% and led the broader technology sector higher after the company unveiled its first ever quantum computing chip. Tesla climbed almost 2%. Analog Devices surged nearly 10% after posting better-than-expected quarterly results on the top and bottom lines.

Trump on Tuesday floated the notion of imposing a 25% tariff on imported autos, chips and pharmaceuticals. Trump did not specify whether or not the potential duties would be targeted or broad, but did say they could be implemented as soon as April 2.

“I think there’s a lot of noise tied to DOGE, Elon Musk and tariffs in the short-term, which is what you’re seeing today. And I think a lot of this stuff will linger,” said Jim Elios, founder and chief investment officer at Elios Financial Group. “It’s the Trump effect with headlines that are weighing on markets and causing some pain. In the long term, I’m still really bullish about how this can become a pro-business environment.”

Additionally, investors weighed the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which showed that central bank officials want to see more progress on inflation before cutting interest rates further, and also are concerned about the impact of Trump’s tariffs.

• Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip includes eight topological quantum bits.
• Majorana 1 won’t be available through Microsoft’s Azure cloud, but it opens the door to future models with greater capacity that likely will be, an executive told CNBC.
• In the meantime, the company will engage with national laboratories and universities on research using Majorana 1. 

Microsoft on Wednesday announced Majorana 1, its first quantum computing chip. 

The achievement comes after the company has spent nearly two decades of research in the field. 

Technologists believe quantum computers could one day efficiently solve problems that would be taxing if not impossible for classical computers. Today’s computers use bits that can be either on or off while quantum computers employ quantum bits, or qubits, that can operate in both states simultaneously.

Google and IBM have also developed quantum processors, as have smaller companies IonQ and Rigetti Computing. Microsoft’s quantum chip employs eight topological qubits using indium arsenide, which is a semiconductor, and aluminum, which is a superconductor. A new paper in the journal Nature describes the chip in detail.

Microsoft won’t be allowing clients to use its Majorana 1 chip through the company’s Azure public cloud, as it plans to do with its custom artificial intelligence chip, Maia 100. Instead, Majorana 1 is a step toward a goal of a million qubits on a chip, following extensive physics research.

Rather than rely on Taiwan Semiconductor or another company for fabrication, Microsoft is manufacturing the components of Majorana 1 itself in the U.S. That’s possible because the work is unfolding at a small scale.

“We want to get to a few hundred qubits before we start talking about commercial reliability,” Jason Zander, a Microsoft executive vice president, told CNBC.

In the meantime, the company will engage with national laboratories and universities on research using Majorana 1. 

Despite the focus on research, investors are fascinated by quantum.

IonQ shares went up 237% in 2024, and Rigetti gained nearly 1,500%. The two generated a combined $14.8 million in third-quarter revenue. Further gains came in January, after Microsoft issued a blog post declaring that 2025 is “the year to become quantum-ready.”

Microsoft’s Azure Quantum cloud service, which lets developers experiment with programs and algorithms, offers access to chips from IonQ and Rigetti. It’s possible that a Microsoft quantum chip might become available through Azure before 2030, Zander said.

“There’s a lot of speculation that we’re decades off from this,” he said. “We believe it’s more like years.”

Rather than exist as a stand-alone category, quantum computing might end up boosting other parts of Microsoft. For example, there’s Microsoft’s AI business, which has an annualized revenue run rate that exceeds $13 billion. Quantum computers could be used to build data used to train AI models, Zander said. 

“Now you can ask it to invent some new molecule, invent some new drug, something that really would have been impossible to do before,” Zander said.

Gildan Activewear Inc. raised its dividend as it reported a fourth-quarter profit of US$132.3 million. The clothing maker says it will pay a quarterly dividend of 22.6 cents US per share, up from 20.5 cents US. The increased payment came as Gildan, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said it earned 86 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 29 compared with a profit of US$153.3 million or 89 cents US per diluted share a year earlier. Net sales for the quarter totalled US$821.5 million, up from US$782.7 million. On an adjusted basis, Gildan says it earned 83 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 75 cents US per diluted share a year earlier. In its outlook, the company says it expects revenue growth for 2025 to be up mid-single digit, while adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be in a range of US$3.38 to US$3.58, an increase of between 13 and 19 per cent. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:GIL)