Spotify SPOT-N -1.68%decrease forecast third-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, after the streaming giant reported slowing user growth in major markets of Europe and North America, driving shares nearly 4 per cent lower in premarket trading.
The company has launched AI features such as “Personal Podcasts” and new offerings such as “Reserved” to attract more users and fend off competition from rivals including YouTube and Netflix NFLX-Q +0.33%increase, and AI music startups like Udio and Suno.
Separately on Tuesday, Spotify announced a new agreement with digital music licensing firm Merlin for the Swedish company’s upcoming paid tool for fan-made covers and remixing. It will allows artists on labels under Merlin’s Spotify agreement to participate.
The company said it expects operating income of €670-million (US$770.97-million) in the third quarter, below analysts’ average estimates of €677.8-million, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha.
In the second quarter, its operating income came in at €655-million, beating estimates of €639.2-million, driven by strong revenue growth and lower payroll taxes.
Such taxes, called social charges, are tied to the value of the company’s share price. The company’s shares have fallen about 16 per cent so far this year.
Spotify Technology S.A.
478.17-102.54 (-17.66%)
Year to date
Dec. 30, 2025
580.71
Aug. 4, 2026
478.17
SOURCE: BARCHART
The company’s quarterly revenue rose 14 per cent to €4.78-billion, slightly below LSEG-compiled estimates of €4.80-billion. The revenue forecast of €5-billion for the third quarter was slightly above estimates of €4.93-billion.
Its monthly active users forecast of 788 million was below Visible Alpha estimates of 793.6 million, while its outlook for a 5 million increase in premium subscribers to 305 million was largely in line with estimates.
While total MAUs and premium subscribers grew, North America and Europe’s percentage contribution to total MAUs declined. Europe’s share of premium subscribers has also continued to drop.
Nuclear reactor vendor Westinghouse Electric Co. has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, its owners revealed on Friday, as demand for new sources of nuclear power attracts renewed interest from investors.
Westinghouse is jointly owned by Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. BEP-UN-T +0.72%increase, through its renewable energy arm, and Saskatoon-based uranium fuel provider Cameco Corp. CCO-T -2.09%decrease
The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the public listing have not yet been set, and the proposed IPO and its timing will depend on market conditions, Cameco said Friday. But the filing allows Westinghouse to prepare for a public listing and share information privately with regulators.
Nuclear energy is making a comeback as demand for electricity surges, especially to serve the rapid development of data centres that train and run artificial intelligence models.
Only eight years ago, Westinghouse was in bankruptcy when Brookfield’s private equity arm bought the company from Toshiba Corp. for US$4.6-billion.
Four years later, Brookfield’s private equity business sold Westinghouse to Cameco and Brookfield Renewable Partners LP, the company’s renewable energy arm, for US$4.5-billion plus US$3-billion in assumed debt. Brookfield kept a 51-per-cent stake, and Cameco owns 49 per cent.
Westinghouse has a decades-long track record in the nuclear sector and a head start on many of its rivals. More than half of the nuclear reactors operating around the world use its technology, according to the company.
If certain milestones are met – including Westinghouse reaching a valuation of US$30-billion – Westinghouse would be compelled to hold an IPO and the U.S. government would be allowed to take an 8-per-cent stake in the company.
The pursuit of such a lofty valuation for Westinghouse is a signal of the sharp reversal in fortunes for the nuclear sector, which is seeking large amounts of capital from investors for its expansion plans.
U.S. President Donald Trump has outlined a plan to jumpstart America’s nuclear industry. And Canada has a strategy to fast-track small modular reactor construction, while also adding more large-scale reactors in the country.
Brookfield Asset Management chief executive Connor Teskey said Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy has committed up to US$17.5-billion in loans to finance the early procurement of equipment for new reactors.
The government financing “is expected to accelerate deployment timelines by up to three years,” and to attract further investment in the nuclear supply chain, Mr. Teskey said.
“Our focus has now shifted from establishing the financing framework for long-lead orders to advancing individual projects,” he said.
Westinghouse’s main offering is its AP1000 reactor. There are two of these reactors operating in the U.S. and four in China, as well as more than a dozen others under construction. But the reactors also have a track record of construction delays and cost overruns, underscoring the inherent risk in such projects.
Enbridge Inc. ENB-T -1.80%decrease expects its gas transmission business to play a growing role amid booming demand across North America, even as some of its customers express unease over ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
Speaking to analysts Friday as the company reported its second-quarter earnings, executives touted a number of projects underway to expand its capacity to deliver natural gas to customers in the months ahead.
“We’re hearing from customers in all regions of our footprint, including the U.S. Northeast, Midwest and Southeast. All are looking for additional capacity to support unprecedented power and LNG demand,” said president and CEO Greg Ebel.
Enbridge received “significantly more interest” than initially expected for its proposed expansion of the Algonquin Gas Transmission system, dubbed Project Beacon, he said.
The company recently completed an open season – a process used to formally gauge commercial interest – in the U.S. Northeast for the proposed expansion.
“This is really a great example of how we’re seeing … gas demand across all of our footprint in gas transmission right now for all kinds of requirements,” said Matthew Akman, who leads Enbridge’s gas transmission business.
“Some of that is obviously power and data centres and some of it is just catch up in terms of being behind in building infrastructure. Beacon in New England is probably the best example of that, where everyone knows we’ve needed more gas pipeline capacity into there for quite a while.”
Akman called it a “promising” project that could save more than $1 billion per year for utility customers in New England.
“There’s a real recognition we found in the response to the open season of the need for that capacity, for affordability and reliability to reduce emissions from oil burning power as well, and energy costs generally,” he said.
Enbridge also signed an exclusive option to acquire the TTC Connector Pipeline, which will connect Enbridge’s Tres Palacios Gas Storage facility to Freeport LNG and is expected to enter service by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, its Blackcomb pipeline has begun commissioning and the company sanctioned the Bay Runner Twin pipeline to provide Permian natural gas supply to the Rio Grande LNG facility.
Earlier this month, Enbridge announced it had broken ground on a $4-billion natural gas pipeline expansion in British Columbia. The federal government approved the Sunrise Expansion Program in April.
The project aims to add another 300 million cubic feet per day of transportation capacity to the province’s natural gas transmission system.
“We do expect to punch above our weight in gas transmission,” said Akman.
“Some of that could be chunky, of course, because some of the projects … it’ll depend on the customer timing, but very active conversations going on and we’re optimistic that we’re going to be contributing more than our fair share over the next six to 12 months in gas transmission.”
Enbridge reported a second-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of $1.4-billion, down from $2.18-billion a year earlier. The company said the profit amounted to 64 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30, down from $1 per share in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Enbridge earned 63 cents per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 65 cents per share in the second quarter of 2025.
The company said its secured capital backlog stood at $41-billion. It has sanctioned $9-billion of new projects year-to-date and is on track to meet its targeted $10-billion to $20-billion of new project announcements over the 2026 to 2027 time frame.
Ebel said the company is advancing projects amid a backdrop of volatility in energy markets, supply chain disruptions and uncertainty from ongoing geopolitical developments around the world.
“There’s a fair bit of a challenging backdrop for producers, refiners, exporters, and pipelines to fully commit to large-scale projects, but let’s make no mistake, that is coming because the needs are there,” he said.
“Until we get through that volatility piece, people are going to be focused on, ‘Give me customized solutions that I can utilize and I’ll deal with the bigger solutions as we go forward.’”
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. ATD-T +1.37%increase is making an US$8.7-billion all-cash takeover play for Polish convenience retailer Zabka Group SA, widening its footprint in Europe with a major push in one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies.
It’s the Canadian company’s biggest acquisition to date, further cementing its position in a key part of the world against global rival 7-Eleven. It’s also one of its most unique acquisitions as it takes control of a dominant, technology-powered retailer already near the top of its game.
“This transaction, candidly, is like none I’ve ever done in the 14 years that I’ve been here,” Couche-Tard chief executive Alex Miller told analysts on a call, referring to his nearly two years as CEO and various senior leadership positions before that.
“Usually it’s us looking what we can bring” to get the most from the company we’re buying, he said. “In this example, we see a lot of things that we think can be brought to us.”
Laval, Que.-based Couche-Tard, which owns the Circle K convenience store chain, said Friday it will launch a voluntary tender offer for Zabka at a price of 32 Polish zloty or about US$8.48 a share. That’s a premium of about 9.4 per cent to its previous closing price.
Owners of about 57 per cent of Zabka stock are backing the deal and have signed agreements to tender their shares, Couche-Tard said. That includes two major shareholders: private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Partners Group.
No matter how many shareholders tender their shares, Couche-Tard will achieve control of Zabka with an ownership majority. If it succeeds in buying shares representing at least 95 per cent of total voting rights, it plans to squeeze out the remaining stock and move to delist the company from the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Zabka has been publicly listed in Warsaw for the last two years.Kacper Pempel/Reuters
Launched in 1998 and modelled on 7-Eleven’s corner shops in Japan, Zabka boasts a digital strategy that sees half its revenue flow through its AI-driven mobile shopping application. The company, whose name means “little frog,” runs nearly 13,000 stores across Poland and expanded into Romania in 2024.
Its network is built around compact, modular neighbourhood stores averaging about 700 square feet, and includes a chain of unmanned, autonomous outlets operating 24 hours a day. In addition to regular convenience staples, groceries and ready-to-eat meals, it also offers services like parcel pickup. Half of its customers are younger than 35.
“We are a predictable, growing business,” Zabka’s incoming CEO, Tomasz Blicharski, said, adding its sales have more than doubled over the past five years. The retailer has a commanding presence in Poland, with its biggest competition coming from individual mom and pop shops in various corners of the country, he said.
After a solid trajectory of profit growth over the past two decades, Couche-Tard’s business has come under pressure more recently as consumers cut spending to deal with higher levels of debt as well as inflation. Mr. Miller has proven the company can drive sales from existing stores without takeovers but this deal will put investor focus back on deal-making.
Couche-Tard nabbed a toehold in Europe with the purchase of Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail in 2012. It was the company’s first major expansion outside North America, giving it a small presence in Poland in addition to more substantial operations in Scandinavia.
That was followed by the takeover of Ireland’s Topaz Energy Group in 2016 and another deal in Germany and the Benelux countries in 2023, when it bought some 2,200 service stations from French oil company TotalEnergies SE. Along the way, it dropped a US$20-billion bid for European retailer Carrefour in 2021 after it wasn’t able to overcome French government opposition.
Japan’s Seven & i Holdings Co., the parent of 7-Eleven and Couche-Tard’s main rival on the international stage, was also in the hunt for Zabka but said earlier this month it couldn’t strike an agreement that would be in its best interests. The Japanese company wants to build its European presence, which is currently limited to three Nordic countries.
Couche-Tard abandoned its own effort to acquire Seven & i last year in what would have been a blockbuster deal. The Canadian company blasted its Japanese rival for failing to engage in meaningful talks when it announced it was ending its campaign – criticism that has given more weight to the rivalry between the two retailers ever since as they battle for convenience store supremacy.
The Circle K owner likes Zabka for a number of reasons, including the Polish company’s skills at food retailing, extensive distribution network and advanced data and analytics expertise. In short, Mr. Miller said: “Many of the capabilities we believe will define the future of convenience already exist at scale within Zabka.”
Poland’s economic strength doesn’t hurt either. An economy that was once wilting behind the Iron Curtain has transformed over three decades to become one of Europe’s most dynamic, with GDP growth of 3.6 per cent last year.
The transaction is expected to be accretive to the margin on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization right away, and accretive to earnings per share by the second year following deal finalization, Couche-Tard said. According to the company, it can achieve about US$250-million worth of cost-saving opportunities within three years.
Couche-Tard said it intends to fund the transaction through fully committed debt facilities, with J.P. Morgan as lead arranger, and National Bank of Canada Capital Markets and Bank of Nova Scotia acting as joint bookrunners.
Telus Corp. T-T -11.27%decrease surprised investors Friday with a higher-than-expected 55-per-cent dividend cut while lowering its financial guidance for the year as new chief executive officer Victor Dodig reorients the telecom and technology company in a bid to improve its finances.
The company was widely expected to cut its quarterly dividend, but analysts did not expect it to fall to 18.75 cents per share from 41.84 cents previously.
In a Friday morning note to investors, TD Cowen analyst Vince Valentini said the dividend cut and changes to the financial guidance for the rest of the year “were much worse than expected.”
Telus shares closed down more than 11 per cent to $13.38 on the Toronto Stock Exchange as investors digested the news. Including the latest drop, the shares have fallen almost 52 per cent over the last five years, and almost 26 per cent since the beginning of the year.
“We’re resetting the company for the long term,” Mr. Dodig said in an interview with The Globe on Friday morning.
He acknowledged that the dividend reset was widely anticipated by investors. “We believe that it’s something that was necessary,” he said. “We now have the ability to invest as we grow our company.”
Mr. Dodig said the company’s decision to push back its debt-reduction target by a year to the end of 2028, and lower its financial guidance for 2026, reflect “what we see as the reality,” as the company pursues sales of some of its assets and undertakes a shift in strategy. He said the company has plans to grow revenue faster, simplify its business and redirect spending to the highest areas of growth.
The shifts announced Friday represent an “abbreviated detour as we reset,” Mr. Dodig said. “I’m confident in the way forward.”
Analysts have been raising concerns about Telus’s dividend growth plans since last year, when some called its previous plans to continue increasing its dividend unsustainable. Telus paused dividend growth last November, but has faced ongoing pressure from Bay Street to cut the payout.
The company said Friday the dividend cut is expected to generate about $2.7-billion in cash savings through 2028, which will be used to reduce its long-term debt.
In another early note Friday, Bank of Nova Scotia analyst Maher Yaghi said the dividend cut was needed to restore the company’s financial flexibility.
“The action is the right one, but the size of the guidance reduction shows it was not discretionary,” he said.
The company also reported a net loss of $1.8-billion in the second quarter after recording a $2.1-billion writedown for its Telus Digital unit.
“Some of the growth and spending that we’re seeing from clients going forward has abated somewhat. The goodwill writedown reflects all of that,” Mr. Dodig said.
Telus said it expects revenue for the year to be flat or fall up to 2 per cent, compared to prior guidance in May of a revenue increase of 2 to 4 per cent. The company said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is now expected to fall by 2 to 4 per cent for the year, compared to prior guidance of growth of 2 to 4 per cent. Full-year cash flow is expected to be $1.8-billion this year, down from the prior estimate of $2.45-billion or by about 27 per cent.
Telus also said it plans to reduce its net debt to EBITDA ratio to about three times by the end of 2028 – a debt-reduction target it had previously expected to reach by the end of 2027.
Telus also said Friday it will eliminate the discount it offers investors who use the company’s dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). The plan allowed shareholders to receive their dividend payments in shares priced below current market value. The change will be effective Oct. 1.
Friday’s announcements mark a turning point for the company’s financial strategy under the new leadership. Darren Entwistle, who retired at the end of July after 25 years at the helm, told The Globe last month that he would have “stayed the course” on the dividend, but acknowledged at the time that his successor, Mr. Dodig, may do otherwise.
On Bay Street, Mr. Dodig became known for turning around the financial performance and share price of The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which was underperforming its peers when he began as CEO.
Now, he is taking on Telus in the middle of major transformation amid a challenging time for the industry as a whole, as population growth has slowed and wireless prices have been forced down by greater competition.
In addition to a dividend cut, analysts have suggested Telus could divest of a range of non-core assets – from its venture portfolio and surplus real estate to a greater proportion of its health business, which it is currently attempting to monetize.
The company did not share significant details on the progress of those attempts. Mr. Dodig said the company is waiting for the right investor who recognizes an asset’s full value. “We are not out there to sell anything at any price,” he said.
Mr. Dodig told analysts on a call Friday that he will focus on retaining the company’s “crown jewels” and will announce asset sales going forward. “I think you’ll see a much more simplified Telus over time.”
He said Telus Health, Telus Digital and Telus Agriculture are all good businesses, but he will focus “on those we believe should be monetized because they’re better off in the hands of another owner, and do that in a thoughtful manner.”
In a July note to investors, Mr. Valentinicalculated that the company could hypothetically make upward of $8-billion and significantly lower its debt leverage if it were to divest of all its non-core assets, although he said this was an “extreme scenario.” He estimated the company would cut its dividend by 30 per cent.
Mr. Yaghi said in a note earlier in the month that a roughly 50-per-cent dividend cut “would create the financial flexibility needed to begin repairing the balance sheet and reset the equity story on a more sustainable footing.”
It’s not the only dividend cut that Canadian investors have witnessed recently. Last year, rival telecom BCE Inc. BCE-T unchno change slashed its own dividend by more than 50 per cent in order to allocate that cash elsewhere.
Editor’s note: A previous version of the story included incorrect information about the current dividend yield based on today’s share price, which has been removed. The article was further corrected to state that last year BCE cut its dividend by more than 50 per cent, and to correct the spelling of TD Cowen.
A U.S. appeals court found Enbridge liable for trespass for running a pipeline under land belonging to a northern Wisconsin tribe, but gave the Canadian energy company more time to reroute the pipeline and ordered a recalculation of damages.
Thursday’s decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago addressed appeals from a federal district judge’s June 2023 order that Enbridge pay the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians US$5.15 million in restitution plus an additional sum for ongoing trespass, and move the pipeline within three years.
That deadline expired last month, but had been put on hold. Circuit Judge Michael Scudder urged the district judge to adopt measures to ensure that Enbridge reroute the pipeline “as soon as possible.”
Enbridge had no immediate comment. Josh Handelsman, a lawyer for the tribe, said his client is reviewing the decision.
Built in 1953, the Line 5 pipeline carries up to 540,000 barrels of oil per day through the Great Lakes region from Canada, including about 12 miles (19 km) under the Bad River Reservation.
U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison, Wisconsin, awarded damages and ordered a reroute following a non-jury trial. Bad River Band had warned a shutdown was needed because spring rains had eroded a riverbank protecting the pipeline.
Delay ‘does not reflect our approval’
Writing for a three-judge panel, Scudder said the three-year timetable to move the pipeline was too aggressive, but a shutdown risked harming consumers, sparking international fallout with Canada, and violating a 1977 U.S.-Canadian treaty governing transit pipelines.
“Make no mistake: Enbridge must remove the pipeline from the [tribe’s land],” Scudder wrote. “The grace period we direct the district court to afford Enbridge is the product of the broader public context in which the pipeline operates, and it does not reflect our approval of the company’s behavior.”
As to damages, Scudder said Conley abused his discretion for “double-counting,” by taking into account Enbridge’s profits attributable to the trespass as well as the company’s economic benefit from deferring expenses for a reroute.
A recalculation should consider the ongoing nature of Enbridge’s trespass, interest that may be owed, and both sides’ conduct concerning a reroute, Scudder said.
The appeals court refused to hold Enbridge liable for nuisance, saying federal law preempted the tribe’s claim.
Though Enbridge’s easement for the pipeline over some tribal land parcels ran through 2043, its rights-of-way over other parcels expired in 2013.
The tribe sued in 2019 after out-of-court negotiations failed.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
A new rival to Wall Street officially debuted on Friday as the Texas Stock Exchange went fully live for the first time with trading available for all of its listed tickers.
The Texas Stock Exchange, which is based in Dallas, is the first new major stock exchange to launch in the U.S. in decades. The TXSE, called the “Tex-ee,” is looking to compete with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Composite for listings.
The exchange boasts several prominent financial backers, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab, among others.
It currently plans to begin corporate listings later this year and intends to facilitate initial public offerings (IPOs) starting in 2027. The TXSE sees the economic rise of Texas and a broader swath of the South that it’s calling the “Boom Belt” as being the “center of gravity for American capitalism” and a market it can tap into for IPOs.
Canada’s Big Six banks hold roughly 85 per cent of all deposits in the country. Add Desjardins, the seventh-largest player, and that share climbs to 91 per cent. The rest, including over 100 credit unions and more than 20 other banks, hold just 9 per cent.
That concentration would make sense if the big banks offered better service or rates than everyone else. But do they?
Based on an estimate from WOWA.io, a provider of financial data services, more than 65 per cent of bank deposits in Canada are in either notice deposits, such as savings accounts requiring advance notice, or term deposits, such as most GICs. For this portion, and even for many regular savings accounts, rate matters most, since customers don’t need frequent access.
So are the Big Six banks offering Canadians the best rates? The surprising answer is no: Their term deposit rates are among the lowest in the country.
Consider one-year and five-year fixed GICs, two of the most popular terms. For a one-year GIC, the best rate among Big Six banks plus Desjardins is 2.75 per cent as of July 27, 2026.
Among the more than 40 other lenders WOWA tracks daily, only two offer less, while more than 30 offer more. Pathwise Credit Union in Ontario offers 3.70 per cent, while MCAN Financial, available nationwide outside Quebec, offers 3.65 per cent.
Savings accounts tell a similar story. The Big Six typically advertise promotional rates that drop sharply after three or four months. Excluding those, their best ongoing rate for balances under $10,000 is just 0.55 per cent, while many other institutions offer 2 per cent or more. Manulife Bank offers 3 per cent on a non-registered savings account, and WealthOne offers 3 per cent on RRSPs.
Some may argue their money is safer with the Big Six, but all banks carry CDIC insurance that covers up to $100,000 per deposit category, and credit unions typically match or exceed that. For example, B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba guarantee credit union deposits in full, with no cap.
The Big Six do have some advantages, such as wider branch access. But savers who stay purely out of habit are paying a real cost for that convenience.
As Grant Armstrong, chief growth officer of WealthOne, put it: “Canadians often prioritize trust, familiarity, and convenience over yield, even when higher rates are available elsewhere.”
With more than 100 financial institutions in Canada competing for deposits, almost all with access to the same deposit insurance as the Big Six, or stronger, comparing rates before renewing a GIC or opening a savings account costs nothing and can meaningfully change the return.
