HEADLINES
Retail Sales Rebounded in November, Marking Positive Start to Holiday Season
Retailers in Canada saw a jump in sales in November that retraces weak trade in recent months, hinting at a recovery in household consumption heading into the important holiday season.
Sales rose 1.2% from the month before, an advance tally of retailers' receipts by Statistics Canada showed. That follows declining sales the previous two months, including a weaker-than-expected performance in October, and would mark the strongest advance since June.
The advance is likely to have been inflated in part by a jump in gasoline prices last month and a recovery following labor disruptions in Western Canada. It still suggests sales picked up and hints at a solid start to a key period for retailers, covering Black Friday sales as consumers make a start on holiday shopping.
WildBrain Surges on Peanuts Group Stake Sale to Sony
Shares in Canadian entertainment company WildBrain jumped after Sony Group agreed to acquire its 41% stake in Peanuts Holdings, the company that houses the iconic Snoopy and Charlie Brown characters.
The Japanese conglomerate, a leading player in movie production and videogames, will pay more than $450 million to double its stake in Peanuts Holdings. The family of Charles M. Schulz, the "Peanuts" creator, will continue to own the remaining 20% stake.
WildBrain's shares rose 30.7% to C$1.96.
BlackBerry Shares Fall as QNX Division Growth Slows in Third Quarter
BlackBerry shares fell over concerns that growth at its embedded-device software business, QNX, may be slowing, despite growth in the fiscal third quarter.
Shares trading in Toronto fell 14.1% to C$5.18.
The Canadian cybersecurity and embedded-software company late Thursday reported a profit of $13.7 million, or 2 cents a share, in the three months ended Nov. 30, compared with a loss of $10.5 million, or 2 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 1.3% to $141.8 million, but came in better than forecasts for a drop to $136.6 million.
Energy Fuels Shares Rise on Successful Rare-Earths Metals Testing
Shares of Energy Fuels surged after its high-purity dysprosium oxide from its mill in Utah cleared initial tests with a major South Korean magnet manufacturer, and said it expects to start producing terbium and possibly samarium oxide early next year.
Shares trading in Toronto rose 8.1% to C$20.82.
The critical metals producer said that high-purity dysprosium oxide has passed all initial purity tests, reaching 99.9%, as well as all quality assurance and quality-control benchmarks of a major South Korean automotive manufacturer for downstream rare-earth permanent magnet production.
Canada to Lean on Foreign Regulators to Accelerate Drug-Approval Process
Canada said it intends to accelerate drug approvals in the country by relying on work done by foreign pharmaceutical regulators.
Canada's health department said in a notice that this marks an effort to address industry concerns about the time it takes to get a new drug to market, and meet growing domestic demand for essential pharmaceutical products. The ministry said it proposes to lean on work done earlier by foreign regulators without compromising safety.
The proposed changes, as outlined in the government's official newspaper, Canada Gazette, would create a more attractive environment for businesses, officials said.
Bombardier's Global 8000 Aircraft Gets FAA Certification
Bombardier said its aircraft Global 8000 received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Global 8000 also received certification from Canada's federal transit regulator in November and entered into service this month. Certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency is pending, the Montreal-based aircraft maker said.
Stephen McCullough, Bombardier's senior vice president of engineering and product development, said the certification marks one of the final steps in the Global 8000's development program.
Goeasy Gets TSX Okay to Renew Buyback for 10% of Public Float
Goeasy intends to renew its share repurchase program to buy back up to 10% of its shares over a one-year period.
The consumer lender said that the Toronto Stock Exchange has approved its plans to buy back up to 1.2 million shares by way of a normal course issuer bid.
Goeasy shares ended Friday's trading session 3.7% higher at C$131.71.
VersaBank Names Nicolas Ospina to New Global CFO Role
VersaBank has appointed Nicolas Ospina to the newly created role of global chief financial officer, effective early next year.
Ospina joins the Canadian business-to-business digital bank from Raymond James's financial-services investment-banking group, bringing over a decade of banking, financial services, and capital markets experience to our organization, VersaBank said.
The global CFO role will be responsible for oversight of the bank's finance function at the corporate level, the London, Ontario-based company said.
TALKING POINT
Tax Breaks Are the Biggest Win for Marijuana Businesses as Restrictions Ease
By Anita Hamilton
Traders pushing down the price of pot stocks may be underestimating the positive impact of President Donald Trump's executive order paving the way for lower restrictions on cannabis products.
Most significantly, reclassification will enable marijuana businesses to deduct ordinary business expenses covered by section 280E of the federal tax code-including payroll, rent, utilities, and insurance costs-on their tax returns. That won't happen immediately, as the change likely won't take effect until early next year.
"Removing 280E represents a transformational margin catalyst that could significantly improve profitability, accelerate industry consolidation, and reshape long-term growth trajectories across the U.S. cannabis sector," Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey wrote in a Friday note.
Others are equally upbeat. "We view the EO as clearly bullish for the legal cannabis industry," analysts at Seaport Research Partners wrote Thursday. Easing restrictions on cannabis products would improve after-tax cash flow while "meaningfully" de-risking the industry's outlook.
The tax deduction change alone could collectively save pot businesses some $150 million in the so-called 280E taxes, according to an estimate from Alliance Global Partners. "While most operators have stopped paying their 280E tax and are realizing the cash flow benefits, but accumulating an uncertain tax liability, rescheduling will stop the uncertain tax liability building," the analysts wrote.
It could also lower pot companies' debt costs since the change enables them to take interest tax deductions previously unavailable to them, Alliance notes.
Notably the executive order does nothing to legalize pot federally or expand access to banking. That's what's driving declines in pot stocks like cannabis producers Tilray Brands and Canopy Growth, both of which fell sharply Friday, following similar drops on Thursday. Tilray Brands shares fell 9.7% to C$15.31. Canopy Growth shares dropped 12.1% to C$2.04.
On the bright side, the exchange-traded fund, AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis, was rebounding.
Write to Anita Hamilton at [anita.hamilton@barrons.com]
Expected Major Events for Monday
00:01/UK: Dec CBI Growth Indicator and Service Sector Survey
05:00/JPN: Nov Convenience Store Sales
05:00/JPN: Nov Steel Production
07:00/UK: 3Q Balance of Payments
07:00/UK: 3Q Business investment revised results
07:00/UK: 3Q UK quarterly national accounts
09:00/ITA: Nov PPI
11:00/UK: Nov Aluminium Production report
13:30/US: Sep Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI)
13:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales
13:30/CAN: Nov Industrial product and raw materials price indexes
15:00/US: Oct Online Help Wanted Index
15:00/US: Nov Online Help Wanted Index
17:59/UK: Nov Adzuna UK Job Market Report
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Monday
ALT5 Sigma Corp $(ALTS)$ is expected to report $-0.36 for 3Q.
Broadway Financial Corp $(BYFC)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
Powered by Factset and Dow Jones.
We offer an enhanced version of this briefing that is optimized for viewing on mobile devices and sent directly to your email inbox. If you would like to sign up, please go to https://newsplus.wsj.com/subscriptions.
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 19, 2025 16:32 ET (21:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments