Buzz on the Bullboards: New energy, heath, and transport opportunities

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Stocks on both sides of the border started the week on a high note, as traders assessed a slew of earnings reports while beginning to adjust to the risks posed by the latest war in the Middle East. One market that could be heavily impacted, should the conflict spread as projected, is energy.

Calgary-based integrated energy company Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU, Forum) has been in focus as of late, following news it will purchase TotalEnergies’ interest in the Canadian oil sands for C$1.468 billion.

France’s TotalEnergies is a global energy company producing oil, biofuels, natural gas, green gases, renewables and electricity. It’s active in almost 130 countries and employs more than 100,000 people.

The purchase includes Total’s 31.23 per cent working interest in the Fort Hills oil sands mining project, which currently yields 194,000 barrels per day of nameplate production and is expected to have a 50-year mine life. Once the transaction closes, Suncor will be Fort Hill’s sole owner.

The acquisition adds 61,000 barrels per day of net bitumen production capacity and 675 million barrels of proved and probable reserves to Suncor’s oil sands portfolio.

In conjunction with its ownership of the Firebag and MacKay River in-situ assets, Fort Hills strengthens Suncor’s bitumen supply and enhances the use of its wholly owned Base Plant upgraders once its largest oil sands mine, The Base Mine, winds down in the mid-2030s.

Negotiations began in April 2023 after the initial sales agreement, with oil running up from US$72 to US$83 per barrel in the intervening period.

The transaction originally included Total’s 50 per cent stake in the Surmont project near Fort McMurray, Alberta, but the project’s operator and equal owner, ConocoPhillips, exercised its right of first refusal on Total’s stake.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD, Forum), ever a magnet for trader attention, for better or worse, has seen its share price struggle over the past year, but has managed to improve its stock value compared with a year ago. 

The global aviation company wowed attendees at the 2023 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas with photos from the second-phase flight tests for its EcoJet emissions reduction project.

The flights involved an 5.4-metre-wide demonstrator and generated promising results that will “contribute to the advancement of this pivotal project,” according to a statement, specifically with regard to new aviation control laws with applications to more sustainable business aircraft.

Bombardier’s EcoJet research project, initiated 15 years ago, seeks to reduce aircraft emissions by up to 50 per cent through aerodynamic and propulsion enhancements. The project uses scaled, autonomous Blended Wing Body (BWB) test vehicles to advance its technologies. Bombardier began real-world testing of its theoretical emissions reduction work in 2017 with a prototype with a 2.5 metre wingspan. Flight-testing will continue over a number of years to hone data in diverse environments.

“Our engineers are eager to start working with the results yielded by this second phase of the flight test program,” Stephen McCullough, senior vice president of engineering and product development, said in the statement. “Building on the significant data drawn from the initial flight-testing phase, and now leveraging a model twice as large as the first prototype, we can further refine our analysis. With each additional experimental stage, we are paving the way for more sustainable aircraft designs and new technologies.”

Bombardier stock is trading 39.9 per cent higher than it was this time last year.

Montréal-based biopharmaceutical company Theratechnologies Inc. (TSX:TH, Forum) reported results from a study evaluating an intramuscular method (IM) of administration for Trogarzo, indicating it did not meet its primary endpoints.

The company stated the study, which was done through a partnership with TaiMed Biologics, enrolled 21 patients.

Seven of the patients were HIV positive and 14 were HIV-negative, and the study aimed to assess the pharmacokinetics, efficacy and safety of the IM administration of Trogarzo when compared with intravenous (IV) infusion.

Theratechnologies stated the primary endpoint measured a 90 per cent confidence interval of the IM injection to IV injection (0.69, 1.08). However, it did not meet the equivalence limits of 0.8 and 1.25.

Trogarzo is a long-acting, CD4-directed, post-attachment HIV-1 inhibitor. The treatment is approved in the United States in combination with other antiretrovirals to treat human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). It is first administered with a 30-minute loading dose by IV infusion.

After that, doses can be given in 30 seconds every two weeks with the IV push or in 15 minutes every two weeks through IV infusion. Trogarzo is currently not approved in Canada.

Small-cap stocks are often more volatile than large-caps. Disconnects between value and price will continue to become more extreme, and for many investors, “value investing” is more important than ever. Keep tabs on undervalued stocks and prepare yourself for what will probably be a long and wild ride.

Next week we see how the major sectors are faring in October and which companies the Stockhouse Bullboards are focused on for the autumn trading season. Make sure to check back in here or subscribe to the newsletter to get the weekly Buzz review sent directly to your inbox.

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