Ottawa’s tech companies (and one pot firm) saw a mixed week on the markets as six firms reported their quarterly earnings. Kinaxis may have won the week, while, despite rising revenues, firms such as Shopify and Mitel were unable to capture investors’ confidences.
Below is a breakdown of who was up and who was down during Ottawa earnings week.
Kinaxis
(TSX:KXS) Up
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Kinaxis was the star of earnings week this quarter, pulling in revenues of $33.5 million (up 12 per cent year over year) and posting a profit of $6.0 million (up from $2.4 million a year ago). Subscription revenue led the charge, increasing 24 per cent on the quarter to $25.8 million.
Shares of the supply chain management software firm soared on the news, reaching as high as $73.68 on Friday. That’s 17 per cent higher than where shares sat at market close on Wednesday.
CEO John Sicard credited the firm’s growth to its expanding network of partner resellers.
Espial
(TSX:ESP) Down
Rising revenues at Espial didn’t translate into investor confidence, as the Ottawa-based firm was down slightly on the week.
Third-quarter revenues were $6.8 million, a 13-per-cent increase from last year. The firm, which develops software interfaces for streaming services and smart TVs, saw gains in support and professional services revenues, but lost ground in its software licensing vertical.
The firm’s net loss also deepened to $3.1 million compared to $2.4 million a year ago.
Despite the SaaS setbacks, Espial says it’s still up on recurring revenue for the year, and highlighted partnerships with Google and Netflix, as well as functionality with Amazon’s Alexa, as new offerings for its platform.
Shopify
(TSX:SHOP) Down
(NASDAQ:SHOP) Down
Analysts and investors were eager for this week’s Shopify earnings call, as CEO Tobi Lütke had promised to rebuke what he called “preposterous claims” from a “short-selling troll” that had sunk the firm’s shares in recent weeks.
While the Ottawa company’s revenues continued to soar in Q3, jumping 72 per cent year-over-year, investors seemed unconvinced by Mr. Lütke’s reassurances that the company is not overvalued. Shopify’s shares were down roughly eight per cent on the week.
Mr. Lütke himself seemed unfazed, telling analysts and investors that short-term stock management is not his game.
Mitel
(NASDAQ:MITL) Down
Despite rising revenues and a confident CEO assuring investors the firm was in strong market standing, Mitel’s quarterly earnings did little to sway the firm’s stock, which ended the week on a low note.
The Kanata telecom firm increased revenues slightly year-over-year, aided by the recent $480-million acquisition of ShoreTel. The firm posted a net loss of $26.8 million for the quarter, a substantial difference from last year’s $25.1 million profit – though those earnings benefited from a one-time boost of $60 million.
CEO Rich McBee told analysts and investors on the firm’s earnings call that Mitel was in a strong position to pursue further acquisitions, and that it’s transition from “an on-site company with a cloud business into a cloud company with an on-site business” would help it both capture and retain customers.
Telesat
(Not publicly traded)
Telesat turned an impressive profit in Q3 thanks to favourable currency exchange rates, but the satellite company’s leadership have their eyes firmly on the future.
The Ottawa-based firm’s revenues decreased slightly, down four per cent to $214 million. It turned a profit of $197 million on the quarter compared to just $15 million the year before, which the company says was primarily the result of translating the firm’s U.S. dollar-denominated debt into CAD.
As of Sept. 30, Telesat had an enormous backlog of future services valued at $4.0 billion.
Also in its third quarter, Telesat announced a 15-year contract with Bell Canada for substantially all of the HTS spot beam capacity over Canada’s north.
Hydropothecary
(TSX:THCX) Up
Rounding out the week’s earnings was pot firm Hydropothecary, which reported more than 100-per-cent revenue growth on the year.
For the year ending on July 31, Hydropothecary reported $4.1 million in revenue compared to $1.9 million in 2016. The green firm also sank deeper into the red, with a net loss of $12.4 million compared to $3.4 million a year ago.
The firm also reported a 203-per-cent increase in shipments this past year, shipping more than 400,000 grams of cannabis in fiscal 2017.
CEO Sebastien St. Louis announced in a statement that the firm anticipates raising $69 million in a bought deal financing round in order to fuel its growth plans.
