Growth Stocks

Although growth stock picks can be highly volatile, they can make good long-term investments. They may be well-known stars or quiet gems, but they do share one common attribute—they are growing at a higher-than-average rate within their industry, or within the market as a whole, and could keep growing for years or decades.

And keep in mind that we focus on growth stocks, which have a good long-term history and favourable prospects. We downplay momentum stocks that tend to attract many investors simply because they are moving faster than the market averages, but are liable to fall sharply when their momentum fades.

There’s room for growth stock investing in your portfolio, but make sure you follow our TSI Network three-part Successful Investor strategy for your overall portfolio:

  1. Invest mainly in well-established companies;
  2. Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
  3. Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.

Make better stock picks when you read this FREE Special Report, Canadian Growth Stocks: WestJet Stock, RioCan Stock and More.

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NISSAN MOTOR (ADR) $19.03 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; ADRs outstanding 2.3 billion; Market cap: $43.8 billion; Yield: 3.1%) plans to buy back as many of 300 million of its common shares, or 6.7% of the total outstanding. The share repurchase will cost as much as 400 billion yen, or $3.5 billion U.S. The company plans to complete those buybacks by December 22, 2016. Nissan earned a record 535 billion yen in its fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. The company also held 860 billion yen in cash on December 31, 2015, and plans to use some of the money to implement that big share buyback....
SIERRA WIRELESS $18.58 (Toronto symbol SW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (604-231-1100; www.sierrawireless.com; Shares outstanding: 32.3 million; Market cap: $577.9 million; No dividends paid) makes modules that connect products—including smart electricity meters and vehicles—to the Internet. This is known as machine- to-machine networking or, more generally, as the Internet of Things. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s revenue fell 2.8% from a year earlier. That’s a drop from $149.1 million to $144.8 million (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, the company earned $2.5 million, or $0.08 a share, down sharply from $9.1 million, or $0.29, a year earlier....
MENTOR GRAPHICS $19.74 (Nasdaq symbol MENT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (503-685-7000; www.mentor.com; Shares o/s: 117.5 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Divd. yield: 1.1%) makes systems that improve the design of electronic products and speed up their development. Its systems are used in a range of industries. The auto business is one of the company’s biggest growth areas because of the shift from mechanical to electronic systems: electronics now make up roughly 40% of a car’s cost. In the three months ended January 31, 2016, Mentor’s revenue fell 23.2%, to $337.3 million from $439.1 million a year earlier....
AMAZON.COM $574.27 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206- 266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 470.8 million; Market cap: $271.7 billion; No dividends paid) continues to build its own shipping network. The company has now finalized a deal to lease 20 Boeing 767 cargo jets from Air Transport Services Group. The new fleet will reduce Amazon’s reliance on carriers such as United Parcel Service and FedEx. The jets will give Amazon direct control over an estimated 15% of the packages it ships in the U.S. each year....
EXTENDICARE INC. $9.57 (Toronto symbol EXE; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-470-5534; www.extendicare.com; Shares outstanding: 88.0 million; Market cap: $825.7 million; Dividend yield: 5.0%) owns 62 long- and short-term senior-care facilities that can house 8,464 residents. It manages another 54 residences that are home to 6,426 seniors. Extendicare also operates 47 ParaMed Home Health Care branches in six provinces. ParaMed’s 10,900 staff members provide nursing care and other forms of assistance to clients who live in their homes. In late 2014, the company sold its 156 U.S. facilities for $231.1 million U.S. Extendicare has now deployed the cash from the sale....
STUART OLSON INC. $6.15 (Toronto symbol SOX; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (780-454-3667; www.stuartolson.com; Shares outstanding: 26.4 million; Market cap: $159.6 million; Dividend yield: 7.8%) mainly operates in Western Canada, with both government and private sector clients. Its services include building construction, commercial and industrial electrical contracting, earthmoving and industrial insulation. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s revenue fell 22.6%, to $283.1 million from $364.5 million a year earlier. The decline came from lower activity in the Alberta oil sands and across the province. The company is also phasing out less profitable industrial projects. Before one-time items, Stuart Olson earned $2.1 million, or $0.08 a share. That’s up sharply from $1.2 million, or $0.05, a year earlier. The growth reflects the company’s focus on higher-profit activities. It ended the quarter with a backlog of $1.96 billion, down 1.3% from $1.99 billion....
DOMINO’S PIZZA $131.85 (New York symbol DPZ; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (734-930-3008; www.dominos.com; Shares outstanding: 49.9 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; Dividend yield: 1.2%) has opened its 1,000th store in India, its fastest-growing international market. That’s up from 900 this past summer. The newest store is located in the Unity One Mall, in the capital of Delhi. Domino’s has more stores in India than in any other market outside the U.S. It’s also the largest pizza brand in India. The master franchisee for India is Jubilant FoodWorks, which first brought Domino’s to India in 1995....
CHEMTRADE LOGISTICS INCOME FUND $17.46 (Toronto symbol CHE.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-496-5856; www.chemtradelogistics .com; Units outstanding: 69.1 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 6.9%) reports that in the three months ended December 31, 2015, its revenue rose 7.1%, to $335.7 million from $313.3 million a year earlier. The gain mainly came from the higher U.S. dollar, which increased the contribution from the trust’s operations in that country. Overall cash flow fell 23.5%, to $38.1 million from $49.8 million. Cash flow per share fell 28.6%, to $0.55 from $0.77, on more shares outstanding. The declines came from one-time maintenance expenditures and a $10.2 million benefits plan settlement gain a year ago. Chemtrade’s high distribution looks safe; it pays monthly distributions of $0.10 a unit, for a 6.9% yield....
DEVON ENERGY $26.22 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235-3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 510.3 million; Market cap: $12.5 billion; Dividend yield: 0.9%) is undertaking a number of measures to conserve cash and shore up its balance sheet while it waits for oil and gas prices to recover. The company plans to cut its workforce by 20%. This will save it up to $500 million a year when combined with other cost cutting. Devon will also reduce its quarterly dividend by 75%, to $0.06 from $0.24. The shares now yield 0.9%. The dividend cut will save it $320 million a year. Devon plans to lower its exploration and development spending this year, to between $900 million and $1.1 billion. That’s down 75% from 2015. As well, the company will sell as many as 79.4 million shares at $18.75 each to raise $1.5 billion....
STANTEC INC. $30.47 (Toronto symbol STN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (780-917-7288; www.stantec.com; Shares outstanding: 94.4 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) continues to grow by acquisition. Its latest is Bury Inc., a 300-person building design firm based in Austin, Texas. Bury’s recent projects include the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, and the redevelopment of Arizona State University’s Tempe campus. Stantec cuts its costs by sharing administrative expenses, financing and employee benefits among its divisions. But continually buying new firms adds risk, including the risk of writedowns....