dividends paid

MITEL NETWORKS $11.40 (Toronto symbol MNW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(613-592-2122; www.mitel.ca; Shares outstanding: 120.3 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; No dividends paid) develops and markets products centred on business telephone systems, including technology that integrates land lines and mobile phones. The company also offers call centre and videoconferencing products.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Mitel’s revenue rose 7.2%, to $293.7 million from $274.0 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).

However, earnings per share fell 33.3%, to $0.12 from $0.18, as the stronger dollar lowered the value of the company’s international sales. Even so, that beat the consensus estimate of $0.07 a share.

...

ALPHABET INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $713 [class C: non-voting] and GOOGL $737 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 680.2 million; Market cap: $491.0 billion; Price-tosales ratio: 6.8; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abc.xyz) is the new parent company for Google’s Internet search business (still called Google) and other operations, such as self-driving cars and home thermostats. Each of these subsidiaries will function independently. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, earnings gained 18.7%, to $5.1 billion from $4.3 billion a year earlier. Per-share profits rose 17.6%, to $7.35 from $6.25, on more shares outstanding. Revenue rose 13.0%, to $18.7 billion from $16.5 billion. The number of paid clicks on advertisers’ads rose 23% in the latest quarter, helping offset an 11% drop in the average cost advertisers paid per click. More users are accessing the Internet with mobile devices, but advertisers pay lower rates for mobile ads because they’re harder to see on smaller screens....

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL $665.67 (New York symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (303-595-4000; www.chipotle.com; Shares outstanding: 31.1 million; Market cap: $22.0 billion; No dividends paid) has hired Curt Garner as its first chief information officer. The company hopes Garner will improve its mobile presence, including the ability to order and pay through smartphones and tablets. Mobile apps have already paid off very successfully for fast-food and fast-casual chains like Domino’s, Panera Bread, Starbucks and Taco Bell. Previously, Garner spent 20 years at Starbucks in various technology roles, including CIO. The coffee chain recently finished rolling out its mobile ordering and payment app at its more than 7,400 U.S. outlets....

ACI WORLDWIDE $22.54 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (402-390-7600; www.tsainc.com; Shares outstanding: 117.8 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; No dividends paid) makes software for processing transactions involving credit cards, debit cards, automated teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments. The company’s products also help cut fraud. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, ACI’s revenue rose 4.3% to $265.8 million from $254.8 million a year earlier. Earnings jumped to $30.0 million, or $0.26 a share, from $14.0 million, or $0.12. Cost cuts were the main reason for the higher profits. ACI is benefiting from the introduction of technology for the shift to chip-and-PIN debit and credit cards, which sped up with the EMV (EuroPay, Master- Card and VISA) payment networks’ liability shift, which came into effect in the U.S. on October 1, 2015....

MITEL NETWORKS $10.54 (Toronto symbol MNW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (613- 592-2122; www.mitel.ca; Shares outstanding: 120.2 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; No dividends paid) recently jumped after activist investor Elliott Management disclosed stakes in Mitel and Polycom Inc. (symbol PLCM on Nasdaq). Elliott is urging the companies to merge to increase their combined profits in a very competitive market. The firm now holds 6.6% of Polycom and 6.3% of Mitel. Mitel develops products centred on business telephone systems. Polycom makes business communications systems that combine data, video and voice in one product. It also makes teleconferencing systems....

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY $7.87 (New York symbol CHK; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (405-848-8000; www.chk.com; Shares outstanding: 665.4 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; No dividends paid) stopped paying dividends earlier this year to conserve cash in the face of low oil and gas prices. The cut will save Chesapeake $240 million annually. Now the company has announced that it is laying off 740 employees, or 15% of its workforce. About 560 of these workers are from its headquarters in Oklahoma City. Chesapeake will incur a one-time charge of $55.5 million for the layoffs. Meanwhile, the company expects its output to rise 1% to 3% in 2015, to an average of 640,000 to 650,000 barrels of oil a day. The stock trades at just 2.1 times Chesapeake’s annual cash flow of $3.68 a share, based on the latest quarter....

HECLA MINING COMPANY $2.27 (New York symbol HL; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (208-769- 4100; www.hecla-mining.com; Shares o/s: 377.7 million; Market cap: $910.3 million; Dividend yield: 0.4%) explores for, mines and processes silver and gold in the U.S. and Mexico. Most of the company’s silver output comes from its Greens Creek mine in Alaska and its Lucky Friday project in Idaho. Hecla’s Casa Berardi mine in Quebec supplies the majority of its gold production. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Hecla produced 2.48 million ounces of silver, down 1.5% from 2.52 million ounces a year earlier. Gold output rose 2.6%, to 44,692 ounces from 43,554. Cash flow per share fell 33.3%, to $0.06 from $0.09, on the lower silver production and prices. The company aims to begin production at its San Sebastian project in Mexico early next year. The mine, which last operated between 2001 and 2005, is forecast to produce 8 million ounces of silver equivalent in its first two years from easily mined surface deposits. San Sebastian then has the potential to further expand its reserves....

AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.31 (Toronto symbol ARG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.amerigoresources.com; Shares outstanding: 173.6 million; Market cap: $55.6 million; No dividends paid) has started processing tailings from the Cauquenes tailings deposit, located near its current operations in Chile. Cauquenes is a big growth project: Amerigo expects it to help double its production in 2016, to 90 million pounds of copper. Phase 1 is now in operation at a rate of 30,000 tonnes per day, and Amerigo expects that to rise to 60,000 by the end of this year, bringing the company’s overall output to over 70 million pounds of copper annually. The Cauquenes expansion will cost $140 million in total. However, Amerigo has used its cash flow to pay off all of its debt over the last few years, and it currently holds cash of $18.3 million. This gave it the flexibility to arrange bank financing in Chile for Cauquenes....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $61.06 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couche-tard.com; Shares outstanding: 567.4 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; Dividend yield: 0.4%) has agreed to buy all stores operating under the Texas Star brand from Texas Star Investments and its affiliates. Terms were not disclosed. These assets, all in southern Texas, include 18 convenience stores, two free-standing Subway locations and a network for supplying fuel to gas stations. Following the acquisition, Couche-Tard will operate all of the stores under the Circle K brand. This purchase is very small compared to the company’s $2.7-billion acquisition of Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail gas station chain in June 2012 and The Pantry, which Couche-Tard bought for $1.7 billion in March 2015. The Pantry operates more than 1,500 convenience stores in 13 southern U.S. states....

In 2012, CGI acquired U.K.-based outsourcing firm Logica.This was the biggest purchase in its 39-year history and is themain reason why the stock is up nearly 100% since then.The company plans to keep making acquisitions, which willhelp it reach its new goal of doubling its annual revenue in thenext five to seven years. Most of these will be smaller purchases,which cuts the risk of using acquisitions to expand. CGI has already identified 85 potential targets, mainly firmsthat would strengthen its position in its existing markets. It’s alsointerested in building on its expertise in fast-growing fields likecloud computing and computer security. CGI GROUP INC. $48 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; AggressiveGrowth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Sharesoutstanding: 313.4 million; Market cap: $15.0 billion; Priceto-sales ratio: 1.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: ExtraRisk; www.cgi.com) is Canada’s largest computer-outsourcingprovider, helping its clients automate routine functions likeaccounting and buying supplies. That improves their efficiencyand lets them focus on their main businesses....