dividends paid

AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.37 (Toronto symbol ARG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.amerigoresources.com; Shares outstanding: 173.7 million; Market cap: $66.0 million; No dividends paid) processes copper and molybdenum from waste rock at Chile’s El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine. This includes rock from the mine’s current production and tailings from the nearby Colihues deposit. This contract runs at least through 2037.

Amerigo gets 94% of its revenue by processing copper. The remaining 6% comes from molybdenum.

In the quarter ended June 30, 2014, Amerigo’s copper output fell 2.2%, to 9.34 million pounds from 9.55 million a year earlier. Molybdenum production declined 13.5%, to 152,340 pounds from 176,845.

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AEROPOSTALE INC. $3.07 (New York symbol ARO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (646-485-5410; www.aeropostale.com; Shares outstanding: 79.1 million; Market cap: $228.6 million; No dividends paid) is a mall-based retailer of casual clothing and accessories.

The company now has 923 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico that mainly target 14- to 17-yearold women and men. Its 147 P.S. from Aeropostale stores in the U.S. are aimed at seven- to 12-year-old children.

In the three months ended August 2, 2014, Aeropostale’s sales fell 12.7%, to $396.2 million from $454.0 million a year earlier. Same-store sales declined 13%, compared to a 15% decline a year ago.

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Google first sold shares to the public at $42.50 each (split-adjusted) in August 2004. Since then, the stock has soared by 1,307.1%. We think the company is just getting started. It continues to dominate Internet search, and the web’s ongoing spread into developing countries should keep this business’s profits rising. What’s more, most of these new users will likely use mobile devices powered by Google’s Android software. To top it off, the stock remains attractive in relation to the company’s projected earnings....

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $69 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 497.4 million; Market cap: $34.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 8.5; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) earned $140.6 million in its fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended August 29, 2014. That’s down 14.5% from $164.4 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings declined 12.5%, to $0.28 from $0.32, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 1.0%, to $1.01 billion from $995.1 million. The company continues to shift away from selling software as a one-time purchase and toward a subscription model. It now gets 63% of its revenue from recurring subscriptions. Adobe ended the latest quarter with 2.8 million subscribers to its Creative Cloud package of photo editing and desktop publishing programs, up 21.8% from a year earlier. Adobe Marketing Cloud, a package of software aimed at improving online marketing efforts and website performance, saw its revenue rise 13.8%....

CGI GROUP INC. $39 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 311.7 million; Market cap: $12.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cgi.com) is a leading provider of computer outsourcing services. It helps its clients automate certain routine functions, like accounting and buying supplies. That lets companies improve their efficiency and focus on their main businesses.

CGI continues to benefit from Logica plc, a U.K.-based computer-outsourcing firm it bought for $2.7 billion in 2012.

In its 2014 third quarter, which ended June 30, 2014, CGI’s earnings rose 14.7%, to $229.8 million, or $0.72 a share. A year earlier, it earned $200.4 million, or $0.63. Revenue gained 3.9%, to $2.7 billion from $2.6 billion.

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AMAZON.COM $324.00 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206- 266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 462.0 million; Market cap: $149.7 billion; No dividends paid) has acquired gaming network Twitch Interactive for about $970 million in cash. The company reportedly outbid Google. Twitch, which was founded in 2011, is a popular Internet video channel for broadcasting and watching people playing video games. The website is estimated to be the fourth-largest source of U.S. Internet traffic, behind Netflix, Google and Apple. Gaming—especially mobile gaming—is a new area of focus for Amazon. Twitch is a leader, with more than 55 million users. It generates revenue from both subscriptions and advertising....

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $7.43 (Toronto symbol BXE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-266-8670; www.bellatrixexploration.com; Shares outstanding: 191.1 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; No dividends paid) is now 7.4% owned by activist investor Orange Capital LLC. That’s up from the initial 5.3% interest that Orange Capital announced on September 4, 2014. Orange wants Bellatrix to discuss changing the size and composition of its 10-person board of directors. It also wants the company to hire a financial advisor to explore strategic alternatives, including selling its midstream assets (natural gas processing plants and pipeline gathering systems) or an outright sale of the entire firm. Bellatrix has been rapidly expanding over the past year. However, Alberta’s rising gas production has overwhelmed the pipelines that pump it to various processing facilities. This has hurt Bellatrix’s production and cash flow, as well as its share price. But when the bottlenecks are resolved, the company’s cash flow should jump....

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $69 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 497.4 million; Market cap: $34.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 8.5; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) earned $140.6 million in its fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended August 29, 2014. That’s down 14.5% from $164.4 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings declined 12.5%, to $0.28 from $0.32, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 1.0%, to $1.01 billion from $995.1 million.

The company continues to shift away from selling software as a one-time purchase and toward a subscription model. It now gets 63% of its revenue from recurring subscriptions.

Adobe ended the latest quarter with 2.8 million subscribers to its Creative Cloud package of photo editing and desktop publishing programs, up 21.8% from a year earlier. Adobe Marketing Cloud, a package of software aimed at improving online marketing efforts and website performance, saw its revenue rise 13.8%.

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GOOGLE INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $588 (class C: nonvoting) and GOOGL $598 (class A: one vote per share); Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 676.4 million; Market cap: $397.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) operates the world’s leading Internet search service. The company has about 70% of this market, mainly because its innovative technology helps users quickly find the information they’re seeking. The U.S. supplies 45% of Google’s revenue.

The company gets about 95% of its revenue by selling advertising on its websites. It mainly does this with its AdWords program.

Using AdWords, advertisers bid on certain search words or phrases. The company then charges advertisers when users click on their ads.

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Expanding by acquisition always adds risk. That’s because new businesses can come with hidden problems that delay or offset the extra revenue and savings they bring. Particularly severe problems could force the buyer to write down the value of the acquired assets. Buying companies in foreign markets adds even more risk, because it exposes the buyer to unpredictable currency moves and political uncertainty. However, when done right, foreign acquisitions can pay off for years to come, as the five companies below demonstrate....