stock split

CAE INC., $14.81, Toronto symbol CAE, earned $50.6 million in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2015, up 15.5% from $43.8 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose at a slower pace of 11.8%, to $0.19 from $0.17, on more shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.18. Revenue gained 5.9%, to $557.0 million from $526.2 million, but that fell short of the consensus forecast of $571.1 million. About 90% of the company’s revenue comes from overseas, so it’s benefiting from the lower Canadian dollar. CAE gets 60% of its sales by selling flight simulators and pilot-training services to airlines, and this business’s revenue rose 8.8%. The company sold eight simulators during the period and expects its full-year total to be near the 41 it sold in fiscal 2015....

Aggressive growth has given CF Industries a strong position in natural gas fertilizers, but in this field our buy goes to a Canadian rival.

CF Industries Holdings Inc., $58.42, symbol CF on New York (Shares outstanding: 235.3 million; Market cap: $13.9 billion; www.cfindustries.com), makes nitrogen-based fertilizers from natural gas.

The company has six plants: four in the U.S. and two in Canada. It also owns 75.3% of Terra Nitrogen, which makes nitrogen fertilizers at an Oklahoma facility, and operates fertilizer plants in the U.K. and Trinidad through joint ventures.

In March 2014, CF sold its phosphate mining and manufacturing operations to Mosaic Co., symbol MOS on New York, for $1.4 billion. That’s the main reason why its revenue declined 15.8% in the three months ended March 31, 2015, to $953.6 million from $1.1 billion a year earlier.

Earnings fell 62.9%, to $0.96 from $2.58 (all per-share amounts adjusted for a 5-for-1 stock split in June 2015). Excluding unusual items, such as a gain on the sale of the phosphate business, per-share profits were unchanged at $0.97.

CF recently agreed to pay $580 million for the 50% of a U.K.-based joint venture that it doesn’t already own. The deal will close later this year. This business accounts for 40% of the U.K.’s fertilizer market.

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Throughout history, many nations have achieved great wealth and power, if only temporarily. These periods of military and/or financial success can lead to regional or global success. They can last a long time or a short one, but none lasts forever. Both beginning and end are erratic and unpredictable. The timing of both the rise and the fall surprises a lot of observers. Tiny countries like Holland, England and Portugal had their moments of glory. Huge countries like China and India had periods of great success, followed by weakness and failure. Many people now think the U.S. is coming to the end of a dominant period. Some delight at the thought, others despair. Something like this also happens in the stock market, on a shorter time scale. During these times, the stock goes into what we think of as “the broker/media limelight.”...

Starbucks is opening 1,650 new shops in 2015 and has strong growth overseas—our take on whether that makes it a good stock investment

Google’s shares have moved sideways in the past year, mainly because investors are concerned that the shift toward mobile devices is slowing growth at its online advertising business. Developers have also launched new software that blocks online ads, which adds further uncertainty. However, we feel the company’s new plan to promote mobile websites in its search results will spur its mobile ad revenue. That should give it an advantage over other online ad sellers, like Facebook. To top it off, the stock could rise sharply if Google began paying a dividend or announced a big share buyback plan. GOOGLE INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $540 [class C: nonvoting] and GOOGL $554 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 682.4 million; Market cap: $368.8 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 5.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) controls about two-thirds of the global Internet search market, mainly because its innovative technology helps users quickly find the information they’re seeking. The U.S. supplies 43% of the company’s revenue....

Starbucks Corp., $51.48, symbol SBUX on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $77.2 billion; www.starbucks.com), is a leading seller and roaster of specialty coffee. Starbucks has 8,514 company-operated stores and 5,885 licensed outlets in over 60 countries. Stores in the Americas supply 69% of its sales, followed by China and the Asia-Pacific region (13%), and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (6%). It gets a further 9% of its sales by selling coffee and other beverages through supermarkets and 3% from other activities, like online sales. In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended March 29, 2015, Starbucks’ sales rose 17.8%, to $4.6 billion from $3.9 billion a year earlier. That’s partly because it opened 210 stores, net of closures, during the quarter. On a same-store basis, sales rose 7%, reflecting a 3% increase in the number of transactions and a 4% rise in selling prices. Starbucks’ sales are also benefiting from stronger demand for breakfast and lunch foods....

GOOGLE INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $540 [class C: nonvoting] and GOOGL $554 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 682.4 million; Market cap: $368.8 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 5.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) controls about two-thirds of the global Internet search market, mainly because its innovative technology helps users quickly find the information they’re seeking. The U.S. supplies 43% of the company’s revenue.

Google gets 90% of its revenue by selling advertising on its websites. It mainly does this through its AdWords program. Using AdWords, advertisers bid on certain search words or phrases. The company then charges advertisers when users click on their ads.

In addition to search, Google offers other free services and soft- ware, including Gmail (email), YouTube (videos), Google+ (social networking), Chrome (a web browser) and Android (mobile phone software). These services draw more users to Google’s sites, which lets it sell more ads and charge higher ad rates.

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CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD., $240.18, Toronto symbol CP, gained 3% this week after reporting record first-quarter revenue and earnings. The company earned $375 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015, up 49.4% from $251 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings jumped 59.2%, to $2.26 from $1.42, on fewer shares outstanding. These results exclude unusual items, such as a foreign-exchange loss on CP’s U.S. dollar-denominated debt and severance costs stemming from a recent restructuring. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.19. Revenue rose 10.3%, to $1.67 billion from $1.51 billion, matching the consensus forecast....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $54 (Toronto symbol TD; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $97.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.4; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.td.com) gets 65% of its revenue and earnings from its Canadian retail banking division, which serves 15 million customers through 1,164 branches.

In the U.S., the bank operates 1,301 branches along the east coast from Maine to Florida. This business supplies 25% of its revenue and earnings. The remaining 10% comes from TD’s wholesale banking division, which offers securities trading and investmentbanking services, such as stock underwriting.

TD’s revenue jumped 53.1%, from $19.6 billion in 2010 to $30.0 billion in 2014 (fiscal years end October 31).

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