Analysts’ Ideas Of The Week

Table of Contents:

1. Summary

2. FRC Top Picks

3. Weekly Mining Commentary

4. Updates from Resource Companies under Coverage

5. Updates from Financial, Technology, Energy, and Special Situations Companies under Coverage

6. Weekly Crypto Commentary

7. Weekly Cannabis Commentary

8. Psychedelic Industry Performance

Summary

1. The impact of rate decisions by the Fed and the ECB on the US$, metal prices, and equity markets.
2. The world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries is investing in Bolivia.
3. An ASX-listed junior, under our coverage, has identified lithium in a property previously known for nickel, copper, and cobalt.
4. Shares of an advanced-stage Chilean gold explorer, under our coverage, were up 8% last week.
5. An opportunity for smaller crypto platforms to gain market share.

FRC Top Picks

The following table shows last week’s top five performers among our Top Picks, including four junior resource companies, and one mortgage investment corporation. The top performer Rio2 Limited (TSXV: RIO), was up 8.3%. RIO is advancing a large gold project in Chile towards production. Our prior reports can be viewed here.

Companies on our Top Picks list are up 11% on average since we initiated coverage vs -31% for the benchmark (TSXV).

1. Since the earliest initiating date of companies in the list of Top Picks (as of Jun 19, 2023)
2. Green (blue) indicates FRC’s picks outperformed (underperformed) the benchmark.
3. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Our complete list of top picks (updated weekly) can be viewed here.

Weekly Mining Commentary

Last week, global equity markets were up 1.1% on average (up 0.1% in the prior week). As we expected, the Fed maintained its benchmark rate last week, while the European Central Bank raised its rate by 0.25%. The US$ depreciated by 1.2% WoW, while the S&P 500 recorded a gain of 2.2%. As the Fed has signaled two additional rate hikes later this year, we expect equity markets to remain volatile.

Source: FRC/Various

Last week, metal prices rose as the US$ weakened.  

Valuations of gold producers were up 0.3% last week (down 1% in the prior week); base metal producers were up 5% last week (up 1% in the prior week).

We are maintaining our metal price forecasts.

Source: FRC

A key sector development is listed below (positive):

  – The world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries, CATL (SZSE:300750), is investing $1.4B to develop lithium reserves in Bolivia. We note that the country is vastly untapped for lithium. As mentioned in the past, we believe battery/EV manufacturers and miners are actively seeking long-term, stable sources of EV metals.

Updates from Resource Companies Under Coverage

FRC Opinion

Positive – Promising results; seven out of eight holes intersected high lithium grades over wide intervals, such as 42.1 m of 1.26% Li₂O.  Azure has already delineated a nickel/copper/cobalt resource for the project.

FRC Opinion

Positive – All holes of a 16-hole drill program intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatite (lithium). The program also extended mineralization by 150 m along depth. The Lithium Two property is 38 km from the Tanco lithium mine, which has been operating for 50+ years.

FRC Opinion

Positive – Drilling continues to return significant nickel grades over long intervals, such as 32 m of 0.60% Ni, 0.39% Cu, 0.50 g/t Pd, and 0.11 g/t Pt. Management plans to start a 15,000-m drill program in July, and complete a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate in Q3-2023.

FRC Opinion

Positive – ZC is expanding its portfolio by adding  three mining claims (totaling 89,120 hectares) prospective for spodumene-bearing lithium pegmatites. These properties have never been drilled.

FRC Opinion

Positive – Drilling intersected several shallow mineralized veins, and expanded mineralization at the North target area. Assay results are expected in August 2023.

FRC Opinion

Positive – Tests returned promising recovery rates (95% to 99% gold); we note that high recoveries are critical for keeping OPEX low.   

Financial / Technology / Energy / Special Situations 

FRC Opinion

Positive – Studies showed lower blood glucose levels and improved kidney functions for diabetic-conditioned animals treated with LEXX’s DehydraTECH™ CBD. Management intends to conduct follow-up studies.

FRC Opinion

Positive – Through in-house SEO marketing, and by attracting resellers and distributors, the company has been able to lower its CAC from US$750 in Q3-2022, to US$364 in Q1-2023, and to US$32 currently vs subscription revenue of US$120-US$150/year/user.

Weekly Crypto Commentary

Prices of mainstream/popular cryptos were flat on average last week (down 10% in the previous week).

Source: FRC/Yahoo Finance

The global MCAP of cryptos is US$1.06T, down 6% MoM, but up 16% YoY.

Source: Coinmarketcap

Companies operating in the crypto space are trading at an average EV/R of 6.9x (previously 6.6x).

EV/R of Crypto Companies

Source: S&P Capital IQ/FRC

Source: S&P Capital IQ/FRC

Key sector developments are listed below (mixed):

– Binance and the U.S. SEC have reached an agreement to continue litigation without freezing any assets held by Binance in the U.S. French regulators have commenced an investigation against Binance. In addition, Binance has suspended its operations in the Netherlands.

We believe the regulatory challenges facing larger players could be an opportunity for smaller players.  For example, smaller players such as BIGG Digital have been gaining users in the past few months.  While it is true that once these smaller exchanges get bigger they could also attract regulatory scrutiny, we believe that they have the benefit of seeing regulatory pressures the larger players will face, and then be able to adjust their operations accordingly to comply. Thus, taking a proactive approach to potentially avoid regulatory issues.

– The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is developing a platform for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to facilitate cross-border transactions. According to the IMF, 114 central banks are presently evaluating CBDCs. As stated previously, we expect CBDCs to pose a potential threat to private cryptos such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others.

Weekly Cannabis Commentary

Cannabis Industry Performance

Source: FRC/Yahoo Finance

Last week, U.S. cannabis stocks outperformed their Canadian peers (1% vs -3%). U.S. stocks had outperformed in the week prior to last as well.

Valuation

Canadian cannabis stocks are trading at a 27% discount on average (previously 29%) relative to their U.S. peers.

Source: S&P Capital IQ, FRC

                                                                                       Average EV/R

Source: S&P Capital IQ, FRC

Psychedelic Industry Performance

Psychedelic stocks were up 3% on average last week (flat in the previous week).

Source: TMX Money, FRC

Disclaimers and Disclosure

The opinions expressed in this report are the true opinions of the analyst(s) about any companies and industries mentioned. Any “forward looking statements” are our best estimates and opinions based upon information that is publicly available and that we believe to be correct, but we have not independently verified with respect to truth or correctness. There is no guarantee that our forecasts will materialize. Actual results will likely vary. Certain companies mentioned are covered by FRC under an issuer paid model. FRC or companies with related management, and Analysts, may hold shares/securities in some companies mentioned in this report. Distribution procedure: our reports are distributed first to our web-based subscribers on the date shown on this report then made available to delayed access users through various other channels for a limited time. To subscribe for real-time access to research, visit https://www.researchfrc.com/website/subscribe for subscription options. This report contains “forward looking” statements. Forward-looking statements regarding the Company, industry, and/or stock’s performance inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from such forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of the Company’s products/services in the marketplace; acceptance in the marketplace of the Company’s new product lines/services; competitive factors; new product/service introductions by others; technological changes; dependence on suppliers; systematic market risks and other risks discussed in the Company’s periodic report filings, including interim reports, annual reports, and annual information forms filed with the various securities regulators. By making these forward-looking statements, Fundamental Research Corp. and the analyst/author of this report undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this report. Fundamental Research Corp DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THIS INFORMATION AND MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE. ANYONE USING THIS REPORT ASSUMES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHATEVER RESULTS THEY OBTAIN FROM WHATEVER USE THE INFORMATION WAS PUT TO. ALWAYS TALK TO YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR BEFORE YOU INVEST. WHETHER A STOCK SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A PORTFOLIO DEPENDS ON ONE’S RISK TOLERANCE, OBJECTIVES, SITUATION, RETURN ON OTHER ASSETS, ETC. ONLY YOUR INVESTMENT ADVISOR WHO KNOWS YOUR UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES CAN MAKE A PROPER RECOMMENDATION AS TO THE MERIT OF ANY PARTICULAR SECURITY FOR INCLUSION IN YOUR PORTFOLIO. This REPORT is solely for informative purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security. It is not intended as being a complete description of the company, industry, securities or developments referred to in the material. Any forecasts contained in this report were independently prepared unless otherwise stated, and HAVE NOT BEEN endorsed by the Management of the company which is the subject of this report. Additional information is available upon request. THIS REPORT IS COPYRIGHT. YOU MAY NOT REDISTRIBUTE THIS REPORT WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION. Please give proper credit, including citing Fundamental Research Corp and/or the analyst, when quoting information from this report. The information contained in this report is intended to be viewed only in jurisdictions where it may be legally viewed and is not intended for use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction where such use would be contrary to local regulations or which would require any registration requirement within such jurisdiction.