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 S&P 500 was up 1.3% today, amid a tentative deal to raise U.S. debt ceiling. We are expecting another catalyst for equity markets this week
2. Two majors are in talks to form a joint venture for lithium extraction
3. Shares of an AdTech company under coverage were up 28% last week
4. Two countries are launching pilot projects for their Central Bank Digital Currencies
5. Cannabis sales continue to decline in California

FRC Top Picks

The following table shows last week’s top five performers among our Top Picks, including four junior resource companies and an AdTech company. The top performer Kidoz Inc. (TSX: KIDZ), was up 27.9%, even though Q1 results (announced last week) did not meet our expectations. We will be publishing an update report shortly. Our prior reports can be viewed here.

Companies on our Top Picks list are up 12% on average since we initiated coverage vs -32% for the benchmark (TSXV).

1. Since the earliest initiating date of companies in the list of Top Picks (as of May 23, 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 down 0.4% on average (up 0.9% in the prior week). The S&P 500 was up 1.3% today, as Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a tentative agreement to raise U.S. debt ceiling, for avoiding a federal default. We had predicted this scenario in our report last week. We are expecting the U.S. Congress to approve the proposed bill this week, which should drive equity markets higher.

Source: FRC/Various

Gold and silver prices retreated amid a stronger US$. Zinc prices were down 4.5% WoW, amid a steep rise in inventories.

Valuations of gold producers were down 4% last week (down 5% in the prior week); base metal producers were down 3% last week (down 0.1% in the prior week).

We are maintaining our metal price forecasts.

Source: FRC

A key sector development is listed below (positive):

– SQM (NYSE: SQM) and Chile’s state-owned  Codelco have begun talks to form a joint venture for lithium extraction. We believe this shows the Chilean government’s willingness to work with private companies, and jointly advance lithium projects in the country.

Updates from Resource Companies Under Coverage

FRC Opinion

Positive – In-fill drilling (23,920 m) returned grades in line, or higher than the project’s current resources. An updated resource estimate is expected in H2-2023.

FRC Opinion

Positive – Promising metallurgical and drill results; recoveries increased from 85% to 96%; drilling delineated a 2.4 km long and 1 km wide target zone. BSK has started working on an updated resource estimate.

FRC Opinion

Positive – Continues to return high nickel grades over long intervals; management is aiming to conduct further resource expansion drilling.

FRC Opinion

Positive – Max has discovered a new copper-silver system, extending over 1.6 km along strike. To date, a total of 21 copper-silver targets have been identified on the project.

FRC Opinion

Positive – GMV can acquire this property for US$350k in cash, and 6.5M shares (valued $0.9M), and by spending US$1.25M in exploration over three years. Daisy Creek, located near several operating gold mines, is prospective for lithium. Past drilling has returned attractive lithium values of up to 2% Li.

Financial / Technology / Energy / Special Situations 

FRC Opinion

Positive – Human clinical studies demonstrated significant reductions in pro-inflammatory biomarkers linked to cardiovascular diseases. We believe these results should support an upcoming Investigational New Drug application to the U.S. FDA.

Weekly Crypto Commentary

Prices of mainstream/popular cryptos were up 4% on average last week (up 1% in the previous week).

Source: FRC/Yahoo Finance

The global MCAP of cryptos is US$1.13T, down 7% MoM, and 10% YoY.

Source: Coinmarketcap

Companies operating in the crypto space are trading at an average EV/R of 6.5x (previously 6.8x).

EV/R of Crypto Companies

Source: S&P Capital IQ/FRC

Source: S&P Capital IQ/FRC

Key sector developments are listed below (mixed):

  – Japan is launching a pilot project for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC); Brazil has invited Visa (NYSE: V), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and several financial institutions to participate in a pilot project for its CBDC. As noted in the past, we believe CBDCs are a threat to private cryptos, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others.

 – The Russian government is scrapping a previously announced initiative to launch a national crypto exchange.

 – Binance has received approvals to operate a crypto exchange in Thailand.

Weekly Cannabis Commentary

Cannabis Industry Performance

Source: FRC/Yahoo Finance

Last week, U.S cannabis stocks outperformed their Canadian peers (-3% vs  7%). U.S stocks had outperformed in the week prior to last as well.

A key sector development is listed below (negative):

  – In Q1-2023, cannabis retail sales were down 6% YoY in California. Sales were down 9% YoY in 2022, amid lower product prices, and stiff competition from illegal producers.

Valuation

Canadian cannabis stocks are trading at a 19% discount on average (previously 1%) 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 Industry Performance

Psychedelic stocks were up 4% 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.