Bruce MurrayCanadian Tire Corporation Ltd. (A)CTC.A.TODON'T BUYMar 11, 2026

In the space, she prefers DOL and NWC. They have more defensive profiles.

But recent earnings report for CTC.A changes the conversation a bit. One of its best quarters in years, trading at ~15x normalized earnings. EPS up 38% YOY. Fairly valued here. Transformation showing real results, improved momentum. Fundamentals are 8/10, value is 9/10. Hitting price target ceiling right now. Not a bad time to take some profits, and patiently hold onto the rest.

Note:  To the caller's question, ".A" is the relevant stock choice.

The price target is from $150 up to $200 by analysts, well covered in Canada. Buy this during tax-loss selling below $150.

Well diversified. 200-day MA continues to push higher, with stock price above that (but has fallen to meet the 200-day with the Q2 miss). Cautious tone on health of Canadian consumer and economy, with our unemployment up. E-commerce and discount competition.

He prefers DOL.

Franchise model holds it back from implementing company-wide initiatives such as a transactional website as quickly as others in the space. Yield is 4.3%, not at risk. Still, Canada may be heading into a recession or economic weakness. Canadian consumer spending majority of income on necessities, leaving not much left over for the discretionary items that are CTC's bread and butter.

Stock was off last year. Up this year, but not in line with the market. Hold off. Likes the company, but she'd be nervous to buy any discretionary name right now.

Kind of an up-and-down stock over its history. Resistance about a year ago, and looks to be attempting to bounce off that. Now you have to look for the next level of overhead resistance, which may be ~$195. Moves right now show it's very probably a near-term trade. How high and how long remains to be seen.

The 3-year chart has a bouncy look to it, perfect for swing trading. Short-term picture looks as though the stock will pop a bit, but the longer-term picture implies that it's on its way down toward either the middle or the lower part of the trading band.

Bouncing off resistance, may be breaking out. The further back in time, the less important the peaks are. If the breakout continues, give it a bit of time (2 weeks or so) to make sure it's legit, and then he'd add to his position.

Over the long term, great Canadian business that's gotten really efficient about how they retail. Consumer recession might happen; not right now, but it is a concern. Incrementally, will be a better business over time. Tariffs will have an impact on some of its stuff, but which stuff and how much? If his team can't figure it out, they tend to just stay away.

Can't tell what the impact of a trade war will be; they receive a lot of Asian goods. Also, this is consumer-dependent which is a risk. They are selling Helly Hanson at a profit and will reinvest funds in tech. They're buying back shares. Not a bad business and are profitable, but will never have a high PE, currently in their historic range. More of a trade, not a long-term buy.

Just OK. Better-managed retail out there. Essentially, everything it sells is a discretionary purchase. Also susceptible to tariff risk. Recent retail sales report in Canada shows slowing. Sidestep this one.

Market approves. Part of an effort to return focus to core retailing. Buying a high-end brand like this was perhaps off-strategy. Good business, but facing headwinds like weaker CAD, trade war risk and potential consequent recession.

Continues to slowly grind higher. Likes the technicals, especially if it breaks above the highs of 2023. 

As a play on the Canadian consumer, it faces higher unemployment and slower economy. Store traffic is slowing.

A contrarian idea, which is how you make outsized returns. Has assembled a nice portfolio of brands over time. Nice job steering customers away from online competition by focusing on bulkier items. Price down due to recession fears. A reversion-to-the-mean play, aiming for 60% return back to all-time high of $215, plus impressive dividend. Yield is 5.2%.

Consumer pullback in spending during a recession is not a risk unique to CTC.A. All retailers face this. Very good profitability, strong balance sheet, trades at 12x earnings.

Steer clear. Generally, retail is a tough industry. Not good insulation from online competition. Wary of retail that's not specialty. Would prefer HD, ORLY, or dollar store segment, but wait for pullback.

Tends to be a more economically sensitive retailer. Could benefit from rate cuts and an uptick in discretionary spending. But rate cuts would intensify competition. Good portion of profitability comes from its financial services (credit card) business.