Stock price when the opinion was issued
A very high margin business. They do beta glucan that goes into Burt’s Bees, Aveeno etc. It is extracted from oats. This is a small component of a number of their products, but margins are very high. They were getting orders from a few companies in China, which ramped up their earnings. The last quarter wasn’t great. He still likes the company. It is going to be bumpy in terms of earnings.
An extraction technology company which basically extracts compounds from food. They make the key ingredients in Aveeno cream. Has a really nice list of clients and good technology. Last quarter was a little weak, but investors didn’t understand that they are running 2 plants now, so costs were higher than normal. The real problem is that management doesn’t do a good job of telling their story. If they could scale it up, it would be a cash cow and a beautiful thing. They’ll be doing an investor update very soon, so watch for that.
(A Top Pick July 4/16. Down 42.48%.) A biotech company out of Alberta and doing some very, very interesting things. They opened a new plant, and he feels the transition from the old plant to the new one has been bumpy. They’ve thrown up 2 lacklustre quarters in a row, and there really hasn’t been a lot of communication from management. He owns a very small position. If you don’t own, wait on the sidelines until a nice quarter comes out or some sort of guidance from the company.
It is worth holding on to even though it is so frustrating. Their revenues and earnings have dripped not due to the core business, but because they used to get one off contracts for their products and have not have one in several quarters. They may get one tomorrow or in a year. There core business is doing okay. It is hard to say if they are worth the market cap. They have interesting trials going on. If that works out they will do well. There are no analysts covering the stock.
(A Top Pick Aug 19/16. Down 70%.) Recently exited this. He likes what they do. They recently set up another plant, and thinks they have had some challenges with that. Results have been relatively weak of late, and he wasn’t terribly thrilled with the level of communication of management. However, it continues to be on his radar. Should their earnings pick up again, he would not hesitate to Buy it back.
A biotech company, but they produce materials from oats. CEO is very impressive. Biotechs sometimes scares people, because they think they don’t make any money. This one actually makes money and is very profitable. They do 70% gross margins. Trading at about 12X earnings, and yet there is significant upside. The new plant can do 10X the revenue they currently do, so there is no CapX. As they fill the capacity use in that plant, it is going to be a free cash flow play. They are also testing different uses for the compound. Currently being used by Aveeno, but are also doing trial testing for combating high cholesterol. You are getting the stock for a very low multiple. Has $10 million cash in the bank.