Stock price when the opinion was issued
At the end of the day, being a manufacturer is quite tough. Plus, they're in Canada. Significant amount of debt. Counting on smaller levels of government making orders, but there's not a lot of $$ to go around. These buses are a big capital expenditure, and it's hard to justify that in a budget. No dividend.
Instead look for a company that produces component parts at low cost, but very important to the vehicle. That component would have an element of pricing power.
Struggled over the years. Good exposure to EVs. Problem is lots of leverage. As well, a bus can't be shipped if it's missing even 1 component; it has to wait. Exposed to tariffs, as it relies on US for some of those parts.
Management's done well refinancing debt and working through problems. If problems can be resolved, could have very high performance over next few years.
Competition has withered away. Pays no dividend. He's held this through some tough periods. The problem with a seat suppliers seems to be resolved. Huge backlog. They can withstand tariffs. If they deliver some buses in Q2, 3 and 4, the stock will look good in 12 months.
(Analysts’ price target is $20.50)
It's corrected 13% off its all-time high, so now is a good entry point. They had a rare earnings miss and the market overreacted last week. But NFI raised their dividend and issued guidance going forward. NFI remains the leading player in this space and he continues to like it.