Ceapro Inc. (CZO-X)

(A Past Top Pick Dec 2/16, Down 59%) He is going to conceded defeat on this one. The revenues and earnings have fallen. The company is not good at communicating.

(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.

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 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.

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 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.

Was a top pick last year and has been consolidating recently. They bounce very hard off the $1.20 level. There is a lot of support at that level. They started a new plant to extract product from oats. There is a lot of demand for their product.

They extract beta gluten from oats. Have had some very good earnings growth over the last year. Thinks the stock will continue to do well. They are going to expand their plant which should be coming on soon. He still likes this.

They extract the good stuff from oats for use in cosmetics. Also, extracts for use in food for reducing cholesterol. Recently increased their plant size by 10X. Still has a year’s worth of inventory stockpiled for covering risks with their new plant. There was some lumpiness in the most recent quarter with a Chinese customer not reordering. The question is, will he be back in the upcoming quarter. Thinks growth is pretty good with some interesting opportunities.

He likes it. You want to wait until they announce some big contracts. If you own it hold on to it. He would buy it here. They are profitable.

(A Top Pick July 4/16. Up 13.72%.) They take the active ingredients in oats and produce a compound that is an important ingredient in moisturizers and skin creams. Also, using this in a PGX technology so that it can be used in a powder formation as well. Opened a facility that will increase productivity tenfold. Last quarter was a titch weak, and suspects it was because large customers had ordered a lot of products in advance of opening the new facility. There are probably still growing pains. Trading range lately has been $1.20 - $2.00. Long term prospects are excellent.

He is one of the largest holders of the stock. It came off because they did an issue. They make chemicals that would go into a lot of P&G products. The stock has been moving up in the last few days on a lot of volume. There is still no analyst coverage. He is comfortable with the story and thinks the next couple of quarters will show more strength.

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.