August 10th: Eight Canadian Tech Stocks Trading at 52-Week Lows

Mixed blessings. Because there is nothing particularly in favour in Canadian technology stocks, there’s nothing particularly out of favour, either.

Tech stocks currently trading at yearly highs represent a mixed bag from the cleantech, life sciences and technology sub-sectors and the same could be said for those trading at 52 week lows. We count down eight stocks that hit, maintained or broke their annual lows today. Stocks trading under a dime were exempt.

1. Axia NetMedia (TSX:AXX)
Previous 52 Week Low: $1.01
August 10th Close: $.93

Calgary’s Axia Netmedia, which provides broadband internet services and has built a 3700 km fibre infrastructure in France, has had a tough go of things of late. Shares of Axia fell from nearly $7 in mid-2007 to current levels, and haven’t really recovered. The Company, however, has grown its revenue from $50.9 million to over $68 million in that same time frame.

2. Frontline Technologies (TSX:FLC)
Previous 52 Week Low: $.20
August 10th Close: $.17

Toronto’s Frontline, which used toi be known as Belzberg Technologies took the former’s name upon acquisition. It was a rocky year for Belzberg, which lost $7.5 million in fiscal 2010. The company hopes Frontline, which churned out a small profit on revenues of $3.9-million, can help.

3. International Road Dynamics (TSX:IRD)
Previous 52 Week Low: $.34
August 10th Close: $.32

Based in Saskatoon, International Road Dynamics is a highway traffic management technology company. The Company develops technology solutions to detect and weigh vehicles at highway speeds. Their products also include toll systems and traffic data collection systems. IDC’s customers include State and Federal Departments of Transportation, Cities and Towns, Counties, Municipalities, and private businesses. Shares of IRD have been falling throughout 2011, and weren’t helped by yesterday’s announcement of a (US) $2.1-million contract with the Indiana Department of Transportation.

4. Espial (TSX:ESP)
52 Week Low: $.60
August 10th Close: $60

Perennial money loser Espial, which is a supplier of IPTV television software, has become extremely lightly traded this year. But Bargain hunters looking at the Ottawa company may have taken notice that its market cap of $8.43 million is less than the $9.95 million it has in the bank. In April the company hired advisor Morgan Keegan to “explore strategic alternatives.”

5. China Wind Power (TSXV:CNW)
52 Week Low: $.61
August 10th Close: $61

Late in July, Toronto’s China Wind Power announced it had sold 81 million kilowatt hours of electricity in fiscal 2011, and reported revenue of $6.5 million, which was nearly double fiscal 2010’s top line. The company, however is still losing money.

6. Radiant Communications (TSXV:RCN)
52 Week Low: $.50
August 10th Close: $50

Shares of Vancouver’s Radiant, which delivers high-speed data network connections to about 4,000 customers, have been on a slide since early 2010. The company’s move into cloud computing doesn’t seem as much as a shift as a rebranding, as Radiant has in effect been operating in the cloud for the better part of a decade. Nonetheless, the company did recently open a cloud data centre on Toronto’s Front Street.

7. Nanotech Security (TSXV:NTS)
52 Week Low: $.50
August 10th Close: $50

Nanotech, whose products use light-based recognition nanotechnology for use in anti-counterfeiting and authentication processes has seen its shares slide nearly in half this year. Revenue for the Surrey, BC based company has flatlined for a number of years.

8. Synodon (TSXV:SYD)
52 Week Low: $.16
August 10th Close: $.16

The James Bond like technology of Edmonton’s Synodon, which developed a platform technology called realSens which is capable of measuring small ground-level gas concentrations from an aircraft flying up to 300 meters in altitude, hasn’t been enough to save its stock from a heavy slide that started in February. The company is still struggling to produce revenue, but was recently awarded a $350,000 contract from the Canadian innovation commercialization program that will test the technologies ability to survey large areas of the Arctic.

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