Stock Market Update: Cardiol, Auxly Cannabis, Aritzia pace the TSX

Shares of retailer Aritzia (Aritzia Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials TSX:ATZ) are topping the Toronto Stock Exchange today, buoyed by Q2 results that beat the street’s expectations.

The company posted net revenue that increased by revenue increased by 74.9 per cent to $350.1-million; and Adjusted EBITDA that rose a whopping $60.6-million to $72.9-million.

Management said it business was firing on all cylinders, including eCommerce gains, a key metric for any investor brave enought to wade into the retail sector in the post-Covid era.

“The outstanding performance of the Aritzia brand continued through the second quarter of fiscal 2022, said CEO Brian Hill. “Our net revenue growth of 75 per cent reflects accelerated momentum across all geographies and all channels. I am particularly excited by the unprecedented pace of growth in our business in the United States, as existing and new clients enjoy our everyday luxury experience on Aritzia.com and in our boutiques. Our e-commerce revenue continues to surge with 49-per-cent growth on top of the 82-per-cent growth that we saw in the second quarter last year. Sales in our boutiques were exceptional with comparable sales growth of 60 per cent from fiscal 2021, whilst exceeding prepandemic levels with retail comps growing 14 per cent from fiscal 2020.”

“The strength of our business across all geographies and all channels continues through the start of the third quarter,” Mr. Hill added. “Looking ahead, expansion in the United States will be a leading driver of our growth. We are confident that e-commerce will continue to grow even on the back of 89-per-cent growth last year. Retail has surpassed our most optimistic expectations and is continuing to trend above prepandemic levels, now and for the foreseeable future. The performance of our new boutiques continues to outperform our expectations with significant investment focused on the United States, further fueling our brand awareness and multichannel business. I remain incredibly grateful for the enduring loyalty of our clients and the effort of our team and their unwavering commitment to delivering everyday luxury.”

At press time, shares of Aritzia were up 15.5 per cent to $46.84.

Also tracking in the top ten of all issuers was Auxly Cannabis (Auxly Cannabis Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials TSX:XLY) whose shares had fallen in half since May. The stock was up 9.8 per cent to $0.225 in early trading.

And shares of Cardiol Therapeutics (Cardiol Therapeutics Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials TSX:CRDL) were in double-digit gain territory Thursday. The stock has been on a wild ride of late, sinking from the mid two dollar range in August to more than six dollars in September. Shares of Cardiol at press time were up 10.8 per cent to $4.70.

In late August, Raymond James analyst Rahul Sarugaser called the rise, saying CRDL was at an inflection point.

“We see the FDA’s acceptance of CRDL’s IND application for its Phase II study in AM as a very positive step in CRDL’s prevailing mission to address inflammatory heart disease with its proprietary formulations of pharmaceutical cannabidiol (CBD),” Sarugaser said.

Overall, the TSX was up one per cent to 20,830.02 on Thursday afternoon.