Hudson's Bay will terminate more than 8,000 employees, close stores by Sunday

Allison Hurst reports from a Hudson's Bay distribution hub where employees are holding a rally on one of the final days of work to honour severance obligations.

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Globe and Mail

27 minutes ago

• Globe and Mail

MicroStrategy Stock Trades 32% Below 52-Week High: Buy, Sell or Hold?

MicroStrategy MSTR, doing business as 'Strategy,' shares closed at $369.70 on Friday, 32% below the 52-week high of $543 it hit on Nov. 21, 2024. Strategy shares have appreciated 27.6% year to date (YTD), while the Zacks Computer - Software industry and Zacks Computer and Technology sector have returned 10.4% and 0.9%, respectively. Strategy is the world's largest bitcoin treasury company, holding 592,100 bitcoins as of June 15, 2025. In early June, Strategy acquired 10,100 bitcoins for $1.05 billion. MARA Holdings MARA, Riot Platform RIOT and Tesla TSLA are other well-known companies that hold bitcoins in their respective balance sheets. As of March 31, MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms had 47,531 and 19,223 bitcoins, respectively, while Tesla had 11,509 bitcoins at the end of the first quarter of 2025. Strategy shares have outperformed MARA Holdings, Riot Platform and Tesla, shares of which have dropped 14.6%, 6.4% and 20.3%, YTD. MSTR Stock's Performance MSTR stock is currently trading above the 200-day moving average, indicating a bullish trend. MSTR Stock Trades Above 200-Day SMA MSTR Benefits From Growing Bitcoin Holding Strategy benefits from the Trump administration's announcement of the establishment of a strategic bitcoin reserve. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has been soaring due to increasing acceptance as a non-sovereign asset, as well as higher institutional and corporate adoption. However, bitcoin's volatility is a headwind for MSTR. Bitcoin is now trading above $101K, much lower than the $111K it registered in May. MSTR benefits from increasing bitcoin yield, 13.7% year to date (as of April 28, 2025), keeping the company on track to reach full year target of 15%, which is now raised to 25% and bitcoin dollar gain target to $15 billion (up from initial target of $10 billion). Bitcoin gains in dollar terms were $4.1 billion in the first quarter of 2025 and $5.8 billion as of April 28, 2025. The company's disciplined approach to capital raising through preferred equity offerings — Strike (8% convertible preferred is trading with an effective yield of roughly 9%) and Strife (10% fixed coupon perpetual preferred) — is a key catalyst. As of April 28, 2025, MSTR raised $6.6 billion through equity offerings and $3.4 billion through fixed income ($2 billion from convertible notes, $0.7 billion each through Strike and Strife). Strategy has issued $20.9 billion in equities and $6.4 billion in fixed income securities as part of its 21/21 plan since Oct. 30, 2024. The company has $14.6 million remaining under fixed income securities and $0.1 million under equities as part of the existing plan. Strategy currently plans to raise $42 billion through equity issuance and $42 billion through fixed income securities by the end of 2027. Under the current plan, the company has $21.1 billion in equity and $35.6 billion in fixed income securities remaining to be issued. Growing Subscription Revenues Aid MSTR Prospects Strategy is benefiting from growing software subscription revenues that surged 62% year over year to $37.1 million and accounted for 33% of first-quarter 2025 total revenues. Subscription billings grew 38% year over year to $24.5 million. The company benefits from continuing cloud demand with its flagship Strategy One that powers some of the largest analytics deployments in the world. Strategy One supports varied industries, including retail, banking, technology, manufacturing, insurance, consulting, healthcare, telecommunications, and the public sector. Strategy is leveraging generative AI to automate and accelerate the deployment of AI-enabled applications across enterprises. Strategy's rich partner base that includes the likes of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, STACKIT, and Google is a growth driver. Earnings Estimates Revision Trend Steady for MSTR For second-quarter 2025, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MSTR's loss has been steady at 12 cents per share over the past 30 days. The company reported a loss of 76 cents in the year-ago quarter. For 2025, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MSTR's loss has been steady at $15.73 per share over the past week. The company reported a loss of $6.72 per share in 2024. Here's Why MSTR Stock is a Hold Now Strategy shares are overvalued, as suggested by the Value Score of F. In terms of Price/Book, Strategy is trading at 3.0X compared with MARA's 1.35X and Riot Platforms' 1.16X, suggesting a premium valuation. MSTR Vs. MARA Valuation MSTR Vs. RIOT Valuation Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Strategy benefits from its growing bitcoin holdings and increasing subscription revenues. However, challenging macroeconomic conditions and uncertainty about tariffs increase volatility in bitcoin trading. Stretched valuation is a concern. Strategy currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which implies that investors should wait for a better entry point to accumulate the stock. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double" Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest. This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%. Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners Up Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR): Free Stock Analysis Report Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (MARA): Free Stock Analysis Report Riot Platforms, Inc. (RIOT): Free Stock Analysis Report

CTV News

31 minutes ago

• CTV News

Additional Francophone childcare spaces open in Antigonish County

More Francophone childcare spaces will be accessible for families in Antigonish County, N.S., through a new centre operated by the Centre d'appui à la petite enfance de la Nouvelle-Écosse. 'The demand for childcare spaces in Antigonish continues to grow,' said Brendan Maguire, minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. 'This expansion responds to long-standing challenges faced by local families, who have had limited access to francophone childcare in their community.' The centre will be co-located on Conseil scolaire acadien provincial property at École acadienne de Pomquet, a new release said. The centre will receive $3.5 million from the province for the project, which will provide 40 new childcare spaces for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. It is expected to open next spring. 'Childcare has a profound influence on children's overall development, including their language skills and identity,' said Jaime Battiste, member of parliament for Cape Breton–Canso–Antigonish, on behalf of Patty Hajdu, federal minister of jobs and families. 'This investment will provide 40 new childcare spaces and help meet the needs of francophone families in Antigonish. With Nova Scotia, we are adding to the nearly 7,000 childcare spaces already announced, so more families in Nova Scotia can save thousands of dollars every year on childcare.' The funding is through the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. Nova Scotia has signed a five-year extension to the agreement as well as the Child Care Agreement and the Canada-Nova Scotia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, worth more than $1 billion total. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page

CTV News

33 minutes ago

• CTV News

Ontario proposes to weaken impending new recycling rules over costs to producers

Old Metropolitan Toronto signage and Ontario provincial insignia are seen on a blue recycling box at the side of the street on a weekly collection day in Toronto, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government is proposing to weaken an impending slate of new recycling rules because producers of the materials said the system is getting too expensive. The province began transitioning in 2023 toward making producers pay for the recycling of their packaging, paper and single-use items. The companies' obligations were set to increase next year, but the government is now looking to delay some measures and outright cancel others, such as requirements to extend collection beyond the residential system. Environmental advocates say the proposed changes let producers off the hook and will mean more materials will end up in landfills or be incinerated. Producers say despite the rising costs, recycling rates don't actually appear to be improving, so it's time for a broader rethink. Environment Minister Todd McCarthy said the proposed changes are about ensuring the sustainability of the blue box system and protecting against unintended consequences such as job losses. 'We want to take what we've done and improve upon what already exists, but the costs were a big deal, and so we're proposing some measures that would bring about cost savings and transparency and improvement to accomplish the goal of recycling that we all want,' he said earlier this month. The Canadian Retail Council estimates that producer costs have already increased by about 350 per cent in three years and would nearly double again just from this year to next if no changes were made to the impending new rules for 2026. The government says blue box collection costs could more than double between 2020 and 2030. 'Cost increases of this magnitude were not anticipated when the regulation was passed in 2021 and have jeopardized the stability of the blue box system today,' it says in its proposal to change the rules. Currently, producers just have to make 'best efforts' to hit certain recycling rate percentages, such as 80 per cent of paper and 50 per cent of rigid plastic, and starting next year they are set to be enforceable. Then in 2030 those percentages are set to rise. But now the government is proposing to delay those 2026 targets to 2031. As well, Ontario is proposing to allow non-recyclable material that gets incinerated to count for up to 15 per cent of producers' recycling targets. Starting next year, producers are also supposed to be responsible for collecting material from more multi-residential buildings, and certain long-term care homes, retirement homes and schools. The government is now proposing to remove that requirement entirely. The same goes for a rule that would have made beverage producers responsible for containers not just dropped in a residential blue box but also those used outside the home, and a provision for producers to expand collection in public spaces. The intent behind the initial regulations was to incentivize producers to use less packaging and to use materials that can more easily be recycled, said Karen Wirsig, senior program manager for plastics with Environmental Defence. These changes would halt any progress on that score, she said. 'Municipalities have been saying for years, 'Our blue box is getting more and more filled with packaging types we can't even identify let alone properly sort ... because often they're made with mixed materials that are not easily recycled,'' Wirsig said. 'So because there was that disconnect between the producers who design all this packaging and the municipalities who are collecting it, there was no way to rationalize the system and improve packaging from an environmental and sustainability point of view. These regulations were intended to start doing that, and unfortunately, now all of the incentives are going the opposite direction.' The recycling of flexible plastics, which includes food wraps, pouches and bags, is a particular bone of contention and the government is proposing to both delay and reduce the target for that category. In a recycling facility, flexible plastics end up in all sorts of places because they're so light, getting stuck among paper or falling through the cracks of conveyor belts, said Michael Zabaneh, the Retail Council of Canada's vice-president of sustainability. Instead of a recycling target of 25 per cent taking effect next year, a target of five per cent would take effect in 2031 under the government's proposal for flexible plastics. That five per cent reflects the estimated current level of flexible plastic diversion, according to the government's regulatory proposal. It is silent on the current levels for all other materials. Those current levels are unknown, with the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority saying it will report on rates once the three-year transition is over. That is a big problem, said Zabaneh. 'We're all in the blind,' he said. 'I think you can't have a recycling system with accountability, (and not have) transparency and real data.' The main problem with the government's current system is that it allows for multiple administrators, said Zabaneh. Producers sign up with producer responsibility organizations, which help them meet their blue box obligations. There are four such organizations operating in Ontario, which just ends up complicating the system and making it more expensive, Zabaneh said. 'There's an administrative body to drive collection, but then processing is kind of a competitive thing, and this creates a very fragmented and inefficient system,' he said. 'It limits planning, it prevents collective investment, capital investment, so that's disincentivized, and you have a lot of added costs from logistics and audits, and that's why we have escalating costs.' Retail council members helped found and sit on the board of one producer responsibility organization so they have some idea of recycling rates from that, and based on that limited view the numbers look stagnant, the council says. Producers welcome the delayed targets, Zabaneh said, but it doesn't solve the core problem. Having a single producer responsibility organization would reduce costs and allow for greater transparency of recycling rates and financial performance, the retail council says. Canadian Beverage Association president Krista Scaldwell said their members want the system to be successful because recycling and recovery benefits companies as well as the environment. 'We want the aluminum and plastic back because we can make it into new containers,' she said. 'The members are very committed to sustainability initiatives, and so we need to understand what's creating the cost so that we can help support some change, so we can see improved recovery without escalating costs.' Comments on the regulatory registry proposal can be submitted until July 21. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025. Allison Jones, The Canadian Press