Inside the Market\u2019s roundup of some of today\u2019s key analyst actions<\/p>\n
National Bank Financial analyst Vishal Shreedhar raised his price target on Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L-T<\/a>) in the wake of second quarter earnings that he termed as slightly positive and supported by solid execution. <\/p>\n His target went to C$242 from C$235 and he reiterated an \u201coutperform\u201d rating. National Bank removed Loblaw as a top stock pick but it remains its preferred Canadian grocer.<\/p>\n EPS was $2.40, ahead of National Bank\u2019s $2.34 expectation and the consensus of $2.33. EPS was well above last year\u2019s $2.15. Same-store sales fell slightly short of expectations. <\/p>\n Mr. Shreedhar said the company\u2019s real estate growth will support strong revenue growth going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe maintain a favourable view on L and recommend it as our preferred grocer supported by: (i) Benefits from improvement initiatives; (ii) Ongoing stable EPS growth, and (iii) Favourable medium-term trends in discount and drug store (where L over-indexes). (2) We are removing L from Top Picks following solid share returns (total return of 18.2% YTD vs. 9.8% for the S&P\/TSX 60). (3) Recall, L\u2019s strategy is to deliver margin rate stability and drive earnings primarily through top-line growth,\u201d Mr. Shreedhar said.<\/p>\n BMO analyst Tamy Chen raised her target C$230 from C$220 and reiterated a \u201cmarket perform\u201d rating <\/p>\n She sees upside to the current 2025 guidance. \u201cLoblaw reiterated 2025E guidance despite a stronger H1\/25. We believe guidance will be revised upwards with Q3 reporting. This has led to an increase in our forecasts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She\u2019ll be watching promotional activity in the sector closely.<\/p>\n \u201cThe recent quarterly earnings of the Canadian grocers have been good. We believe discount grocery continues to grow faster than conventional. But even within conventional, Loblaw\u2019s banners and EMP\u2019s same-store sales suggest good recovery in this overall channel following two years of trade-down. Our analysis of StatsCan retail sales data up to May also suggests grocery tonnage excluding Walmart and Costco has been solid year to date. So, we believe the Canadian grocers could have been benefiting to some extent from the Buy Canadian trend. We are monitoring how this movement evolves going forward as we have recently observed some uptick in Walmart Canada\u2019s price rollback actions,\u201d Ms. Chen said.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Desjardins analyst Chris Li raised his price target to C$235 from C$230 and reiterated a \u201chold\u201d rating. \u201cAnother quarter of solid results is a testament to L\u2019s strong execution, cost discipline, and unmatched food and drug retail assets, as well as favourable industry trends\u201d Mr. Li commented. \u201cAgainst the backdrop of ongoing macro uncertainties, we expect investors\u2019 continuing preference for high-quality, defensive companies with predictable earnings growth to support L\u2019s premium valuation.\u201d <\/p>\n The average analyst price target is now C$243.80, up from C$237 a month ago, according to LSEG data Friday morning. <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The Street is losing confidence in Teck Resources Ltd.\u2019s (TECK-B-T<\/a>) ability to execute a smooth ramp up in output growth and is scaling back expectations for what the miner can produce. <\/p>\n JPMorgan downgraded its rating to \u201cneutral\u201d from \u201coverweight\u201d while cutting its target price to C$56 from C$63. CIBC downgraded its rating rating to \u201cneutral\u201d from \u201coutperformer\u201d and cut its price target to C$57 from $68. Jefferies cut its target price to C$60 from C$65. Scotiabank cut its price target to C$57 from C$66. Raymond James cut its target to C$63 from C$71. RBC cut its price target to C$67 from C$82. TD cut its target to C$60 from C$64. And National Bank cut its target to C$62.50 from C$66.<\/p>\n Teck reported adjusted EPS of $0.38\/share in the second quarter, above consensus at $0.23. But adjusted EBITDA of $722 million came in short of expectations amid production difficulties. <\/p>\n The company reduced its 2025 copper output guidance by 6% and increased cost and capex guidance by 10% and 34%, respectively. <\/p>\n Tailings management at its giant QB2 project in Chile was impacted by the reliability of milling operations in the second quarter, noted National Bank analyst Shane Nagle. <\/p>\n \u201cTeck is advancing development initiatives and implementing a range of measures to bring the operation up to design rates by year-end; however, given the slow progress to date and revised guidance, the market is discounting the production outlook for 2026,\u201d Mr. Nagle told clients. \u201cWith the front end of the plant now better positioned to deliver steady throughput, we see fewer headwinds to finally achieving design production rates in H2 – although not without further uncertainty,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are maintaining our outperform rating based on Teck\u2019s compelling valuation, support from the ongoing share buyback and relative balance sheet strength. Our target has been primarily impacted by lower production and higher cost assumptions through to end of 2026 at QB2. The market is discounting Teck\u2019s copper growth portfolio given the company\u2019s recent track record at QB2 but with the front end of the plant operating well, we believe Teck is poised to achieve design production rates by year-end which is differentiated from the current market view. With support from the ongoing buyback, improved operational momentum at QB2 will lead to a multiple uplift in the shares,\u201d the National Bank analyst added. <\/p>\n Scotiabank analyst Orest Wowkodaw said he sees the overall second-quarter update as negative for the shares and he trimmed his net asset value per share estimate.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps more troubling, the company\u2019s guidance credibility remains an open question given the reaffirmed 2026 operating outlook at QB2 (which appears overly optimistic in our view). Despite our lower expectations, we continue to rate Teck shares Sector Outperform based on valuation, near-term growth, balance sheet strength, and an impressive share buyback,\u201d Mr. Wowkodaw said.<\/p>\n RBC analyst Sam Crittenden was sounding a bit more optimistic.<\/p>\n \u201cQB took a step back in H1\/2025 raising doubts around the ultimate production target of ~300kt. We still believe these issues are fixable, and note that it takes 2.5 years on average for large mines to reach 100% capacity (QB is at 2.0); however, H1\/2025 saw a divergence from historic ramp up curves and recoveries and reliability remain concerning. We think there is an opportunity to turn things around in H2 and with the shares trading at a discount to large cap peers, we reiterate our outperform rating,\u201d Mr. Crittenden said.<\/p>\n The average analyst price target is now C$59.59, down from C$65.72 a month ago.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Raymond James analyst Michael Barth said investors are ignoring positive signals that came out of Mullen Group Ltd.\u2019s (MTL-T<\/a>) second quarter results this week. He is maintaining his full-year estimates and still sees growth for the company heading into 2025, even after shares fell more than 5% Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re genuinely befuddled by the negative market reaction to 2Q25 results given the in-line headline print combined with what we saw as a positive inflection in management commentary and y\/y organic growth in the LTL + L&W segments. In our view, key drivers for this business are improving, the balance sheet remains in great shape, optionality exists on M&A, and valuation remains attractive. With our target sitting about 26% above the share price at the time of writing, we therefore reiterate our outperform rating,\u201d Mr. Barth said in a note to clients. <\/p>\n His price target on Mullen is C$16.75.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Acumen analyst Trevor Reynolds trimmed his price target to C$17.25 from C$18.25 but is maintaining a \u201cbuy\u201d rating. <\/p>\n \u201cOverall, the outlook is intact from Q1 aside from a longer than expected closing period on the Cole Group acquisition attributable to review by the competition bureau. Notably, management highlights the fast tracking of \u201cnation building\u201d projects as a potential market catalyst,” Mr. Reynolds said.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n National Bank Financial analyst Ahmed Abdullah downgraded Winpak Ltd. (WPK-T<\/a>) to \u201csector perform\u201d from \u201coutperform\u201d while trimming his price target to C$48 from C$52.<\/p>\n Both the company\u2019s second quarter revenues and EBITA missed expectations.<\/p>\n \u201cRigid Packaging & Flexible Lidding segment drove the weakness with a 10% drop in volume, as the rigid container group had 8% (drop) in volumes on lower snack food and juice container activity, while lidding volumes were down 10% on weaker specialty beverage and retort pet food activity,\u201d the analyst noted. \u201cWPK noted that it saw no significant loss of customers in 2025 but rather a change in order pattern in the period due to macro factors (tariff uncertainty, softer consumer demand, etc.). The extent of that impact was more than we had anticipated.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Abdullah suggested shares will be range bound in the near term. \u201cWe await a gradual recovery of volumes that may take a few quarters to unfold as the company works on onboarding new business wins and revisiting its go-to-market strategy to deal with a softer backdrop,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Analyst Logan Reich raised RBC\u2019s target price on A&W Food Services of Canada Inc (AW-T<\/a>) to C$42 from C$34 after an upbeat second quarter. <\/p>\n \u201cAW\u2019s Q2 print was solid. Same-store sales, system sales, revenue, and EBITDA all came in ahead of our estimates, though management reiterated the FY25 guidance. Further, traffic accelerated q\/q as consumers responded to the company leaning into value and promotions in the quarter. Further, Pret coffee sales in A&W stores were solid & the company expects to open a second Pret location later this year,\u201d the analyst reported. <\/p>\n RBC said it is maintaining a \u201csector perform\u201d rating, \u201cas we need further evidence of sustainable traffic growth to get more constructive at these levels.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n In other analyst actions:<\/p>\n