The S&P/TSX Index continues to have a somewhat disappointing proportion of tech companies due to weighting of energy and resource giants in Canada. The Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify Inc. has stolen many headlines, but today we are going to look at three tech stocks trading under $25 that investors should monitor as we head into the final months of 2017.
BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX: BB)(NYSE: BB) has increased 47.2% in 2017 and 38% year over year. The Canadian multinational has rebounded nicely from its precipitous drop following the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis. In September, I targeted BlackBerry as a top stock for an anti-fragile portfolio. To be anti-fragile is to benefit from disorder, to thrive when exposed to shocks and volatility.
BlackBerry has evolved from a hardware company to a software company in a short period of time. CEO John Chen was brought on in November 2013 during a period of crisis and transition, and the stock has more than doubled since then. BlackBerry has gained a foothold in the rapidly growing cybersecurity industry. The company reported record software and services revenue of $196 million in the third quarter of 2017.
Solium Capital Inc. (TSX:SUM) is a Calgary-based company that provides technology and services supporting equity-based incentive plans. Shares of Solium have climbed 25.1% in 2017 and 48% year over year. The stock has surged 360% over a five-year period.
Solium released its third-quarter results on November 7. Revenue rose 4% to $20.8 million, and the company posted a net loss of $0.1 million compared to earnings of $1.9 million in Q3 2016. Solium entered a licence agreement with U.S. bank Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The corporate customers at the bank will transition to the Solium-branded version of Shareworks. The company also entered a licence agreement with UBS Financial. The resulting transaction costs saw operating expenses jump 20% in this previous quarter. Solium expects to see investments place a burden on profitability heading into 2018.
Avigilon Corp. (TSX:AVO) is a Vancouver-based designer, manufacturer, and marketer of video surveillance equipment and software. Shares of Avigilon have increased 54.5% in 2017 and 146% year over year. In a September article, I pinpointed Avigilon as a great target for investors looking to jump into the fast-growing cybersecurity industry.
Avigilon released its third-quarter results on November 7. It posted record revenue of $108.2 million, a 13% increase compared to $95.8 million in the third quarter of 2016. The company also reported adjusted EBITDA of $22.6 million in comparison to $16.7 million in the previous year.
Leadership was happy to report strong global demand. Avigilon also launched Avigilon Blue in the third quarter — a subscription-based cloud platform specializing in security and surveillance. The technology will allow clients to remotely access service sites and will also provide access to learning modules for video analytics.
