Stocks in Canada have largely remained strongly bullish in 2021 so far, despite the recent correction. The main Canadian market gauge has inched up in nine out of 11 months. Along with a sharp rally in energy and mining stocks, some tech stocks have also yielded outstanding returns this year. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular stocks in Canada from last week.
Cannabis stocks tanked
Cannabis stocks like OrganiGram, Tilray (TSX: TLRY)(NASDAQ: TLRY), and Cronos Group (TSX: CRON)(NASDAQ: CRON) were among the worst-performing stocks in Canada last week. While Cronos lost more than 20% last week, Tilray and OrganiGram saw around 15% value erosion each.
This massive selloff came a few days after these cannabis stocks saw a big rally in anticipation of a key marijuana bill that could legalize marijuana at the federal level in the United States. These expectations drove OrganiGram stock up by 9% in the first half of November. During the same period, Cronos and Tilray shares popped by about 22% and 27%, respectively. However, I’d warned investors earlier this month against buying cannabis stocks solely based on this development, as I feared these gains might not last long without any big, concrete move to decriminalize marijuana in the U.S. market.
Tilray and Cronos currently have a market cap of around $6.2 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively — much higher than OrganiGram’s $708 million.
Shopify stock reached new heights
The Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify’s (TSX: SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) shares made headlines last week, as they reached their all-time high levels. Its stock price posted a fresh record high around $2,229 per share Friday. Although Shopify’s financial growth trend has moderated slightly in the post-pandemic phase, it still remains very strong. In the September quarter, its revenue rose by 46.4% from a year ago to US$1.12 billion — slightly short of analysts’ expectations.
While there was no major company-specific news last week, investors’ expectations that Shopify’s financial growth will improve during the holiday season could mainly be responsible for its recent record-setting rally. On a year-to-date basis, SHOP stock is trading with 38.5% gains.
Lightspeed stock continues to tumble
Lightspeed Commerce (TSX: LSPD)(NYSE: LSPD) stock fell by nearly 16% last week. Notably, it was the third consecutive week of massive losses for the stock. The stock remains under massive pressure since a New York-based short-seller made some serious allegations against Lightspeed’s management at the end of September, including inflating key business metrics.
These allegations are the key reason why LSPD stock has lost more than 55% of its value since the third week of September.
Nuvei stock could be worth buying
Nuvei (TSX: NVEI)(NASDAQ: NVEI) was another top Canadian tech stock that remained in focus last week. The stock fell by more than 6% last week, ending its fourth consecutive week in the red. In fact, its better-than-expected third-quarter results released earlier this month seemingly failed to boost investors’ confidence. In the September quarter, Nuvei’s sales rose by 96.5% year over year, and its adjusted earnings per share more than doubled from a year ago. A recent sharp decline in its stock, despite its ongoing solid financials growth trend, makes Nuvei one of the most attractive stocks to buy in Canada right now, in my opinion.
