5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks: Cameco Surges on Q1 Results

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) opened slightly down on Friday (May 4) at 15,612.71. The slow start was attributed to financial stocks, as well as lower-than-expected job and wage growth in April.

The Canadian dollar hit a one-month low resulting from a strong US dollar and ongoing global and continental trade discussions.

Last week’s top-performing TSX stocks included two gold stocks, as well as copper, zinc and uranium stocks, again highlighting the market’s affection for precious and base metals, as well as energy:

• First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM)
• Corvus Gold (TSX:KOR)
• Cameco (TSX:CCO)
• Mandalay Resources (TSX:MND)
• Noranda Income Fund (TSX:NIF.UN)

Here’s a look at those companies and the factors that moved their share prices last week.

First Quantum Minerals

First Quantum Minerals is primarily a copper exploration and production company with a variety of assets around the globe. First Quantum also produces gold and nickel at some of its international sites. First Quantum’s share price saw the biggest increase last week, growing 13.59 percent to close at C$19.96.

2017 was a positive year for First Quantum, which produced the highest level of copper since its inception at 573,963 tonnes. The company did not release any news that would explain last week’s gain, but it was a good week for copper. The red metal reached a one-week high, continuing its second straight session of gains on Friday.

Corvus Gold

Junior gold exploration and development company Corvus Gold is currently advancing its 100-percent-owned North Bullfrog project. Corvus’ share price experienced the second-highest gain last week, climbing 10.9 percent to close Friday at C$2.95.

The strong stock movement may be attributed to the continued expansion of a western deposit at the company’s Mother Lode project in Nevada.

Cameco

Cameco is one of the world’s largest uranium producers, accounting for roughly 16 percent of global production from its tier-one operations in Canada and Kazakhstan. Cameco’s share price experienced steady growth last week, closing up 8.92 percent at C$14.41.

The uptick is likely a result of the company’s recently released Q1 report, which shows net earnings of C$55 million and adjusted net earnings of C$23 million.

Mandalay Resources

Canada-based Mandalay Resources is a gold production company focused on acquiring undervalued assets with rapid growth and exploration potential. Mandalay’s share price experienced modest growth last week, rising 4.76 percent to land at C$0.22.

The steady upward movement could be a residual effect of the company’s Q1 results, which were released in mid-April. According to the company, it produced a total of 23,172 ounces of gold equivalent in the first quarter of 2018, compared to 21,370 ounces during the same period in 2017.

Noranda Income Fund

Noranada Income Fund is an income trust that owns an electrolytic zinc-processing facility and ancillary assets in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec. Noranda trended up 3.57 percent last week, to C$1.45.

The company’s growth came after it made an agreement under which Glencore (LSE:GLEN) will supply Noranda with all zinc concentrate requirements and purchase all of the fund’s zinc metal for a four-year period. This was in addition to the 305-percent earnings increase the fund posted in Q1.

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Data for 5 Top TSX Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 10:30 a.m. PST using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $50 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the mining and precious metals sectors are considered.

Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.