The only participants in the Canadian technology market were hardware companies, while well-known software companies fell off the list.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s (TSX) annual list of top-performing public companies includes Canadian stock star Celestica and four other technology companies in the aerospace, defense and digital infrastructure sectors.
News: The stock exchange today released its annual TSX30 list, which ranks the top 30 companies based on three-year dividend-adjusted share returns. Toronto-based electronics and artificial intelligence infrastructure company Celestica took the top spot on the list for the second year in a row, joined by aerospace and defense technology companies MDA Space, Firan Technology Group Corporation and Telesat.
The list also included former Bitcoin mining company Hut 8, which previously worked with Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and now provides data center infrastructure. Advanced technology company 5N Plus also made the list this year.
From the source: Over the past three years, Celestica’s share price has risen a staggering 2,590 percent, and its market capitalization has risen from C$1.9 billion to nearly $60 billion at the end of the second quarter. In a statement, CEO Rob Mionis attributed the growth to “providing critical data center infrastructure using artificial intelligence and advancing technology in high-growth markets.”
Context: Canadian technology companies tend to be underrepresented on the TSX30 list compared to categories such as mining, which made up 60 per cent of the list this year. Despite their relatively small representation, technology companies added $85.3 billion to market capitalization over three years, according to the TSX, the second-largest contribution of any sector represented in this year’s ranking.
Last thought: Hardware tech companies were the only gainers in the tech sector as e-commerce giant Shopify, fintech company Propel and software company VitalHub dropped off the list this year. Many software companies have been hit hard this year due to investor fears that AI will harm their businesses, leading to massive sell-offs. However, companies such as Celestica and Hut 8, which sell hardware to build artificial intelligence data centers and associated cloud infrastructure, have seen their market caps increase significantly.
Image courtesy of TMX Group.