On May 1st we issued four stocks investors should put on their radar for the month of May and today we’ll go over some of the great developments that has transpired over the last month. However, be sure to keep them on your radar as more catalysts should be on the way very soon!
Rritual Superfoods Inc.
Functional food company Rritual Superfoods Inc. (CSE: RSF) (OTC: RRSFF) is growing rapidly in the United States considering it is a young brand in the health and wellness space. The month of May has seen tremendous growth for the company which included expansion and new partnerships.
In early May, Rritual Superfoods (CSE: RSF) announced that the company launched a research and development division, with the company’s recently appointed Chief Innovation Officer, Stacey Gillespie spear heading the R&D. RSF’s CIO, Stacey Gillespie was quoted “Rritual has embraced the concept of being a consumer centred enterprise, and as it relates to product development that means we begin with an understanding of consumer desires and industry trends from our research and relationships, and we design and commercialize our products to meet those desires and trends on a timely basis”. Rritual expects to launch 4 new products during Q2/Q3 of this year and includes, Vegan Chair Rose Latte Collagen Booster, Mood & Energy Ube Matcha Latte Powder, Superfood Vegan Creamer and Ready to Drink Beverages!
Although Rritual superfoods may be a young company and brand, one should not underestimate the new kid on the block. In under 3 months since the company debuted on the CSE, RSF has achieved to; increase manufacturing capacity, sign a partnership with Rite-aid for 2,400 stores across the US, strategic alliance for plant-based, compostable packaging for beverage products and most recently, expanding its footprint into Canada. RSF’s aggressive and strategic roll-out is largely due to the experienced team at RSF and things are just getting started for Rritual Superfoods!
On May 19th we highlighted RSF’s Canadian expansion in our article “Rritual Superfoods Set To Expand Into The Canadian Market”. Rritual has recently entered into an agreement with Ultimate Sales Canada to assist in accelerating a national strategy and roll-out for the Canadian market. Under the agreement, Ultimate Sales Canada will focus on consumer awareness and work to build a network of retailers ranging from local to national levels, including potential grocers and pharmacies in Canada.
Entering the Canadian market is a great way to expand its brand awareness and revenue potential, however this expansion comes with very notable catalysts which we would like to highlight. Before a health product can be sold to Canadian consumers, a company’s product must first receive a Natural Health Product Number (NPN) from Health Canada. We believe the receipt of its NPN to be a fairly big catalyst as it allows RSF to officially sell its branded products to Canadian consumers. Following the company’s NPN, the company may launch its ecommerce store like the company did in the US. To increase its ecommerce presence, Rritual may very well launch its products on the world largest ecommerce platform, Amazon. A launch on the world largest ecommerce platform would serve as a great catalyst for investors to look out, let alone partnering with a nationally recognized retailer! These are just a few catalysts that come to mind when launching a health and wellness product in Canada, and as you can see there’s a lot of developments yet to unfold! Building a global multi billion-dollar company such as Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) where David Kerbel played a key role does not happen over night, long-term success is attributed through increased revenues and a higher share price!
Universal PropTech Inc.
A growing leader in property technology industry, Universal PropTech (TSX-V: UPI) (OTCQB: UPIPF) saw some great developments including increased sales backlog and some huge buys by the company’s CEO, Chris Hazelton! New developments from ISBRG Corp. emerged during the middle of May, when UPI announced that its investee ISBRG Corp. has received Investigational Testing Authorization (ITA) from Health Canada for its non-invasive Covid-19 diagnostic technology Spotlight-19 and ISBRG Corp. has begun investigational clinical trials. The continuing R&D efforts in Spotlight-19 have been assisted from the Government of Canada as a grant was provided to ISBRG Corp. by The National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance program.
Further to its developments announced on May 12th, ISBRG Corp. added two new members to its advisory board. Mr. Ned Imbrie has worked with notable names such as Bayer Environmental Science and Siemens Healthineers where Mr. Imbrie served for over 13 years with his most recent role as Vice-President of Global Strategy and Business Development. Also added to the advisory board is Mr. Stephen Longfield. Mr. Longfield graduated from Washington University in St, Louis with a MBA in Finance and Operations and received a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Kansas. Mr. Longfield has worked with multinational conglomerates such as Monsanto and PepsiCo where Mr. Longfield served as Vice-President of Global Procurement for PepsiCo.
On May 14th 2021, UPI announced that the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Chris Hazelton has purchased 440,000 shares of Universal PropTech on the open market which is valued at approximately $115,000! The CEO of UPI Chris Hazelton was quoted “We are very pleased with the critical developments that our investee company ISBRG Corp. has been able to achieve in a relatively short period of time (as outlined in our press release dated May 12, 2021). The start of Clinical Trial at a Canadian border location, appointment of the high-caliber Advisory Board and financial assistance of NRC-IRAP is a testament to the potential of the SpotLight-19 technology, especially in the time of ensuing difficulties experienced by the healthcare industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic”. The CEOs’ purchase of over 400,000 shares of UPI speaks VOLUMES in his dedication to build transformation growth for UPI and is proof of management being aligned with its investors!
Although a lot of focus has been on its investment in ISBRG Corp. the company’s wholly owned subsidiary has been forging forward in building growth. On May 17th, UPI announced that its wholly owned subsidiary VCI Controls has achieved a sales backlog of $5.2 Million from repair and project work and service contracts from HVAC Building Automation and mechanical. CEO of UPI Chris Hazelton stated, “Backlog is a critical key performance indicator in assessing success of our corporate imperatives”. The sales backlog accounting up to 8 months into its Fiscal 2021 makes it interesting to see how much more the company can add to its sales backlog for the remaining 4 months, before closing out its fiscal year for 2021.
This past Thursday, UPI announced that its wholly owned subsidiary VCI Controls has entered into a services agreement with a large Canadian HVAC asset company for the installation of HVAC and services to residential and commercial customers located in Southern Ontario. The CEO of UPI Mr. Chris Hazelton stated, “Today’s sales agreement with a large Canadian HVAC company demonstrates the company’s focus on its continued path of profitability and increased sales,”. We expect that Universal PropTech has been hard at work to expand and drive additional revenues on its already profitable business all the while making progressing on its recent investee ISBRG Corp.
We believe Universal PropTech (TSX-V: UPI) is currently trading at a very opportunistic valuation of ~$10 Million, or 1X sales based on its 2019 annual revenues of $10M from its core business, has cash in the bank, NO DEBT and a very promising investment in what might become a major disruptor in the world of rapid testing for Covid-19.
Gage Growth Corp.
Gage Growth Corp. (CSE: GAGE) (OTC: GAEGF) is one of the few cannabis company’s we are following closely as we believe this newly listed potstock offers a lot of potential upside in 2021. We first highlighted GAGE on the day of its IPO in our article “What You Need To Know About New Cannabis Listing Gage Growth Corp.”.
On May 21st GAGE reported record revenues for its first quarter of 2021, totaling a whopping USD $17.6 million for quarter, which represents an increase of nearly ~220% year over year! The company also saw an increase in its gross margins, growing 8.8% from 17.3% in Q4 2020 to 26.1%. GAGE also has a very robust cash position as the company ended the quarter with USD $43.6 million in cash. GAGE currently has eight cultivation facilities with plans to expand its cultivation facilities to thirteen by the end of this year! The revenue growth from quarter to quarter is a result of increased cultivation capacity and the opening of two new dispensaries.
GAGE will be opened its 9th operated dispensary on May 28th in the town of Jackson, Michigan and the company aims to have a total of 20 dispensaries in full operation by the end of 2021. The company has also reiterated its revenue guidance for Q2 2021 and is expected to be between USD $26-$31 million.
The CEO of GAGE Growth Corp. was quoted "After Gage's tremendous growth this quarter with revenue of $17.6 million, we expect our first half of 2021 revenue to exceed full fiscal year 2020 revenue and more than double the first half of fiscal year 2020. We are rapidly growing as our investments in infrastructure have started to deliver operating leverage and the team continues to meet the evolving needs of our patients, customers and communities,".
GAGE was also recently added to the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (MSOS) (NYSE: MSOS). GAGE CEO, Mr. Fabian Monaco stated, "Inclusion in a leading ETF brings strong exposure to potential new investors and we are pleased the AdvisorShares ETF has initiated a position in our Company. This represents a strong milestone for the Company and provides us added exposure to the investment community, coupled with the success of our business in the cannabis marketplace”.
Link Global Technologies Inc.
Those familiar with cryptocurrencies and the volatility that accompanies them, especially over the years, and the month of May was a turbulent month for many cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Etherum. The volatility came as Bitcoin’s most influential support Elon Musk announced that Tesla would no longer be accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for its vehicles, citing concerns over the environmental impact Bitcoin mining presents. Following these statements, the price of many cryptocurrencies saw a decline which has also affected stocks with exposure to cryptocurrency. Link Global Technologies Inc. (CSE: LNK) wasn’t the only stock to fall victim to the volatility in cryptocurrencies, however as a result, its shares fell 44% during the month.
The company recently closed its private placement on May 12th for a total of $1,748,000 at a price of $.80 cents per unit with a full warrant at $1.25 for a period of two years. In addition to this announcement, LNK also stated that the company settled debts totaling $509,000, through the issuance of 466,500 shares at $.80 cents and 155,000 shares at $.90 cents and is subject to a four-month hold.
Furthermore, the company has also appointed Mr. Michael Vogel to its Board of Directors which Mr. Vogel served as an advisor to the board. The change of directors also saw the resignation of Mr. Bijan Alizadeh. Mr. Vogel was the original founder of Netcoins Inc. which was later sold to BIGG Digital Assets Inc. and Mr. Vogel currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at CoinSteam. The CEO of LNK Mr. Stephen Jenkins was quoted "I'd like to welcome Michael Vogel to our Board. I have known Michael for many years and have witnessed his success at both building and exiting Netcoins Inc. Michael is a successful entrepreneur and has built a strong reputation within the crypto community. We at LINK look forward to working with Michael as we expand Link's operations and services”.
The company also provided an update on the receipt of additional mining machines. LNK stated that it has received 300 Bitmain S17 mining machines from Neptune Digital Asset Corp (TSX-V: NDA) and are in the process of being installed. The company anticipates updating the market in the coming weeks on the economics of the mining machines as more machines are deployed and operational.
With shares currently trading at a discount of 21% from its recently completed financing of $.80 cents, shares of LNK are presenting an opportunity to enter at a discount from those who invested in the financing and could rally back to its previous levels of ~$.90 cents as the price of Bitcoin begins to climb.
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