If you’re looking to build a portfolio for the next decade—not chase yesterday’s winners—Garey Aitken says it’s time to get much more selective. Canada’s rally may not be over, but after one of the strongest runs in years, finding value has become much harder. The Head of Canadian Equities at Franklin Templeton’s ClearBridge Investments joins Amber Kanwar to explain where he’s taking profits, why he still likes energy, and the overlooked companies he believes could be the market’s next winners.
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Sorry for the radio silence the last few days. I attempted to take a day off and the reward was lice. The last few mornings have included rigorous grooming and braid-making but we are in the clear now. I apologize if you feel itchy all of a sudden after reading this.
Here are five things to know today:
Something I said?: Tech stocks are under pressure while investors rotate into Dow stocks propelled by better earnings. Nerves around valuation, AI spending, competitive threats from China are all conspiring against the tech sector – particularly in Asia where we saw another brutal session with Japan down 4% and South Korea down a whopping 10%. Semiconductors are the pain point falling 21% from the peak a few months ago and indicated down 3.5% this morning. We have a Fed rate decision tomorrow and Meta and Microsoft earnings tonight. Buckle up. The TSX, meanwhile, continues its quiet outperformance – hitting another record high yesterday. It’s the topic of our latest episode with $8 billion Canadian equities fund manager Garey Aitken. He calls this the “golden years” for Canadian equities but has been trimming his winners like Canadian banks and trying to find opportunities that have been left out of the rally. It’s a great stock picking episode.
Tough crowd: Celestica is up just 2% after earnings beat expectations and the electronic component maker increased its forecast. Sales increased 62% from last year while margins expanded to a new high of 8.2%. The stock initially soared 8% on results, but is fighting against an ugly tape for the AI trade. Furthermore, the forecast implies revenue next year will grow at an even faster pace. “Net, this is a significant upward revision and validates our supply-gated demand and operating leverage theses,” wrote Ruben Roy of Stifel, “…The direction is explicit:
visibility has improved further and management expects margin expansion (layered on top of revenue scaling) to continue in 2027. To us,
this is the most important disclosure in the release and materially strengthens the longer-term earnings thesis.”
Ready to checkout?: PayPal is up 3% after delivering an earnings beat and said they would “consider” and are “open” to a possible deal. This comes after a consortium led by Stripe proposed to buy PayPal back in February. Earnings in the quarter beat expectations and the company increased its profit forecast for the year. However, the stock only perked up once management got on a call and said they were open to a deal. Payments is a tough game right now. Visa is reportedly planning to cut 7% of its workforce – about 2,600 jobs – in a memo seen by Bloomberg. We will get more colour when Visa reports today after the bell.
Dow components: Coca-Cola is popping 4% in the pre-market and is poised to open at a record high after organic revenue came in much higher than expected thanks to the World Cup prompting the company to boost its forecast. Organic sales in North America – where the games were hosted – increased 7% which was much better than the 3.5% forecasted. Coke has been a stealth outperformer up 20% so far in 2026 outperforming the consumer staples index which is only up 10% this year thanks to a wider assortment of non-traditional soft drinks. Boeing shares are only up modestly after taking a surprise $280 million charge for the Air Force One program which is years behind schedule and over budget. It is unclear if the fleet will be available by the time the President’s second term ends. This charge comes as the company reported a wider loss than expected in the quarter – however, cash flow was higher than expected, defense sales were better and commercial airline revenue increased 8%.
Water is clear: Watch Tamarack Valley at the open after the oil producer reported higher production than expected and lower capital spending plans. Tamarack Valley has recently sold its Charlie Lake assets making it a pure-play Clearwater producer. Clearwater is one of the hottest heavy oil plays in Canada because the oil sits shallow and doesn’t require deep drilling. “The company exited the quarter with a C$136.2m net cash position, providing ample flexibility to accelerate Clearwater development and pursue opportunistic M&A. We expect investor focus to centre on management’s capital allocation plans and potential inorganic growth opportunities during today’s conference call,” wrote Robert Mann of Desjardins. I own shares of Tamarack Valley.
Don’t miss our next episode! We review the picks of the last year!
