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STARS AND DOGS

JOHN HEINZL

STAR What’s the most effective way to deal with bored, whiny children who are stuck at home during the pandemic? No, don’t drug them. Buy them a new toy. Plenty of parents have been doing just that, judging by Mattel’s better-than-expected quarterly results, which included a 40-percent surge in global sales and a surprise adjusted profit. With Mattel also hiking its full-year forecast thanks to robust demand for dolls, action figures, games and building sets, Barbie and Ken just put an offer in on an eightbedroom house with an ocean view.

MAT ( Nasdaq), US$ 21.72, up US$ 2.60 or 13.6% over week

DOG Business quiz! Shares of Facebook sank after the socialmedia giant: a) announced it will allow Donald Trump back onto the platform because “he’s shown a great deal of remorse for the events of Jan. 6”; b) disclosed that North Korea hijacked Facebook’s servers, causing all photos on the site to be replaced by images of Kim Jong-un; c) posted second-quarter revenue and earnings above estimates, but warned that growth will slow in the months ahead as its performance is compared with strong results from a year ago, when the pandemic drove more people online. Answer: c.

FB ( Nasdaq), US$ 356.30, down US$ 13.49 or 3.6% over week

STAR Pembina Pipeline didn’t win the takeover battle for Inter Pipeline. But it’s still walking away with a pretty sweet consolation prize. With Inter Pipeline recommending a revised takeover offer from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, jilted Pembina stands to pocket a $350-million termination fee. Judging by the gain in Pembina’s share price this week, investors are relieved that the takeover saga is over. An extra few hundred mill probably didn’t hurt, either. PPL ( TSX), $ 41.24, up $ 1.84 or 4.7% over week

DOG If your idea of fun is scrolling through page after page of celebrities, recipes, home decorating ideas and before-and-after plastic-surgery photos, you’re going to love Pinterest. But if the company’s latest results are any indication, some people are starting to see it as a colossal waste of time. Shares of Pinterest – which lets users “pin” content to the site – plummeted after it reported a year-over-year drop of 7 per cent in U.S. monthly active users through July 27, as pandemic restrictions eased and people spent more time outside their homes. Pinterest had to pin the blame on something, I guess.

PINS ( NYSE), US$ 58.90, down US$ 18.01 or 23.4% over week

DOG Technology stocks can make you rich. Look at SkyWater Technology, which went public in April and doubled in price over the next two months. Unfortunately, tech stocks can also make you poor, as this week’s nasty plunge in SkyWater’s shares attests. The chip maker posted preliminary second-quarter results below analysts’ estimates, including an expected loss of US$7-million to US$8-million, and said it will spend US$56-million to expand its Minnesota facility. With the stock now well below its closing price on the day of the IPO, the only water here is from SkyWater investors’ tears.

SKYT ( Nasdaq), US$ 17.26, down US$ 10.15 or 37% over week

REPORT ON BUSINESS

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2021-07-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

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