A brief dive into two best-performing micro-cap stocks
The market-tested investor knows to dig deeper – too experienced to be swayed by past performance's suggestion of future results – and paints a picture of a company's long-term viability based on financials, press releases and industry reports, putting it through the wringer en route to a high-conviction investment decision.
In the newest edition of Stockhouse's Weekly Market Movers, we'll consider two micro-cap stocks with strong year-over-year returns, miles ahead of the TSX's 16.57-per-cent effort, looking to determine whether or not their underlying companies have what it takes to maintain momentum. Realbotix
We begin with Realbotix, a company that creates and sells artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled, human-shaped robots for the purposes of entertainment, companionship and customer service. The robots, manufactured in the United States, boast true-to-life expressions, movements and speech.
According to the company's 2025 guidance, it is well-capitalized to deliver on growth plans, including increasing its sales and marketing teams, to accommodate higher demand expected from robust media coverage and new technology dropping later this year.
Realbotix stock (TSXV:XBOT) has added 223.33 per cent year-over-year – exactly one year since the company transitioned from its previous incarnation as Tokens.com – thanks to revenue growth in Q1 and Q2 2025 that's already outpacing all of 2024, supported by decreasing cost of goods sold and operating losses over the past three quarters.
While Realbotix has generated positive net income in only two out of the past five quarters, a growing number of partnerships have the potential to grant the company the scale it needs to cut costs towards more stable profitability.
Andrew Kiguel, Realbotix's chief executive officer (CEO), spoke with Stockhouse's Lyndsay Malchuk about the company's collaboration with Hollo.AI on customer service robots. Watch the interview here. Innovotech
And now for something completely different, we move to Innovotech, our second best-performing micro-cap stock pick ripping as of late, which tracks a Canadian company focused on biotechnology and specialized laboratory services. Here's a business breakdown: The company's Innovotech Labs subsidiary is a contract research organization specializing in antimicrobial testing and the commercialization of antimicrobial silver solutions.
Its Keystone Labs subsidiary is an accredited lab serving Canadian pharmaceutical and industrial markets.
Innovotech also owns 60 per cent of NouLifeSciences, which holds intellectual property related to antioxidant molecules with prospective applications in cosmetics and treating medical conditions including neuropathies.
Innovotech's diversification across multiple products and platforms has served it well, allowing it to almost double revenue year-over-year in 2024, and set a run-rate in Q1 2025 to quadruple revenue by year end, this while generating an overall net income profit from 2020 to date including in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025.
Innovotech stock (TSXV:IOT), no surprise, has behaved positively in reaction, adding 83.33 per cent year-over-year, and stands to climb higher with client demand on a steep rise, prompting the company to expand its staff and equipment portfolio.
Though profitable growth is relatively recent, Innovotech appears to be on a path to rapidly growing its share in the over US$10 billion antimicrobial coatings market, which is expected to post a 13.9 per cent compound annual growth rate through 2030.
Craig Milne, Innovotech's president and CEO, joined Lyndsay Malchuk to discuss the company's financial performance including record revenue in Q1 2025. Watch the interview here.
Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week for a new edition of Stockhouse's Weekly Market Movers. Here's the most recent article, in case you missed it.
Join the discussion: Find out what everybody's saying about these best-performing micro-cap stocks on the Realbotix Corp. and Innovotech Inc. Bullboards and check out Stockhouse's stock forums and message boards.
This is sponsored content issued on behalf of Realbotix Corp. and Innovotech Inc., please see full disclaimer here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
Tale of two cities: Why Edmonton builds homes faster than Toronto
Canada started building only slightly more homes in June than it did in May, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) said on Wednesday. Compared to May, the annual rate of housing starts was largely flat with a 0.4 per cent increase, but it rose 14 per cent compared to this time last year. The national numbers mask stark regional disparities, however. 'Through the first six months of the year, national housing starts have increased marginally compared to 2024, however, new home construction varies significantly across Canada,' said Kevin Hughes, deputy chief economist at CMHC. Over the first six months of 2024, Edmonton started building 8,448 homes. That compares to 10,868 in the first six months this year — a jump of 29 per cent. Calgary also saw a significant improvement in the first six months of this year with a 32 per cent jump in housing starts to 14,712 compared to 11,178 in the first half of 2024. Story continues below advertisement 'Calgary and Edmonton have just been streets ahead of other cities and (especially) a lot of cities in Ontario, for instance, in making their zoning bylaws simpler as well as less restrictive,' said Carolyn Whitzman, senior housing researcher and adjunct professor at University of Toronto School of Cities. One of the biggest laggards when it comes to housing starts is the country's largest city. In the first months of 2024, Toronto started building 22,529 homes. This year, that number has dropped to 12,575 — a 44 per cent decline. 'Edmonton is one of the fastest cities in Canada when it comes to approving new housing and communities in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) are amongst the slowest. And that is certainly playing a role here,' said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa. 'Toronto doesn't seem to be waking up and smelling the coffee,' Whitzman said, adding that cities such as Calgary and Edmonton end up with more housing starts because they prioritize building 'missing middle' housing. In many Canadian cities, strict zoning laws mean developers can build either single-family homes or condo towers. Homes that are neither — such as sixplexes and fourplexes — are often referred to as the 'missing middle' by advocates and researchers. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Most of the homes that we've built over the last 40 or 50 years have been one of two varieties. They've been either single detached homes or they've been highrise condos. And both of those markets are having problems right now in our more expensive cities,' Moffatt said. Story continues below advertisement He added, 'Single detached homes have become so expensive, (many) middle class families can't afford them. And highrises serve a particular market and that's not really in demand right now.' A large part of Edmonton's success comes down to its approach to zoning, Whitzman said, an issue where Toronto seems to lag. Last week, the city council voted against a zoning bylaw that would limit mid-block infills to a maximum of eight units. 'Toronto is still betting on big, big, big condos that aren't doing well,' she said. 'Last week, a proposal that had been agreed on with the federal government to OK six units as-of-right with no parking minimums got restricted to a relatively small part of the central city. That gives you a sense of different kinds of approaches that different cities are taking.' Whitzman was referring to a Toronto city council decision that allowed the building of sixplexes in only nine city wards, with suburbs having the choice to opt in. In the rest of southern Ontario, the housing starts data is a mixed bag, with cities such as Hamilton and Ottawa building more than they did last year while others are building less., Meanwhile, British Columbia has started building more houses in two of the most expensive markets in the country. Vancouver saw 3,079 housing starts last month, compared to 1,767 in June last year, marking an increase of 74 per cent. Meanwhile, Victoria saw an increase of 187 per cent in housing starts. Whitzman said provincial support for the housing sector can be a major driver of housing starts. Story continues below advertisement B.C. is betting big on prefabricated or modular housing. In September last year, B.C. released a catalogue of pre-approved housing designs for prefab housing. Pre-fabricated housing or prefab construction is a method of building where the bulk of the construction happens off-site, often in a facility like a factory. Either a fully-constructed modular home or parts of a house are then shipped off to the location, where it is assembled and connected to utilities. '[B.C. has] got a much better sense of housing targets (compared to Ontario). It's providing much more funding to non-market developers. Some of the development in B.C., I can say with confidence, is non-market development, assisted by B.C.,' Whitzman said. Next week, Vancouver city council will consider rezoning 4,294 parcels of land in central parts of the city to allow larger buildings, including highrises. 1:58 New realtor trends emerging as housing market cools National picture While the country is building more houses than it did last year, experts still worry it is not nearly enough. Story continues below advertisement 'It's hard to get excited about June's housing starts. They were up 14 per cent year-over-year, which sounds impressive, but it adds up to about 2,700 units. That's not the kind of growth the country can really celebrate at this point,' said Clay Jarvis, mortgage expert at NerdWallet Canada. The slight 0.4 per cent increase compared to last month is meager, he continued. 'Any increase builders can notch in the current economic climate is somewhat of a win, but it's not moving the needle.' Jarvis added that U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war is also going to add more pressure on developers counting costs. 'It's hard to see starts taking a leap while the trade war with the U.S. drags on,' he said. 'Developers were already facing high building costs before Trump's tariffs were announced, and now they don't know how much it'll cost to complete their projects. That's a lot of risk to take on when there are millions of dollars at stake,' Jarvis said.
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Toronto Star
Here's why your team fails to use Gen AI effectively — and how you can change that
A digital divide on Generative AI is emerging in the Canadian business landscape. Nearly half of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are haunted by the spectre of being left in the dust as the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution races forward, according to Salesforce's global small & medium business trends report. For those Canadian companies that have dipped their toes into the AI waters, the rewards are undeniable. A staggering 94% report that AI is a revenue booster, a clear signal that this technology is not just hype, but a powerful engine for growth. Yet, many SMBs struggle to fully realize its potential. Despite significant investments in Gen AI tools, teams often fail to use them effectively. This disconnect often stems from a lack of targeted training. Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
Vancouver Sun
a day ago
- Vancouver Sun
New book unravels the story of B.C. sports mogul and Australian fugitive Con Jones
You've probably never heard of Con Jones. But he was once a household name in Vancouver, a fixture in local newspapers and sports pages in the 1910s and '20s. Jones owned a chain of tobacco shops called Don't Argue, which featured early Vancouver's most unforgettable logo: a guy in a bowler hat shoving another guy in the face. He also ran several pool rooms and a bowling alley. However, the real source of his wealth was probably gambling, which was illegal but tolerated by the police. With his profits, he founded a professional lacrosse team, and even built his own sports stadium by the PNE, Con Jones Park. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. For all the notoriety he received, the details of his background seemed a bit fuzzy. Jones was Australian, but his life Down Under was a mystery. So John Fuller set out to unravel it. It took a decade, but Fuller has just released a Jones bio, Fatigue, Fortune and Fear: The Rise and Fall of Con Jones (Tellwell). It's subtitled 'Australian fugitive, Canadian sports mogul.' It turns out that Con Jones wasn't his real name. It was Thomas Shortel. He changed it after he fled Australia when his betting shop didn't have the money to pay out to customers after the Melbourne Cup, a big horse race. Essentially, he bet the favourites would lose, and he wouldn't have to pay out the money. 'The first two favourites came in first and second,' relates Fuller, 68, a former copy editor at The Province. 'He gambled and lost, and had to take off. 'If the favourites lose, that's great, I'm legit, I've got this money. And if the favourites win, I'm just taking the money (and skipping town).' That's the game.' He sailed to Vancouver with his brother, arriving in November 1903 with the money he didn't pay to bettors. Most people on the lam would have stayed out of the public eye, but Tom Shortel was a showman, with a penchant for the limelight. So he became Con Jones, opened a pool hall with card tables and started promoting special events, like smokers, through amateur sports clubs. 'In those days, the cities had what they called a 10-cent rule,' explains Fuller, who was born in London, England, grew up in South Africa and immigrated to Canada in the 1980s. 'The city inspectors would tolerate gambling as long as nobody could lose more than 10 cents at a time, and Con just milked that to the max. He would have all sorts of different little games going on in his building that the guys could play.' When the authorities tried to put a stop to all the gambling going on, Jones hired the best lawyers. 'He managed to keep himself on the right side of the law through high-powered legal muscle,' said Fuller, who is selling his book online through Amazon and Chapters/Indigo. 'His little trick was he never participated ever in the stakes of any game. He would have a little slot on the side of the table, (and) before each hand got dealt, you had to drop a penny in the slot. 'It's amazing, (his) wealth was built up sort of a penny at a time.' Jones spent a fortune enticing star lacrosse players to play for a team he began in Vancouver. Some were also hockey stars. Jones paid Newsy Lalonde $5,000 to play for his lacrosse team, at a time when Lalonde made $1,300 per season to play for the Montreal Canadiens. It worked. Jones' lacrosse team won the Minto Cup over the archrival New Westminster Salmonbellies in 1911. His finances also grew with the Don't Argue chain, which included 20 East Hastings St., longtime home of The Only seafood restaurant. But behind the scenes there always seemed to be turmoil. Fuller believes Shortel/Jones may have been blackmailed in Australia by a ruthless newspaper owner named Norton. In Australia, Shortel/Jones also left behind an illegitimate daughter, Victoria Johnson, who reconnected with him when she was 17 and was constantly causing a kerfuffle. Victoria had a knack for conning wealthy men out of their money, which eventually landed her in an Australian jail. –OPTIONAL TRIM FOR PRINT– 'She was a real talent, in a criminal sense,' said Fuller. 'It was breathtaking, the scope of it. She would pretend to be someone really wealthy who had this huge inheritance coming, and then once she got to know somebody, she would borrow money from them, usually quite a big sum. And then disappear.' –END OPTIONAL TRIM– Jones and his family still managed to remain quite respectable in the public eye, building a handsome mansion in Shaughnessy in 1922 that was adorned with the latest rage, a King Tut-themed chandelier. Jones also put a $1,000 down payment on a site in east Vancouver to build Con Jones park in 1920, which was a major venue for lacrosse, soccer and baseball for decades. It's now known as Callister Park, after the man who had sold it to Jones, who had never paid off the mortgage on the land. Fuller discovered all this through his grandmother Margaret, whose second marriage was to one of Con Jones' sons, Dill. When his grandmother died in 2002, she left behind boxes of the Jones archive, including diaries, metal token/coins that were used at the Don't Argue, and a couple of dazzling scrapbooks featuring newspaper clippings, photos and illustrations. Sadly, the health of Jones declined in the 1920s after decades of alcoholism. He died on June 3, 1929, at only 59 years old. jmackie@
