5 TSX Stocks I Wish I'd Bought in January

By Will Ashworth

As I publish this, the TSX has 5.5 trading days left in 2024. (We still get the extra Boxing Day holiday that the American markets lost with their independence...) The S&P/TSX Composite Index is up more than 17% on the year, with nearly 15% of the gains in the last six months. For a change, it’s been a good year for Canadian stocks. 

I generally write about Canadian SMID caps here on InvestorThread. The S&P/TSX SmallCap Select Index, a group of stocks from the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index that have consistently delivered positive earnings, is up almost 16% year-to-date. Also good news. 

As we head into 2025, I can’t help thinking about the Canadian stocks I didn’t buy or, at the very least, failed to recommend investors add to their watchlists earlier this year. The profits would be plentiful. 

Here are the five stocks I wish I’d bought in January. Despite not following through, it’s been a good year for investors. Let’s hope it continues. 

Happy Investing.

MDA Space (MDA)

MDA Space (TSX:MDA) is up more than 147% in 2024 after bottoming near $5 in late 2023. The Toronto-based provider of advanced space technologies had one of the top performances of any TSX stock this past year.

The company is probably best known for developing the Canadarm and Canadarm2 robotic arms for NASA’s Gateway space station. It is currently developing Canadarm3 for deployment at the space station. 

However, it’s so much more than robotics. It also builds satellite systems and subsystems for communication networks using LEO (low-earth orbit), MEO (medium-earth orbit), and GEO (geostationary-earth orbit) satellites. 

More importantly, over the past five years, it has grown its revenue from $412 million in 2020 to a projected $1.055 billion in 2024, with adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) more than doubling from $85 million to $207.5 million. (All figures in Canadian dollars) 

Best of all, Halifax entrepreneur (I live in Halifax) John Risley’s Toronto-based private equity firm, Northern Private Capital, owns 6.72% of the company, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, making the investment firm MDA’s second-largest shareholder.

It’s a comer. 

Aritzia (ATZ)

Aritzia (TSX:ATZ) is up 96% in 2024 and 185% over the past five years, one of the better performance records by an S&P/TSX Composite constituent over either period. 

The fact that my 75-year-old mother-in-law loves to shop there as well as Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) should have been enough to tip me off that it was going to have a good year in the markets. 

However, the true catalyst has been its expansion into the U.S. As of Q2 2025, it had 122 stores open, with 54 south of the border and 68 in its home Canadian market. 

For all of fiscal 2025, it plans to open 11 or 12 stores and reposition 2 to 3 in the U.S. It has identified more than 150 locations in the U.S. that would accommodate its business. By the end of fiscal 2027, it will have more stores in the American market than here in Canada. 

The best part is that a new store is 8,000 square feet and generates an average of $1,000 a square foot in revenue for an annual contribution of $8 million. It costs $3 million to get one up and running, and the expected payback is within 12-18 months.

What’s not to like? 

Bird Construction (BDT)

Bird Construction (TSX:BDT) is up 85% in 2024 and 391% over the past five years. 

It is one of my Canadian SMID Cap 30 that I’ll be writing about over the next six months. The provider of construction services across this country for more than a century has its fingers in a lot of pies when it comes to construction projects. 

It has spent the past two-to-three years orchestrating Halifax’s most significant residential construction project in its long history. Full disclosure: My wife’s small construction company has worked on several buildings, installing trim and doors throughout. They’re exceptionally thorough about what can and can’t happen on the site. Excellence seems to be a big focus for the company, which is good news for investors. 

It’s important to note that its margins aren’t big. For example, in the latest quarter ended Sept. 30, its adjusted earnings were $37.7 million on $898.9 million, an adjusted net margin of 4.2%. That's grocery store territory. It makes a little from a lot. Fortunately, its services are necessary if you want to get big, complicated projects completed. 

I’ll talk about a lot more in the weeks ahead. 

Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH)

Fairfax Financial Holdings (TSX:FFH) is often referred to as the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) of Canada because its primary source of income is the insurance industry. However, the company utilizes its “float” to invest outside the industry. 

In an April 2024 article, the Globe and Mail noted that Fairfax's insurance float was $33 billion, 127% of its $26 billion market cap, while Berkshire’s was 20% of its US$856 billion market cap.   

From this data point, it’s easy to see why FFH stock is up 66% YTD and 265% over the past five years. Fairfax’s float is still 70% of its $47 billion market cap, which could double in another two years. Based on Berkshire’s 20% figure, its market cap would be $165 billion, almost four times higher. 

One of its most interesting non-insurance holdings is Fairfax India Holdings (TSX:FIH.U), a collection of businesses operating in the growing Indian economy. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, Fairfax owns 18% of the outstanding equity and most votes.

Since its inception in January 2015, Fairfax India has grown its book value per share by 9.2%, compounded annually from $9.50 to $21.85 at the end of 2023. It finished the year with unrealized gains of $1.7 billion on its investment portfolio.  

George Weston (GN)

You can invest directly in Canada’s largest grocery store chain through Loblaw Companies (TSX: L). However, I favor the indirect route through George Weston (TSX:GN), a holding company founded in 1882. Galen G. Weston, the company’s CEO, owns 58% of the shares.   

As of Dec. 31, 2023, Weston owned 52.6% of Loblaw Companies, and 61.7% of Choice Properties (TSX:CHP.UN), one of Canada’s largest REITs. Although Weston got its start 142 years ago, it sold the bakery businesses in 2021 for $1.47 billion. 

The two businesses are intertwined. Loblaws accounts for nearly 57% of Choice’s revenue. 

You’d have a pretty good stock portfolio by holding its top five tenants: Loblaws, Canadian Tire (TSX:CTC.A), TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX), Dollarama (TSX:DOL), and Pet Valu Holdings (TSX:PET). The REIT has pushed hard into mixed-use and residential development in recent years. It currently has 11 of these properties, which are 1.8 million square feet, and another 12.6 million in development. 

Weston stock has gained almost 40% YTD. That compares to 50% for Loblaw Companies, and less than 1% for Choice Properties. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, Loblaw’s and Choice’s market caps are $57.73 billion and $9.52 billion, respectively. Based on its ownership positions in both companies, its market cap should be at least $36 billion. However, due to the holding company discount, it trades at an 18% discount. 

Take the discount.    

Until next time. 

Disclaimer: The author did not hold a position in any of the securities mentioned above. The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Always conduct your own research or consult with a licensed financial professional before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Will Ashworth is currently ranked 184 out of 30,355 financial bloggers analyzed by TipRanks, with a 15.8% return on his buy and sell ratings. He is one of the founding contributors to this newsletter. 

Will has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where he’s appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.