This TSX gold and silver play was up 122% in 2025 and is surging again in January

RBC updates its Canadian small-cap conviction list, Purpose tackles the pros and cons of U.S. small caps and more from The Week in Stocks. 

Stock of the week: Sprott Inc.

Precious metals have had another record-setting week as

gold

closed in on US$5,000 an ounce, placing shares of

Sprott Inc.

(SII:TSX) among the winners on the S&P/TSX composite index. The stock was up 122 per cent in 2025 and is surging again in January. TD Cowen analyst Graham Ryding hiked his price target for Sprott to $176 from $130. Shares closed Friday at $180.84. Ryding also revised earnings estimates for the company’s assets under management (AUM) by 21 per cent quarter over quarter and 20 per cent year to date on “precious metals performance and critical minerals year to date and solid flows momentum.” He also increased earnings per share estimates for 2026 and 2027 by 42 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively, for the Toronto-based asset manager, which specializes in precious metals and critical minerals investments and operates several funds. Currently, 81 per cent of Sprott’s AUM are tied to precious metals, while the remaining 19 per cent are directed to critical minerals and uranium. Five analysts who track Sprott have an average 12-month price target on the shares of $147.00, according to Bloomberg.

Keeping score

Here’s what RBC added and dropped from its Canadian small-cap list

RBC Capital Markets recalibrated its small-cap convictions list for the first quarter of 2026 of 21 names with a market capitalization of about $2 billion each. RBC analysts have added StorageVault Canada Inc. (SVI:TSX), Osisko Development Corp. (ODV:TSX) and Cascades Inc. (CAS:TSX). On StorageVault, the RBC team thinks “storage fundamentals troughed a few quarters ago and have normalized at a reasonably healthy level.” On Osisko, analysts said “they hold strong conviction” based on the prospects for the Cariboo gold project in British Columbia. On paper products manufacturer Cascades, RBC thinks growing containerboard and tissue demand will support the stock. There were two deletions from the list: Killam Apartment REIT (KMP.UT:TSX) and MDA Space Ltd. (MDA:TSX). Names on the “maintain” list include

Cineplex Inc.

, (CGX:TSX), DRI Healthcare Trust (DHT.UT:TSX),

Jameison Wellness Inc.

(JWEL:TSX) and Torex Gold Resources Inc. (TXG:TSX). In the final quarter of last year, RBC’s small-cap list lost 0.9 per cent, compared with a 10.2 per cent gain on the TSX composite’s small-cap index. Resource-based names outpaced non-resource ones 15 per cent versus 7.8 per cent. Since the list’s inception in 2013, RBC said it has had total returns of 580 per cent as of the end of last year, while the TSX composite’s small-cap index gained 224 per cent and the main index, 286 per cent. RBC updated its list on Jan. 7.

Purpose sees pros and cons of U.S. small caps

“On balance, we’re a bit more constructive on

smaller caps

relative to past years,” Craig Basinger, chief market strategist at Purpose Investments Inc., said in an note out on Jan. 19, detailing what he thinks are the pros and the cons of the U.S. small-cap space, with the S&P 600 Small Cap index up 7.3 per cent through to the middle of January versus 5.1 per cent for the S&P 500 index. On the plus side, valuations favour small caps, given they are trading at a “more reasonable” 15.3 times versus against 22 times for the S&P 500, Basinger said. Plus, “valuations certainly favour small caps, and with earnings growth forecasts much improved, the fundamentals are encouraging, with the caveat that revisions are a bit troubling,” he said, pointing to S&P 600 Small Cap consensus earnings that have declined by two per cent in 2026. Falling interest rates also typically favour smaller companies as do mergers and acquisitions, which started to reaccelerate in 2025, he said. On the negative side, small-cap companies aren’t in a “sweet spot for the U.S. economy” given their higher exposure to “under pressure” consumers. Further, tariffs could also affect these companies’ financials. And finally, small business optimism has slumped in the U.S., a measure that tends to “correlate” with small-cap performance, he said.

Price target hikes and cuts

• TD Cowen analyst Aaron MacNeil cut his price target slightly for shares of Kyera Corp. (KEY:TSX) to $52 from $54 but maintained a buy rating after the announcement of an unplanned outage at its Alberta Envirofuels facility. Shares closed Friday at $44.23.
• CIBC Capital Markets analysts Luke Bertozzi and Will Ebisuzaki-Mackay hiked their price target for Centerra Gold Inc. (CG:TSX) to $30 from $21 on the release of a preliminary economic assessment that supports the long-term potential for the miner’s Kemess project in British Columbia. Shares closed Friday at $25.19.
• Raymond James analysts Steve Hansen and Robert Murphy increased their price target for Cargojet Inc. (CJT:TSX) to $120 from $95 on “a tightening North American freight market” due to the grounding of all MD-11 freight aircraft in the U.S. following a crash in early November. The pair said it is unclear whether that “healthy slice of capacity” will return. Shares closed Friday at $93.74.
• TD Cowen analyst Graham Ryding significantly cut his price target for Goeasy Ltd. (GSY:TSX) to $135  from $160, while also downgrading the shares to a hold from a buy. The average price estimate of 10 analysts is $200.90, according to Bloomberg. “We believe consensus is too high, given our lower forecast of consumer loan yield in 2026,” Ryding said in a note. Shares closed Friday at $129.16.
• BMO Capital Markets analyst Brian Quast hiked his price target for Aris Mining Corp. (ARIS:TSX) to $32 from $28 on stepped up guidance for 2026 gold production to 300,000 to 350,000 ounces, though that was slightly below BMO’s expectations. Shares closed Friday at $27.74.
• BMO analyst Tom MacKinnon cut his price target for Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (FFH:TSX) to $2,500 from $2,600 and downgraded the shares to market perform from outperform on a “more muted operating income outlook” due to “softening global insurance/reinsurance markets, declining underwriting income, moderating investment income growth, muted investment gains outlook.” Shares closed Friday at $2,286.04.

• TSX stock EQB jumps as BMO analyst hikes target, upgrades shares on PC Financial deal
• This TSX high flier is up 138% in 2025 and analysts think shares have more room to climb

• Email: gmvsuhanic@postmedia.com