First Quantum's Copper Surge and Intact's Catastrophe Problem: What Six Canadian Earnings Reports Just Revealed
First Quantum posted Q2 earnings on Thursday showing net income of $412 million, up from $178 million a year earlier. The driver was volume. Copper output from the Cobre Panama mine reached 83,400 tonnes in the quarter, a 34% jump from Q2 2025, when production was still ramping after the suspension dispute with the Panamanian government. With copper prices holding near $4.20 per pound through June, the combination of higher throughput and stable pricing delivered the margin expansion equity analysts had been modeling since February.
Intact Financial moved the other direction. Net operating income fell to $487 million from $542 million in the prior-year quarter. The culprit was catastrophe losses. The insurer recorded $614 million in cat claims during Q2, driven primarily by the Alberta hailstorms in June and two severe wind events in Ontario. That compares to $391 million in cat losses a year earlier. Intact's combined ratio, the measure of claims and expenses against premiums, rose to 94.3% from 91.8%. Anything under 100% is still profitable, but the direction matters for valuation.
Four other Canadian firms reported this week. Metro's same-store food sales grew 2.1%, a deceleration from the 3.4% posted in Q1. Canadian Tire's retail segment saw comparable sales drop 3.8%, the sixth consecutive quarter of contraction. Thomson Reuters beat revenue estimates on strength in its legal and tax software divisions, with organic growth of 7%. Alimentation Couche-Tard missed on U.S. same-store fuel volumes, which fell 2.3% as gasoline demand softened across the Midwest and Southeast markets where it has the densest network.
The through-line across these reports is operating leverage. First Quantum had it. Intact lost it temporarily. The retailers are fighting to recover it. In a quarter where macro conditions were neither strong nor weak, what separated the performances was the gap between volume growth and cost structure.
First Quantum posted Q2 earnings on Thursday showing net income of $412 million, up from $178 million a year earlier. The driver was volume. Copper output from the Cobre Panama mine reached 83,400 tonnes in the quarter, a 34% jump from Q2 2025, when production was still ramping after the suspension dispute with the Panamanian government. With copper prices holding near $4.20 per pound through June, the combination of higher throughput and stable pricing delivered the margin expansion equity analysts had been modeling since February.
Intact Financial moved the other direction. Net operating income fell to $487 million from $542 million in the prior-year quarter. The culprit was catastrophe losses. The insurer recorded $614 million in cat claims during Q2, driven primarily by the Alberta hailstorms in June and two severe wind events in Ontario. That compares to $391 million in cat losses a year earlier. Intact's combined ratio, the measure of claims and expenses against premiums, rose to 94.3% from 91.8%. Anything under 100% is still profitable, but the direction matters for valuation.
Four other Canadian firms reported this week. Metro's same-store food sales grew 2.1%, a deceleration from the 3.4% posted in Q1. Canadian Tire's retail segment saw comparable sales drop 3.8%, the sixth consecutive quarter of contraction. Thomson Reuters beat revenue estimates on strength in its legal and tax software divisions, with organic growth of 7%. Alimentation Couche-Tard missed on U.S. same-store fuel volumes, which fell 2.3% as gasoline demand softened across the Midwest and Southeast markets where it has the densest network.
The through-line across these reports is operating leverage. First Quantum had it. Intact lost it temporarily. The retailers are fighting to recover it. In a quarter where macro conditions were neither strong nor weak, what separated the performances was the gap between volume growth and cost structure.
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