$BCE

Ontario’s University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP) hired lawyer Gale Rubenstein as chair and first employee, initially overseeing about $10 billion for University of Toronto, Queen’s University, and University of Guelph staff, with ambitions to expand. Separately, CNBC and others discuss an AI hedge fund’s losses and CPP Investments’ benchmark analysis. BCE also agreed to buy Ziply Fiber for $5 billion.

Telus reported a $1.8B common-shareholder loss for the quarter ended June 30, versus a $7M profit a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 16 cents per share, down from 22 cents. Telus declared a 18 cents dividend payable Oct. 1. Shopify, Suncor, Thomson Reuters, RioCan and Sun Life also reported Q2 results and outlook updates.

Canada’s TSX ended Thursday down 10.11 points at 36,136.31 as Middle East uncertainty weighed sentiment. Canadian Natural Resources rose after beating Q2 profit estimates; AtkinsRéalis and Quebecor also reported higher quarterly revenue. Restaurant Brands International topped same-store sales expectations. Shopify jumped after raising forecast revenue above estimates. Celestica fell; Lightspeed slipped.

Canadian analyst updates reported 139 rating changes, including 77 target price increases, 15 decreases, 3 upgrades, and 44 unchanged. Optimism was strongest in tech, financials, industrials, energy, infrastructure, and REITs, with selective cuts in mining and other sectors. Examples include TD raising ADENTRA to $46 and Shopify to $175, while National Bank cut Ballard Power to $4.50.

BCE Inc is set to report Q2 results Thursday. Analysts expect CAD 0.63 EPS on CAD 6.17B revenue, roughly flat vs Q1. Wireless tariffs are down 18.2% due to Freedom Mobile’s expansion. EPS estimates fell 6.41% over 60 days. Barclays kept a Hold rating and cut its target to CAD 25. BCE also faces CRTC fiber wholesale access rules and plans a CAD 1.7B AI data center.

The article lists upcoming U.S. and Canada economic releases and scheduled earnings for the week. Key data include U.S. manufacturing and services PMIs, job openings, ADP and the employment report, and initial jobless claims. It also cites quarterly EPS figures for companies such as PLTR, VRTX, MAR, AMD, CAT, LLY, NVO, and COP, among others.

BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE, NYSE: BCE) announced it appointed Rebecca McKillican to its board and Bell Canada. She previously led McKesson Canada as CEO (2020-2023) and served on National Bank of Canada’s board. BCE also said Katherine Lee will retire from the board after 11 years.

BCE Inc shares fell 3.21% to reflect investor caution ahead of its upcoming earnings report. Analysts expect EPS of $0.46, with estimates recently revised down 0.81% versus prior views. The article also notes BCE’s AI-powered spoofed call detection, but says it is unclear if it will drive near-term financial results.

Bell says it is the first Canadian carrier to add an AI feature that detects and flags spoofed calls in real time. Bell’s Suspicious Call Detection launched in 2025, analyzing 4.4 billion calls and blocking or labeling 540 million suspicious or fraudulent calls. The update rolls out automatically to Bell wireless customers on iOS and Android.

BCE Inc. said all Series AJ floating-rate preferred shares will convert on Aug. 4, 2026, one-for-one, into fixed-rate Series AI preferred shares. BCE reported 1,875 Series AI shares and 1,976,448 Series AJ shares tendered for conversion. Remaining Series AJ shares will automatically convert. Series AI will pay a fixed 5.10% annual dividend for five years, subject to declaration.