Hot Picks: Canadian stocks seen as buying opportunity amid AI concerns

An analyst says select Canadian stocks could benefit from strong long-term demand trends, even as artificial intelligence concerns weigh on parts of the market.

BNN Bloomberg spoke with Chris Murray, managing director in institutional equity research at ATB Capital Markets, about why he sees opportunity in WSP Global, NFI Group and Boyd Group Services.

Key Takeaways

• Engineering and infrastructure firms are expected to benefit from growing demand in power, data centres and global infrastructure projects.
• Artificial intelligence is seen as a productivity enhancer for knowledge-based industries rather than a disruptive force in certain sectors.
• Manufacturing recovery from pandemic-related disruptions is supporting improved margins, earnings growth and balance sheet strength.
• Strong backlogs and embedded relationships with customers provide visibility and stability for future revenue growth.
• Industry consolidation and increasing complexity in services are expected to favour larger, more sophisticated operators over time.

Read the full transcript below:

ANDREW: Time for Hot Picks. Today, we’re zeroing in on three stocks in the Canadian market. Our guest has WSP Global as his top selection. We are joined by Chris Murray, institutional equity research at ATB Capital Markets. Thanks very much for joining us, Chris.

CHRIS: Thanks, Andy.

ANDREW: Tell us about WSP Global. Remind us how they make most of their money, please.

CHRIS: Yeah, so WSP Global is an international engineering consulting firm with a wide range of clients, doing everything from water through power. They do transportation and buildings, and they’ve been involved, for the most part, in building infrastructure around the globe for many, many years.

ANDREW: What attracts you to the stock right now? I see it is down over the past year.

CHRIS: It really is, and I think that’s what creates the opportunity and why we like it right now. One of the broader themes around AI has been disruption in a lot of the services and consultancy businesses. We think what’s been misunderstood about the engineering space is the fact that they’ve got deep knowledge and deep data. While AI is going to be an important part of the go-forward story for the engineering space, there’s been concern about that disruption. Given the years of data they’ve accumulated and their ability to use some of these AI tools, we think it’s actually a positive opportunity set that will help them grow in the future.

ANDREW: And they have a big franchise — you may have mentioned this — in electricity and power, which is such a hot area right now?

CHRIS: They really do. In fact, they made a fairly large acquisition in the U.S. last year of a firm called Power Engineers. It probably makes them one of the largest power engineering consulting firms in the world. When you think about data centres and demand for power transmission, they’re certainly going to be involved in a lot of that across the globe.

ANDREW: Your next idea is NFI Group. Maybe we could put up a five-year chart, because they were plagued for a good while by spare parts glitches and shortages, but they now have a $13 billion backlog?

CHRIS: Exactly. If you think about NFI, it really was one of those manufacturing stories negatively impacted by COVID-19 and some of the echoes of COVID-19 that affected supply chains. We’re really on the far side of that now. What we are seeing is good demand. You’ve noted the large backlog, but what’s also been important is that the quality of that backlog has increased materially. Over several years, we expect to see margin expansion and earnings growth, along with deleveraging. Coupled with improved earnings, that should bring leverage and debt levels down. All that combined — earnings growth on top of multiple expansion — translates into a pretty powerful stock story.

ANDREW: And they have a franchise in electric buses, although operators are very slow to make decisions, it sounds like.

CHRIS: Yeah. The way to think about it is they have a dominant market position in North American transit and coach buses. They’ve got the ability to operate on both sides of the border, so tariffs — while something we keep an eye on — are manageable. They’re also propulsion-agnostic. If there is a shift away from EVs to conventional diesel, hybrid or CNG buses, they can fulfill all those orders. They’re deeply embedded with transit authorities across North America, and you’re starting to see those opportunities become quite meaningful.

ANDREW: And finally, Boyd Group Services, the big chain of auto repair shops. What draws you to that stock?

CHRIS: It’s been interesting over the last few years. This ties into consumer pressure from the spike in inflation. What we’ve seen is insurance rates, particularly in the U.S., rise significantly, and now we’re starting to see some normalization. We’re also seeing normalization in vehicle prices. On top of that, Boyd has been active with acquisitions, including a large deal in the southeastern U.S. last year that provides additional growth opportunities. We’re starting to see a return to positive same-store sales, which began in Q3 and Q4. The numbers were a bit below our estimates, but we expect continued improvement through 2026. On top of that, there should be further industry consolidation, and over the next four to five years, we expect earnings could double.

ANDREW: It’s interesting that the stock has been dropping lately. Cars are so expensive to repair right now and technologically complex. Some see that as an advantage to Boyd, because it’s a large operator that can invest in complex equipment.

CHRIS: Exactly. Part of the argument we’ve made is that insurers are trying to find better ways to run the system, including through technology. They’re focused on directing more work to sophisticated operators that can handle advanced electronics, scanning, calibration and more complex materials, and do so efficiently. That creates a better overall outcome. This is where we think you’ll see strong growth come through.

ANDREW: You have engineering training yourself. Do you think cars have become too complicated?

CHRIS: I think what we’re seeing is the evolution of several standards — fuel efficiency and safety standards, for example. To meet those goals, technology has to evolve. I think cars will continue to become more complex. There’s also discussion around self-driving vehicles and AI. That trend is unlikely to reverse anytime soon.

ANDREW: Thank you very much, Chris. Really appreciate it. Chris Murray, institutional equity research at ATB Capital Markets.

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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the April 22, 2026 interview with Chris Murray are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.