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Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CPH:CA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call May 8, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Company Participants

Craig Mull – Interim CEO & Chairman of the Board
Ryan Mailling – Chief Financial Officer
Bryan Jacobs – President

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Conference Call Participants

Maximillian Czmielewski
Andre Uddin – Research Capital Corporation, Research Division

Presentation

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Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Cipher Pharmaceuticals Quarterly Conference Call for the company’s Q1 2026 financial results. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, Friday, May 8, 2026. On behalf of the speakers that follow, listeners are cautioned that today’s presentation and responses to questions may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Canadian provincial securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.

Certain material factors or assumptions are implied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. For additional information about factors that could cause results to vary, please refer to the risks identified in the company’s annual information form and other filings with Canadian regulatory authorities, except as required by Canadian securities laws, the company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements. Such statements speak only as of the date made. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Craig Mull, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the company. Please go ahead, Mr. Mull.

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Craig Mull
Interim CEO & Chairman of the Board

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before I begin, I’d like to remind everyone that all figures discussed on today’s call are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified. Cipher’s first quarter of 2026 was an extension of our achievements during fiscal 2025. The U.S.-based Natroba business

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NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 115.01 points, or 0.23%, to close at 49,711.98 on Thursday, extending its recent winning streak as robust corporate earnings and sustained enthusiasm for artificial intelligence continued to support investor sentiment on Wall Street. The blue-chip index has now advanced for four consecutive sessions, reclaiming ground lost during earlier volatility tied to geopolitical developments and interest rate uncertainty.

The modest gain pushed the Dow closer to the psychologically significant 50,000 level, a milestone it briefly flirted with earlier this month. Investors appeared encouraged by another round of mostly positive earnings reports from major companies, particularly in technology, industrials and financial services. The broader S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also finished higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading gains on continued strength in AI-related names.

Earnings Season Delivers Positive Surprises

Several Dow components reported results that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Caterpillar, a key industrial bellwether, posted better-than-forecast earnings and raised guidance, citing resilient global infrastructure spending. Financial giants including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase also delivered solid numbers, reflecting steady loan demand and strong investment banking activity despite higher interest rates.

Technology and AI plays remained standout performers. Nvidia and other semiconductor names extended gains as demand for data center infrastructure showed no signs of slowing. Analysts noted that corporate America’s willingness to invest heavily in AI capabilities continues to underpin market optimism even as some economists warn of potential overheating risks.

Geopolitical and Economic Backdrop

Markets have benefited from signs of de-escalation in the Middle East, with oil prices stabilizing after earlier spikes. Brent crude traded near $78 per barrel, relieving inflationary concerns that had weighed on sentiment in previous weeks. The Federal Reserve’s recent signals of patience on rate cuts have also been interpreted as constructive, with investors pricing in a possible cut later this year if inflation continues moderating.

The 10-year Treasury yield held steady around 4.35%, providing a relatively benign backdrop for equities. Small-cap stocks lagged somewhat but still posted modest gains, reflecting hopes for broader economic participation beyond mega-cap technology leaders.

Sector Performance and Market Breadth

The day’s advance was relatively broad, with nine of 11 S&P 500 sectors finishing in positive territory. Industrials and financials led the Dow’s gain, while energy stocks provided modest support amid stable commodity prices. Defensive sectors such as consumer staples and utilities underperformed slightly as investors rotated toward cyclical names.

Market breadth was healthy, with advancing issues outnumbering decliners on the New York Stock Exchange by a comfortable margin. Volume was above average, suggesting genuine conviction behind the buying rather than low-volume window dressing.

Analyst and Investor Sentiment

Veteran strategists described the current environment as a “Goldilocks scenario” where economic growth remains solid enough to support corporate profits without triggering aggressive monetary tightening. “Earnings are coming through better than feared, and the AI theme still has plenty of runway,” said one chief investment strategist at a major bank. “The Dow’s push toward 50,000 feels increasingly inevitable in the coming weeks.”

Retail investors, tracked through platforms and ETF flows, have remained net buyers, drawn by the narrative of technological transformation and resilient consumer spending. Institutional money managers report continued rotation out of some mega-cap names into higher-quality cyclical and value stocks within the Dow.

Risks on the Horizon

Despite the upbeat session, not all signals are green. Some prominent investors continue to caution about elevated valuations in parts of the market and potential slowdowns in AI capital expenditure if returns disappoint. Upcoming economic data, including retail sales and inflation readings, will be closely watched for signs of softening consumer demand.

Geopolitical risks, particularly around energy supplies and trade negotiations, remain capable of introducing sudden volatility. Any renewed escalation in the Middle East could quickly reverse recent commodity price stability.

Historical Perspective

Thursday’s close marks another step in the Dow’s remarkable recovery from pandemic-era lows. The index has more than quadrupled since the 2020 crash, driven by corporate adaptability, technological innovation and accommodative policy. Reaching the 49,000–50,000 zone represents a new chapter in that long bull market, though analysts caution that future returns may be more modest than the explosive gains of the past decade.

Outlook for Friday and Beyond

Attention now turns to Friday’s economic calendar, which includes more earnings reports and consumer sentiment data. Any positive surprises could help sustain momentum as the Dow attempts to break decisively through 50,000. Longer term, analysts remain constructive, projecting further gains supported by earnings growth and potential monetary easing later in the year.

For individual investors, the message remains one of measured optimism. Diversification across sectors, focus on quality companies with strong balance sheets, and a long-term horizon continue to be sound strategies in the current environment. The Dow’s steady climb underscores the resilience of American enterprise even amid periodic challenges.

As trading concluded Thursday, the Dow’s advance reflected a market that continues to reward corporate execution and innovation. Whether the index claims the 50,000 level in coming sessions or consolidates first, the underlying momentum suggests investors retain confidence in the durability of the current economic expansion.

SEATTLE — Amazon Web Services faced a significant regional outage Thursday in its busiest US-East-1 region, with overheating in a Northern Virginia data center causing impaired EC2 instances and degraded Amazon Elastic Block Store volumes, disrupting thousands of businesses, websites and applications worldwide.

The incident, which began early Thursday morning, quickly escalated as customers reported elevated error rates, failed instance launches and latency issues concentrated in the use1-az4 availability zone. While not a full global outage, the impact rippled across services dependent on the heavily utilized Virginia region, affecting everything from streaming platforms to financial applications and internal enterprise tools.

AWS confirmed the root cause as elevated temperatures within a single data center facility. Engineers are working to restore normal cooling capacity and bring affected racks back online. As of late Thursday afternoon, the company reported steady progress but cautioned that full recovery could take several more hours. No security breach or data loss has been reported.

Widespread Customer Impact

The timing amplified frustration, hitting during peak business hours for many organizations. Companies without robust multi-region architectures activated failover plans, shifted traffic or temporarily reverted to on-premises systems. Smaller businesses and startups were particularly vulnerable, with some reporting complete downtime for hours.

Downdetector and social media platforms showed spikes in reports, with users in the eastern United States most affected. Services built on EC2 and EBS — including databases, websites and container workloads — experienced the heaviest disruptions. Other AWS regions remained largely operational, highlighting the importance of geographic redundancy.

AWS Response and Mitigation

AWS updated its Service Health Dashboard throughout the day, noting that mitigation efforts remain underway. The company is prioritizing restoration and has been in direct contact with large enterprise customers. Service credits are expected for affected accounts, though formal details have not yet been released.

This marks another notable incident for AWS in 2026, following previous regional disruptions. While the cloud giant maintains strong overall uptime, critics point to concentration risks in key hubs like Northern Virginia, which powers a massive share of global internet workloads.

Broader Implications for Cloud Reliability

The outage reignites debates about single-provider dependency and the need for stronger multi-cloud or hybrid strategies. Many organizations have adopted such approaches precisely to mitigate events like this, yet the convenience and ecosystem advantages of AWS often lead to heavy regional concentration.

Competitors Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud have used the incident in marketing materials to promote their own redundancy features. However, all major providers experience occasional regional issues, underscoring that no single cloud is immune to infrastructure challenges.

Advice for Affected Customers

Organizations experiencing issues should:

• Monitor the AWS Health Dashboard for real-time updates.
• Activate multi-AZ or multi-region failover where available.
• Review disaster recovery plans and test backups.
• Document business impact for potential service credits.
• Remain vigilant against phishing attempts claiming to be AWS support.

Individual users facing downstream app or website problems should try alternative services or wait for resolution, as full recovery is expected within hours.

Long-Term Outlook

As AWS works toward full restoration, attention will shift to any post-incident review and potential infrastructure improvements. The company has a strong history of learning from such events to enhance resilience across its global footprint.

For businesses and developers, the Northern Virginia outage serves as a timely reminder of cloud concentration risks in an increasingly digital world. Even localized environmental issues in one data center can create widespread disruption, emphasizing the value of thoughtful architecture and contingency planning.

AWS continues to dominate the cloud market, but incidents like Thursday’s highlight the ongoing challenges of scaling infrastructure to meet exploding demand from AI, streaming and enterprise workloads. Customers will be watching closely as the company pushes for resolution and shares lessons learned from this latest test of its global system.

WASHINGTON: U.S. employment increased more than expected in April while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, pointing to labor market resilience and reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve would ‌leave interest rates ⁠unchanged for ⁠some time.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 115,000 jobs last month after an upwardly revised 185,000 advance in March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 62,000 jobs after a previously reported 178,000 rebound in March.

Estimates ranged from a loss of 15,000 jobs to a gain of 150,000 positions. Economists said it was too early for the effects of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran to show. ⁠The conflict has ‌raised gasoline and diesel prices as well as the cost of other commodities that are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

Payrolls have been choppy since mid-2025, ⁠alternating between gains and losses. Economists have attributed the swings to an adjustment to the birth-and-death model, which the government uses to estimate how many jobs were gained or lost because of companies opening or closing in a given month. Some said a large turnover in firms created was making it hard for the BLS to estimate job creation associated with new companies.

Weather, strikes and government job cuts as well as big changes to the labor force as President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on illegal immigration have ‌also added to volatility, they said. Economists recommended looking at the three-month moving average of payrolls.

The labor market has been stuck in what economists and policymakers have called a “slow hire, slow fire” zone, a paralysis ⁠blamed on trade and immigration policies. Lower immigration and an aging population meant the economy needed to create between zero and 50,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population, economists estimated.
With the so-called breakeven level of job growth much lower than in prior years, they did not expect a surge in the unemployment rate, even if employment gains slowed considerably.The report bolstered financial market views that the Fed would leave interest rates unchanged into 2027. The U.S. central bank last week left its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range, citing inflation worries.

When President Donald Trump launched the “Gold Card” visa program last December, the official website promised U.S. residency in “record time.” A new court filing, however, suggests that applicants who pay $1 million for a Gold Card won’t get faster visas.

The Gold Card, touted as a new kind of investment visa that would raise revenue and attract tens of thousands of overseas millionaires and billionaires to the U.S., has been dogged by delays and legal questions. In December, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted that the government would issue 80,000 Gold Cards and raise more than $100 billion in revenue.

Yet the Department of Homeland Security revealed in a legal filing last week that only 338 people have so far submitted requests for a Gold Card. Only 165 people have paid the $15,000 visa processing fee.

The court filing also contradicted the government’s previous statements on processing time. A key selling point for the Gold Card is rapid approval. The website promised visas in “record time” and “a matter of weeks.” The court filing said Gold Card applicants will not get special treatment or more rapid approval times than applicants for traditional visas.

“Gold Card applicants will not necessarily have their petitions adjudicated faster than any non-Gold-Card applicant,” DHS said in the filing.

Craig Becker, managing counsel for the Affirmative Litigation Democracy Defenders Fund, who is litigating a lawsuit against the Gold Card’s legality, said the contradiction stems from the program’s precarious legal standing. To attract interest, the White House had to promise a fast-track process. Yet to oppose the lawsuit, which claims the Gold Card displaces applicants for the government’s existing EB-1 and EB-2 programs, DHS contended that Gold Card applicants don’t get priority or any special treatment.

“We just don’t know what the real answer is because there is no transparency,” Becker said.

The Commerce Department and DHS declined to comment. Immigration attorneys said the program is still in its early days and could eventually become successful if it’s approved by Congress and builds a track record of approvals.

Yet the court filing is the latest challenge to a program that promised to cash in on the fast-growing business of investment visas for the world’s wealthy. More millionaires and billionaires are on the move than ever before. The number of millionaires expected to move to another country in 2026 reached 165,000, according to Henley & Partners. Geopolitical turmoil, tax hikes on the wealthy and political discord have driven more wealthy to seek backup plans and residency in other countries.

America remains a sought-after destination for the global elite. Its existing investment visa program, the EB-5, often has long waiting lists and backlogs. Trump sought to raise money from the demand by creating a new program, offering residency for a $1 million nonrefundable gift to the government.

Because only Congress can set immigration law, Trump created the Gold Card through executive order. It uses the existing visa categories, the EB-1 and EB-2, which are reserved for people with extraordinary abilities or of national interest. Under the Gold Card, the $1 million automatically qualifies an applicant as having a special or extraordinary ability.

The lawsuit from the American Association of University Professors claimed that since Congress limits number of EB-1 and EB-2 visas each year, the Gold Card program will crowd out EB-1 and EB-2 applicants and “result in qualified, merits-based applicants not being awarded visas.”

“The program is clearly unlawful,” Becker said.

In its response, DHS said the Gold Card program has no impact on EB-1 and EB-2 applicants, since there are more than enough visas and the Gold Card has its own dedicated processing staff.

The legal battle is one reason the overseas wealthy remain wary of the program. Immigration attorneys who specialize in investment visas said their high-net-worth clients don’t want to risk $1 million until the Gold Card is tested in the courts or approved by Congress. Confusion over the wait times will only add to their skepticism, they said.

“Without expedited processing, the Gold Card is unlikely to be attractive to individuals from countries with backlogs,” said Reaz Jafri, CEO of Dasein Advisors, a New York-based immigration consultancy. “With expedited processing, it would have been very attractive to all and a game changer.”

Attorneys said the troubled Gold Card program has only added to interest in the existing investment visa program, the EB-5, which has seen a surge in applications. The program provides U.S. residency in exchange for an investment of $800,000 to $1 million that creates at least 10 full-time jobs.

“International businesspeople can already access the U.S. through nonimmigrant visas that do not automatically expose their global wealth to U.S. tax,” said David Lesperance of Lesperance & Associates. “Those who are willing to become taxpayers can already gain green card status through the EB-5 program, which requires an investment rather than the donation.”