The Toronto-run technology firm hit US$69.65 in late afternoon trading, a 63 per cent increase from its Oct. 22, 2019 US$42.67 price. (The Logic)

Talking point: Ceridian outperformed the S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology Index in 2019, which tracks the country’s biggest publicly traded technology firms. It isn’t listed on the index because it’s headquartered in Minneapolis, but if it were, its US$10-billion market cap would make it the fifth most valuable firm on the index. That’s well ahead of US$3.7-billion Descartes Group, but trailing US$12-billion OpenText. The company’s bull run over the last few months has included launching a secondary public offering, Citigroup upgrading its stock from “neutral” to “buy,” and RBC Capital predicting the firm’s stock would outperform the market. In October 2019, Ceridian CEO David Ossip spoke with my colleague Murad about his plans to expand internationally and grow his firm’s public-sector business. The public-sector market is significant compared to the firm’s current revenues, and Ceridian is one of three finalists to build a replacement for the federal payroll system. And in July, the company hired Gianluca Cairo, former chief of staff to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, to lead a broader public-sector strategy.