Cronos Earnings Leave Little to Cheer About
Bottom Line: Every earnings is simply a reminder of how overvalued this stock is in our opinion. Cannabis cultivation is only worth $5/sh meaning the market is betting another ~$13/sh that growing cannabis from yeast will be a home run, or the company makes amazing investments with the remaining funds from Altria. Both could happen but investors should be aware they are making a biotech bet more than a bet on cannabis.
14% of U.S. Citizens Use CBD
Bottom Line: According to a Gallup poll there are just as many CBD users as cannabis users in America. We expect CBD usage rates to at least double that of cannabis due to looser regulations and widespread availability in every convenience store, pharmacy, and gas station in America very soon. The largest CBD companies are Charlotte’s Web (CNSX:CWEB), Curaleaf (CNSX:CURA), iAnthus (CNSX:IAN), and CV Sciences (OTCMKTS: CVSI)
Source: Gallup
New York Officially Bans CBD-Infused Food
Bottom Line: New York is taking a harder line than most states when it comes to cracking down on CBD foods before full FDA regulatory guidance is released next year. This could discourage CBD sales growth in NY until the FDA establishes regulatory guidelines.
Florida Likely to Put Legalization on the Ballot in 2020
Bottom Line: Florida is already the largest medical cannabis market in the country and has big sales potential once cannabis is recreationally legal. The largest beneficiaries of legalization would be Trulieve (CNSX:TRUL), iAnthus (CNSX:IAN), Sol Global (CNSX:SOL), Liberty Health Sciences (CNSX:LHS), and Harvest Health (CNSX:HARV).
Source: Wikipedia
Another Excellent Article Exploring the Potential and Challenges of Cannabis Beverages
Bottom Line: Because cannabis drinks can’t be consumed in a typical bar setting, consumers will create their own use case for these products. This article makes a strong case that companies should be moving slowly into drinks, not spending millions before they know how consumers will ultimately consume the product.
Greece Likely to Greenlight Cannabis Sales in the First Half of 2020
Bottom Line: 26 producers have been approved for 2 of 3 licenses needed to grow and sell cannabis throughout Europe. Regulators do not expect to award the final license to any company until early 2020. So far companies have plans to invest USD$200 million in Greece to grow and sell cannabis. Greece will eventually compete with Canada to supply European customers.
Source: Wikipedia
Good Article on Why Consumers Continue to Buy From the Black Market
Bottom Line: Until the legal market can match the variety and quality of black market cannabis while keeping pricing to within 50% of illegal supply, the legal market will not capture more than 50% of the total market in our view.
Weekly Marijuana Stock Performance
Even Aphria’s blowout earnings last week couldn’t keep the positive momentum going for cannabis stocks. The global index declined slightly less than 1% this week. U.S. producers fell even more, down 4.2% compared to CDN stocks which only fell 1%. The CDN large cap index was up 7% this week driven by a last-minute spike in shares of CannTrust on no particular news.
We still expect U.S. MSOs to outperform Canadian peers over the next two quarters, but if we get into late September and they are still underperforming then we think its clear U.S. stocks are going to trade with the Canadian index until legislation like the STATES act passes.
The overall marijuana index underperformed the S&P and TSX by 0.1% and 1.0%, respectively.
Source: New Cannabis Ventures
Market Outlook
Aphria’s stellar earnings this week could be what the sector needs to break out of the recent four-month selloff. Investor excitement around edibles could also buoy the sector leading into edibles legalization and first sales in December.
With the sector down 32% since May and underperforming the broader market by 50%, we think a bottom is forming as long as the broader market continues to hold in.
Longer-term, with the Canadian market legalized, we expect retail and wholesale price compression or unsold inventory from a legal oversupply by the end of 2019. Falling cannabis prices or an inability to sell all of what is grown will pressure producer stocks in 2020. After a shakeout, the remaining stocks will be better positioned as long-term buying opportunities.
United States
- KushCo Launches Retail Services Division for CBD Clients
- Florida Lawmaker Files Marijuana Decriminalization Bill
- New Mexico Must Issue Medical Marijuana Cards to Texans
- U.S. Cannabis Industry Tipped to Hit $41 Billion by 2025
Canada
- Tilray Imports CBD Capsules for U.S. Clinical Trials
- Canopy Growth Inks U.S. Vaporizer Distribution Deal
- Tilray Leases Outdoor Grow Space in Portugal
- CannTrust to Miss Q2 Filing Deadline, Announces Insider Trading Blackout
- Alberta Cannabis Store Count Surges Past 250 Mark
- Canada Now Offering Free and Expedited Pardons for Cannabis Possession
International
- Ireland Could Transform State-Owned Bogs into Giant Cannabis Farms
- Brits Give Their Verdict on Canada’s Cannabis Industry
- Thai Government Produces First Batch of Cannabis Oil
- Australia Cuts Licensing Red Tape to Boost Cannabis Industry
- Israel Promises Quicker Export Licenses for Certain Companies
About Author
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