Virginia Is Going Legal - Here's How To Play It

Virginia just voted to legalize recreational cannabis, making it the first southern state to go legal. This is another big step forward for the U.S. cannabis industry and another big win for cannabis investors.

I’m going to reveal one company, valued at $1 billion and growing quickly, that could be the best investment play on Virginia’s big legalization move.

Why Virginia and Why Now?

Virginia is the 16th U.S. state to legalize recreational cannabis. Here are some more details from mjbizdaily.com.

Virginia lawmakers on Saturday narrowly approved compromise legislation legalizing a commercial recreational marijuana program that could generate nearly $1.5 billion in annual sales within five years of the scheduled Jan. 1, 2024, start. Virginia would become the country’s 16th state and the first in the South to legalize adult-use marijuana as soon as Gov. Ralph Northam signs the bill, as he is expected to do.

Virginia going legal is important for two reasons: Continue reading "Virginia Is Going Legal - Here's How To Play It"

What Would a Biden Victory Mean For Cannabis?

Cannabis investors should be pleased with the results of the first presidential debate.

According to RealClear Politics, a UK-based website that lets non-U.S. residents bet on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, Joe Biden had a 55% chance of victory before the debate. But after the debate, Biden’s probability spiked to almost 60%.

This little spike on the chart has important implications for the U.S. cannabis industry and cannabis investors.

Biden

Joe Biden isn’t the most cannabis-friendly Democrat. However, a Biden presidency would likely be a big step forward to the U.S. cannabis industry.

Here’s why. Continue reading "What Would a Biden Victory Mean For Cannabis?"

The North America Cannabis Industry Has A New Champion

The North America cannabis industry has a new champion. This well-known sector leader just completed an $875 million acquisition that puts it into a position to dominate the U.S. cannabis market.

Even though shares have been rallying for the last few weeks, I see plenty of upside ahead.

Curaleaf Holdings (CURLF) is an early leader in the high-growth U.S. cannabis industry with a market cap of $4.5 billion and operations in 18 states.

However, after one of the largest acquisitions in the history of the U.S. cannabis industry, Curaleaf has definitively taken the crown as the largest cannabis company in North America.

On July 23, Curaleaf completed its $875 million acquisition of Grass Roots, a fellow Chicago-based industry leader that operates in 12 states, owns 52 dispensaries, 14 cultivation sites, and 14 processing sites.

The new combined entity will become the largest cannabis company in the world by revenue. Here are some more details from the press release. Continue reading "The North America Cannabis Industry Has A New Champion"

Will Cannabis Stocks Soar Again?

The most important time of the quarter has arrived for cannabis stocks.

Earnings season is when companies reveal sales and earnings results for the previous quarter – and just as important, the company provides guidance on what investors should expect for the following quarter.

Quarterly earnings that beat expectations have a documented history of helping shares outperform the broader stock market in the following weeks and months.

On Wall Street, this pattern is known as the post-earnings announcement drift (PEAD).

Post-earnings announcement drift is the tendency for a stock’s cumulative abnormal returns to drift in the direction of an earnings surprise for several weeks (or even several months) following an earnings announcement.

Here are some more details from Wikipedia.

Once a firm’s current earnings become known, the information content should be quickly digested by investors and incorporated into the efficient market price. However, it has long been known that this is not exactly what happens.

For firms that report good news in quarterly earnings, their abnormal security returns tend to drift upwards for at least 60 days following their earnings announcement. Similarly, firms that report bad news in earnings tend to have their abnormal security returns drift downwards for a similar period. This phenomenon is called post-announcement drift.

cannabis stocks

The power and reliability of the PEAD was on full display in the cannabis sector last quarter. An elite group of early cannabis leaders delivered impressive quarterly results that have been driving shares higher for the last two months. Continue reading "Will Cannabis Stocks Soar Again?"

An Industry That Could Be A "Savior"

A few years ago, the investing world was enthralled with the idea that the marijuana industry was going to be the ‘next big investing trend.’ Unfortunately, for most who bought into the hype, the investments in the industry have not lived up to their promises. However, that may soon be changing.

The big marijuana players and their investors have all suffered over the years for several reasons. First, the industry is simply too fragmented for a single or handful of players to dominate the landscape. This is an issue because while competition is good, too much competition doesn’t allow individual companies in the industry to experience the power of ‘scale.’

What that means is, let’s say a marijuana company opens a farm. The farm may be large enough to produce 100 pounds, which is enough to cover the costs of the farm and the farmer. However, that 100 pounds aren’t enough to cover the cost of the transportation of the product from the farm, the distribution center, the security for the farm and distribution center, or the research and development so that the farmer can become more efficient and offer different strains. The fragmentation of the industry also hurts pricing power. The more competition means people trying to push product, perhaps simply to cover costs, means prices hit near rock bottom.

Another reason the industry has suffered is the very slow progress of legalizing marijuana both in most US States and the vast majority of countries around the world. With only a handful of states in the US having legalized the plant and the Federal Government still considering it a controlled substance, adoption rates around the country have been sluggish. When the industry was expecting to grow due to increasing numbers of legalized States rapidly, investors were pouring money into them. However, that money has begun drying up, which is now causing problems on balance sheets and debt levels. Continue reading "An Industry That Could Be A "Savior""