The Week In Cannabis: Stocks Get Big Boost From Aurora, Banking Moves In US, Exports From Israel

In a news-heavy week, we witnessed big earnings releases, with Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB ACB getting the most attention.

The Edmonton, Canada-based company reported a 35% sequential sales increase for the third quarter, far exceeding analyst expectations. Net revenue came in at $78.4 million, excluding provisions of $2.9 million. That's an increase of 18% over the prior quarter.

While its EBITDA loss was about $10 million worse than consensus forecasted, international medical sales and Canadian recreational sales beat estimates, and gross margins expanded to 42.2%.

“This was clearly a case of the patient being presumed dead, when indeed it's not,” Alan Brochstein, founder of 420 Investor and New Cannabis Ventures, told Benzinga.

Following the release, analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an Overweight rating and CA$22 price target, while Piper Sandler trimmed its target from CA$12 to CA$10. Brochstein expects the price to strike about CA$15.

On the other hand, Tilray Inc TLRY announced a first-quarter year-over-year revenue increase of 126.2% to $52.1 million, beating the Street’s estimate of $50.62 million. The net loss of $184.1 million or $1.73 per share represents an increase from the $29.4 million, or 31-cent-per-share, loss from one year ago.

Other notable earnings reports included those for Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. EMHEMHTF, Supreme Cannabis Co. Inc. FIRE SPRWF, GrowGeneration Corp. GRWG, Vireo Health International, Inc. VREO VREOF, Aleafia Health Inc. ALEF ALEAF. Check out details on all of these and more at our cannabis earnings center.

ETFs posted moderate gains. Over the five trading days of the week:

ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ: rose 1.9%.
AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF YOLO: advanced 3.7%.
Cannabis ETF THCX: was up 1.1%.
Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF CNBS: gained 1.5%.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed the period down 1.4%.

“While most of us are dealing with lots of COVID-19 fallout, it seems it hasn't hurt the cannabis industry as much as we thought. Granted, many companies are blaming the pandemic for cutbacks and such, but it apparently isn't impacting the industry dramatically. That's pretty encouraging,” said Debra Borchardt, CEO of Green Market Report.

Find our cannabis, hemp and psychedelics news in Spanish on El Planteo.

In other news, Dutchie partnered with Hypur to provide U.S. cannabis customers with a contactless, digital payments solution for curbside pickups, in-store orders and deliveries.

On the policy front lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives pass additional coronavirus relief legislation, providing continued economic and government support to those struggling during these tough times.

"The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act includes the language of the SAFE Banking Act, which would prevent federal financial regulators from punishing financial institutions that provide services to state-legal cannabis businesses," explained the Marijuana Policy Project.

Executive director Steve Hawkins said he's “encouraged that the House recognizes the urgency of this issue and has taken this strong and necessary position.” Hawkins thanked Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Rep. Ed Perlmutter for their leadership on the issue.

“Continuing to exclude the cannabis industry from accessing basic and essential financial services during this time will result in more harm than good. Not only will it make the country’s economic recovery that much harder, but the provisions intended to help minority-owned businesses would continue to be absent within the industry,” he said.

And in the international realm, Israel’s Economy Minister Eli Cohen signed the final approval for companies in the country to start exporting cannabis products worldwide. As reported by Benzinga, cannabis companies can start submitting license requests within 30 days from May 13, when the free export order became effective. The country had legalized cannabis exports in January 2019, but final procedures for obtaining licenses had become stalled.

The Health Ministry will now provide licenses.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with THE cannabis movers and shakers from across the globe during Benzinga’s first Virtual Cannabis Capital Conference on June 1.

More News From The Week

Curaleaf CURLF announced a partnership with Mango Cannabis, a medical dispensary in Oklahoma, to distribute Curaleaf’s Select brand products.

"As we expand the Select brand across the country, entering the rapidly growing Oklahoma market was key. During COVID-19, cannabis businesses have been deemed essential in the state, and we look forward to serving the health and well-being of medical patients in Oklahoma through our partnership with Mango Cannabis," Joe Bayern, President of Curaleaf, told Benzinga.
The company also received a $50 million investment from CapStone Holdings Inc. Previously, Capstone was one of many investors totakepartinCuraleaf's $300-million senior loan facility deal, which the company closed in mid-January.

The U.S. Patent and Trade Office awarded a composition-of-matter patent to Artelo Bioscience’s novel cocrystal, solid form of CBD (cannabidiol) and TMP (tetramethypyrazine), ART12.11, providing intellectual property protection for the drug candidate until December 10, 2038.

“Cocrystallization is an FDA-recognized strategy that enables a novel solid dosage form with the same therapeutic profile as the active ingredient, but improves its drug properties such as bioavailability, stability, absorption and dosing consistency – potentially leading to greater efficacy and safety. This patent not only recognizes the novelty of ART12.11 but provides the potential for return-of-investment on its development for major indications like PTSD or IBD, which will require large and costly clinical trials,” said Gregory D. Gorgas, Artelo’s President and CEO.

Mota Ventures Corp. agreed to acquire psilocybin company Verrian Ontario Ltd. for CA$20 million (US$14.2 million).

MediPharm Labs Corp. LABS MEDIF agreed to a white-label supply deal with a subsidiary of Cannaray Ltd. in Australia, as well as a manufacturing and IP licensing agreement with biopharmaceutical company Avicanna Inc. AVCN AVCNF.

Psychedelic-focused health company Champignon Brands SHRM SHRMF made a string of announcements. The company confirmed Dr. Roger McIntyre as its new CEO, a private placement raise of $10 million, and the acquisition of a California-based ketamine treatment centre, which marks the company’s expansion into the U.S.

Jeb Spencer, TVC Capital’s co-founder and managing partner, announced he is joining GrowFlow’s board of directors after his firm led an $8.4-million Series B funding round for the Los Angeles-based software-as-a-service startup.

Balanced Health Botanicals announced the official rebrand of its flagship brand CBDistillery. The rebrand includes an updated design to the brand website and packaging to better educate the masses on the value CBD can bring to their lives, as well as to showcase how consumers can take control of their health with the use of CBD.

“CBD has helped a countless number of people with ailments ranging from sleep to pain after physical activity as well as mild or temporary anxiety, yet most Americans are still unaware of the benefits CBD can offer. Our survey data shows most of our consumers (85%) think our new design educates them better about CBD, which helps further our mission to educate the masses on the benefits of CBD,” said Majid Boroujerdi, Vice President of Brand and Consumer Insights.

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