The Week In Cannabis: Stocks Tumble, Kevin Harrington And Rickie Fowler Join The Industry

Cannabis stocks were back in the red this week, despite a mixed bag of news.

Cannabis investment firm Cannapreneur Partners tapped "Shark Tank" star Kevin Harrington to be a part of its team. Touted as an original shark on the ABC show, as well as the inventor of the infomercial asco-executive producer of As Seen on TV, Harrington now serves as a strategic advisor and brand ambassador for Cannapreneur Partners and its portfolio companies.

Seed-to-shelf CBD company Kadenwood LLC named PGA Tour Pro Golfer Rickie Fowler a brand ambassador.

HEXO Corp. HEXO HEXO reported third-quarter net revenue of CA$22.1 million ($16.2 million), up 30% sequentially. Hexo's net loss fell from CA$298 million in the second quarter to CA$19.5 million during the third quarter. The Ottawa-based company entered the U.S. market in mid-April after creating a joint venture with Molson Coors to develop non-alcoholic, hemp-derived CBD beverages in Colorado.

Namaste Technologies Inc (TSE: N) NXTTF and Indiva Ltd. NDVA NDVAF also reported earnings. You can find the results here.

“Despite many positive aspects of the cannabis industry these days, we are starting to get the first signs of COVID troubles for companies. We're starting to see forecasts are withdrawn and hints that earnings will be affected. Whether its issues with supply chains or restrictions on retail outlets, cannabis companies will not be able to escape the pandemic,” Debra Borchardt, CEO of Green Market Report, told Benzinga.

Over the five trading days of the week:
ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ lost 3.5%.
AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF YOLO fell 4.9 %.
Cannabis ETF THCX fell 3.75%.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed the period down 4.5%.

Schwazze SHWZ, formerly operating as Medicine Man TechnologiesInc., took over 14 Star Buds locations in Colorado.

Cannabis veteran Bruce Linton left Vireo Health International Inc. VREO VREOF after being at the company for just seven months.

Auxly Cannabis Group Inc.(TSX.V: XLY) CBWTF secured an additional $3 million in financing.

High Times Magazine owner, Hightimes Holding Corp., acquired two cannabis dispensaries in Northern California.

You can now read Benzinga in Spanish on El Planteo.

Columbia Care Inc. CCHW CCHWF said it's launching its first medical cannabis store in New Jersey.

Psychedelics innovator Champignon Brands Inc. SHRM SHRMF closed a private placement offering of about CA$15 million (US$11 million).

In an effort to effectively collect and report information about cannabis and hemp’s impact on water resources, Resource Innovation Institute (RII) is partnering with New Frontier Data and the Berkeley Cannabis Research Center to publish a special report. This Cannabis Water Report (coming later in 2020) will study water practices and usage rates across a range of cultivation methods and geographies and will offer strategic recommendations for governments and other stakeholders.

“We have been exploring cannabis energy issues for years at RII, and now we’re expanding our scope to include the critical resource of water,” said Derek Smith, executive director of RII, a non-profit organization that advances resource efficiency in the cannabis industry through the establishment of standards and best practices. “In the report coming later this year, we’ll be assessing real data from actual cultivation operations to determine usage benchmarks for indoor, greenhouse and outdoor cultivation environments. Our intent is to guide effective decision-making among our industry and government leaders.”

Ohio-based Cannabis Oil Extraction manufacturer Apeks Supercritical is introducing some major speed into its systems with the company’s first co-solvent injection module which it says will improve extraction times by up to 300% without losing the ‘tunability’ customary with its CO2 extraction units.

“Injecting a 5% by volume stream of ethanol into its automated CO2 systems, produces oil outputs at far greater speeds and nearly 2% greater yield,” said Apeks general manager Andy Joseph, who founded the company in 2001 and sold it to Gibraltar industries in 2019. Apeks Supercritical recently merged efforts with California based, ethanol extraction manufacturer Delta Separations.

After several successful months of growth prompted by consumers largely staying at home behind closed doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ganja Goddess, a California-based online shopping and delivery company, has launched its latest venture, CBD Goddess.

The company’s new sister site is aimed at reaching consumers in the booming CBD marketplace, which is expected to see CBD retail sales in the U.S. climb to $10 billion by 2024, according to projections from the 2019 Hemp & CBD Industry Factbook.

Talking with Benzinga, co-founder Tara Wells said, “Today, there are so many different CBD products flooding the marketplace right now, and consumers are largely confused about which CBD product to trust. We really took our time to select and fully vet craft hemp-derived and organic-based CBD craft products, so consumers no longer had to sift through all the confusion that’s out there right now.”

Arcadia Biosciences RKDA, a leader in science-based approaches to enhancing the quality and nutritional value of crops and food ingredients, announced plans to acquire Industrial Seed Innovations (ISI), an industrial hemp breeding company based in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. As part of the agreement, Arcadia will acquire ISI’s popular Rogue, Deschutes and Umpqua seed varieties, as well as its germplasm library, key personnel, intellectual property and facilities.

The deal, expected to close in the third quarter of 2020, will significantly broaden Arcadia’s hemp breeding platform and seed portfolio. “We’re excited to add Industrial Seed Innovations and its portfolio of feminized, CBD-rich hemp seeds to our expanding hemp and hemp products business,” said Matt Plavan, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences. “We're also gaining access to ISI's strong customer base, which is complementary and synergistic to ours.”

BioLumic hired a new CEO, Steve Sibulkin, who brings deep commercialization and company startup experience to drive the next stage of the company’s growth, partnerships and expansion. BioLumic is also accelerating the application of its specialized light treatments across crops, with an increasing focus on new seed applications (soybean) and cannabis.

“Growers, industry players and consumers have turned their attention to solutions that can authentically provide sustainable growth, including ‘growing more with less,” Sibulkin told Benzinga. “BioLumic is one of a handful of companies—and the only one squarely focused on this solution—that can verifiably realize this aim while creating a win for the farmer and environment.”

Events Calendar

Benzinga will be hosting a virtual Cannabis Capital Conference in August. Check out details here.

June 16–19: Hemp goes digital and the community is invited to kick off the summer season with an educational journey during the Experience Hemp Summer Solstice Virtual Conference & Trade Show, June 16th through 19th, 2020. NoCo Hemp Expo, in conjunction with Let’s Talk Hemp Media, is pleased to announce the four-day conference, which is the second in a series of virtual events designed for industrial hemp professionals during a time of social distancing.

Lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.

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