The Week In Cannabis: Tilray's Huge Week, Colin Hanks, Allen Iverson, Seth Rogen And More

Below is a recap of the main news related to the cannabis industry and markets for the week ending July 30, 2021.

Tilray’s Big Week

Canadian cannabis giant Tilray, Inc. TLRY TLRY posted its first earnings report following its merger with Aphria on Wednesday.

The financial results include a full quarter of the old Aphria — through May — and one month of the old Tilray.

Click here to listen to Tilray's CEO Irwin Simon's Interview on Benzinga Cannabis Hour Podcast.

The combined company reported a revenue increase of 25% in the fourth quarter of 2021, to $142.2 million, from $113.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Net cannabis revenue totaled $53.7 million, representing 36% growth.

Net revenue grew by 27% to $513.1 million during 2021, from $405.3 million in 2020, driven mainly by a 55% growth in net cannabis revenue, which amounted to $201.4 million.

Following the report, Tilray joined Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, Facebook Inc. FB and Apple Inc. AAPL on the list of stocks seeing the highest interest on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets.

Benzinga Cannabis’ content is now available in Spanish on El Planteo.

Analysts were also bullish.

Bank of America analyst Heather Balsky said Tilray management reassured investors with a confident tone on the company’s earnings call. The company is now targeting $4 billion in sales in 2024, assuming U.S. cannabis reform occurs within the next 24 months. Management added that Tilray is “ideally positioned to compete in the U.S. market via CBD and THC beverages, as well as CBD edibles and other products.

Bank of America has a Buy rating and $21.50 price target for Tilray.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Pablo Zuanic said Tilray’s quarter was mixed and noisy, so much of Wednesday morning’s big move may be attributable to a short squeeze.

“In our view, cannabis sales trends were lackluster, but that can be explained by the COVID-related context (although management claimed the combined company has started to gain rec domestic share since April 2021),” Zuanic said.

Cantor Fitzgerald has an Overweight rating and $19 price target for Tilray.

Earlier in the week, Tilray subsidiary Manitoba Harvest partnered up with a consortium of industry leaders through Protein Industries Canada to develop new hemp and pea varieties with increased protein content, differential starch content and improved texture. 

And, on Thursday Tilray summoned and postponed its long-anticipated special meeting of shareholders, at which stockholders were meant to vote on two important proposals - 1) Share dilution and 2) Several governance changes with the purpose of increasing stockholder rights.

The special meeting was adjourned until Aug. 19.

Markets

Stocks posted mixed results this week. Over the five trading days of this week:

• The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ: gained 1.4%.
• The AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF YOLO: rose 0.3%.
• The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF MSOS: fell 2.1%.
• The Cannabis ETF THCX: was up 1.9%.
• The Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF CNBS: advanced 0.1%.
• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed the week down 0.2%.

M&A

Acquiring Company	Acquired Company	Price	Conditions
Verano Holdings Corp VRNOF	Sierra Well	$29 million	Cash and stock
IM Cannabis IMCC IMCC	Pharm Yarok & Rosen Highway	$3.7 million	Cash
PeakBirch Logic Inc. PKB KYH KTNNF	Stul Ltd.	$347,047	Stock
GrowGeneration Corp. (NASDAQ: GRWG)	HGS Hydro	Undisclosed	Undisclosed
Kanabo Group Plc KNB	Materia	Undisclosed	Undisclosed

 

Financings

Company	Lead Financier	Amount
The Flowr Corporation FLWR FLWPF	Non-brokeredprivate placement offering	$550,000
Poseidon Garden Ventures	JKL2	Undisclosed
Poseidon Garden Ventures	Adaviv	Undisclosed
Poseidon Garden Ventures	Dispense	Undisclosed

 

Colin Hanks, Allen Iverson, Al Harrington, Seth Rogen

Jushi Holdings Inc. JUSH (OTCQX: JUSHF) teamed up with actor, director and producer Colin Hanks to bring his handkerchief line, Hanks Kerchiefs, to select BEYOND / HELLO retail stores.

Click here to listen to Actor Colin Hanks on Benzinga Cannabis Hour Podcast. 

Meanwhile, Viola, the cannabis company founded and led by NBA veteran Al Harrington, welcomed another NBA star, Allen Iverson, to its ranks.

The Philadelphia 76ers legend and Hall of Famer agreed to serve as the official talent partner for the Los Angeles cannabis brand.

As Viola’s new partner, Iverson will build on many of Harrington’s business initiatives, leading the introduction of the first strain of Viola’s The Iverson Collection, which is expected to hit the shelves at Elevate and Jade Room in California this October.  

The collaboration with Iverson and Viola is expected to result in a variety of cannabis and non-cannabis products.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s cannabis and lifestyle brand Houseplant and cannabis giant Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) terminated their partnership in Canada.

Following the announcement, Houseplant debuted its first California Hybrid strain: Bomb Cyclone.

Tobacco, Alcohol Giants Bet On Cannabis

Trait Biosciences, a leading cannabinoid biotechnology research organization, announced that it has completed a CA$31 million ($25.46 million) Series A financing round led by the corporate venturing unit of British American Tobacco BTI, Btomorrow Ventures, and backed by Gotham Green Partners. Viridian Capital was an advisor to the company.

Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, one of the United States’ largest alcohol distributors, teamed up with Kill Cliff for a deal that will bring CBD beverages to retail stores in 46 states.

Kill Cliff CBD beverages have experienced rapid growth since partnering with Joe Rogan to create his own flavor of the drink. The stand-up comedian, UFC commentator and host of popular podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" created a spicy pineapple flavor with a kick called The Flaming Joe.

Earnings Reports

• Turning Point Brands, Inc. TPB reported net sales of $122.6 million in the second quarter of 2021, representing a year-over-year increase of 16.8%. Moreover, for the full year 2021, the company anticipates generating between $447 to $462 million in net sales.
• Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. RWB RWBYF reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2021, just days after revealing its revenue spiked 158% sequentially to $15.7 million in the last three months of 2020.
• Grove, Inc. GRVI revealed its preliminary and unaudited financial results for the last three months of fiscal 2021. The company said it expects revenues to range between $10.1 million and $10.4 million in the fourth quarter, representing an increase of more than 300% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020.
• Namaste Technologies Inc. NXTTF revealed its second-quarter financial results with gross revenue of CA$6.3 million ($5.07 million), out of which cannabis revenue accounted for 52%.

Find all the details on these and other earnings reports on Benzinga Cannabis’ Earnings Center.

OLB Group To Enter CBD Industry

The OLB Group, Inc. OLB, a B2B provider of e-commerce and payment solutions, announced its intention to enter the CBD industry with the likely purchase of a portfolio of 1,200 merchants in the CBD and other spaces.

“Once closed, the acquisition gives us a strong position in a marketplace that continues to demonstrate robust growth and profitability,” said Ronny Yakov, CEO of The OLB Group.

Canada

• Gage Growth Corp. GAGE (OTCPK: GAEGF) is launching its popular cannabis brand Cookies to Canadian consumers for the first time. Initially, Cookies treats will be available only in the province of Ontario through the Ontario Cannabis Store by the end of 2021. Later on, the Detroit, Michigan-based company plans to bring the brand to other provinces.
• Jane Technologies announced its expansion into the Canadian market  through a partnership with High Tide Inc HITI.

International News

• Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. CURA CURLF’s Curaleaf International is introducing a second range of medical cannabis flower products for the U.K. market. The move follows the successful export of over 1 metric ton of medical cannabis to Israel as part of a larger supply deal with BOL Pharma.
• Clever Leaves Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVR) will create a joint venture with a specialty pharmaceutical company Biopharmaceutical Research Company to study the DNA sequence variation of three Clever Leaves’ cannabis cultivars. 
• The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR) (OTCPK: FLWPF) announced the first sale of medical cannabis from its outdoor facility in Aljustre, Portugal via its wholly owned subsidiary RPK Biopharma Unipessoal, Ltd, representing the largest known medical cannabis bulk sale transaction in the European Union to date.
• Allied Corp. ALID completed its commercial shipments of cannabidiol isolate from Colombia to Australia, just weeks following the completion of its shipment of cannabidiol (containing less than 0.3% THC) from Colombia into the United States.

Other News

• 180 Life Sciences Corp. ATNF identified a new synthetic CBD analog that is non-psychoactive and could have benefits in the reduction of inflammation and pain. “Our lead compound HUM-217, a CBD derivative generated by cannabis chemistry pioneer Prof. Raphael Mechoulam meets all the criteria desirable to advance to clinical development,” 180 Life Sciences CEO Dr. James Woody said.
• The Valens Company Inc. VLNS (OTCQX: VLNCF) entered a two-year agreement with Harvest One Cannabis Inc. (OTCQB: HRVOF) to produce and distribute the cannabis-infused topical brand LivRelief. 
• The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan got its first adult-use cannabis delivery service, with the launch of Lantern.

Executive Moves

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NASDAQ: ACB) (TSX: ACB) appointed Theresa Firestone as a new independent director, expanding its board to nine members, seven of whom are independent.

TPCO Holding Corp. GRAM GRAMF, which is doing business as The Parent Company, said that both its leadership team and board of directors agreed to extend the share lock-up period for an additional six months.

Find out all about the latest executive moves at:

• Virginia, NuSachi And OSS

Top Stories Of The Week

Check out the top stories on Benzinga Cannabis this week:

• DJ Khaled Talks Cannabis And CBD: 'This Is About Healing, Lessons, Self-Care; Everything Connects With Mother Nature'
• The Tide Is Turning: Investing Around The Schumer Cannabis Reform Bill
• Cannabis Stocks Next Big Wave Is Coming Late August
• Cannabis Law And Markets: How Taxes And Regulations Impact Sales
• Billionaire Charles Koch: 'Cannabis Prohibition Is Counterproductive,' Uses $25M To Support For Legalization
• Are Psychedelics Legal In The US? Where Are They Decriminalized? A Deep Dive Into The Legal Status of Psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, Ketamine And More
• World Athletics President Sebastian Coe Calls For Review Of Marijuana Status, Social Media Slams Megan Rapinoe's CBD Ads
• Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos & Richard Branson: Which Market Leaders Will Make Up The Cannabis Industry Space Race?
• Does Big Business Provide A Better Look Into Cannabis Reform Than Capitol Hill? Operators Believe So.
• Low-Cost Pot Stocks To Consider, According To Entourage Effect Capital's Matt Hawkins
• Cannabis Crypto Has Fallen Flat So Far, But Similarities Between The Sectors Remain

Top Spanish Stories

• ¿Qué Es el Kratom y Por Qué EEUU Evalúa Impulsar una Prohibición Mundial?
• Cannabis vs. Criptomonedas: ¿Cuál Triunfará a Largo Plazo?
• Los Modelos de Conducta de Noduermo, el Director de los Estrambóticos Videoclips de la RIP Gang
• ¿Se Puede Tomar Alcohol Después de la Vacuna del COVID?
• Estudio: el Cannabis Brinda Alivio Inmediato a la Náusea
• Perú: Gobierno Promulgó Ley de Cannabis Medicinal que Regula el Cultivo
• Facundo Garretón: el Empresario y Exdiputado que Apuesta a la Industria Cannábica 
• Sean Paul Explica Cómo Hacer Té de Marihuana y Habla de su Amor por los Hongos
• Cepas de Marihuana: Sour Diesel
• Bizarrap, Duki y Nicki Nicole Presentan ‘YaMeFui’, la Colaboración Más Esperada
• ¿Qué Compañías Están Realizando Estudios Clínicos sobre Psicodélicos? Una Lista Completa

Photo: lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.