Cannabis Weekly Round-Up: Lift Cannabis Expo Takes Charge

Last week (May 28 to June 1), investors were treated to a cannabis lineup presentation from one of the Canadian exchanges enjoying the growth of the legal cannabis market.

Throughout the week, the Investing News Network (INN) has been offering cannabis investors with some highlights from the Lift & Co Cannabis Expo in Toronto, which took place from May 24 to 27. A closer look at the quarterly update lineup from cannabis public companies and the launch of two new CSE cannabis stocks completes this Cannabis Weekly Round-Up.

As a way to start recapping the events from Lift here is a video round-up from the INN team attending both the Lift show and the Business Expo day.

Investors in the space got a look to invest early in the public launch for two new companies on Tuesday (May 29) on the Canadian Securities Exchange: MedMen (CSE: MMEN) and FSD Pharma (CSE:HUGE).

MedMen is a cannabis dispensary operator based in the US. The company has been focused on the US legal cannabis markets, opening stores in California, Nevada and even a medical dispensary in New York. The company has revealed its intentions in the Canadian market by way of developing and operating retail cannabis stores in Canada through a partnership with Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON; TSX:CRON).

FSD Pharma owns a Canadian licensed producer working with indoor hydroponic cultivation and a processing facility. The company is working in partnership with Cannabis Wheaton Income (TSXV: CBW). FSD is developing a former 620,000 square feet KRAFT indoor food manufacturing plant in Ontario to produce 200,000,000 grams of dried cannabis per year.

According to the company the final facility is expected to have an approximate aggregate of 3,800,000 square feet for full capacity. As part of its announcement FS revealed it has currently raised C$53 million for its business operations.

These two new listings continue to expand the momentum the CSE is seeing in terms of its cannabis listings and the options it offers to investors eyeing the emerging market.

Barrington Miller, director of listed company services for the CSE credited the approach by the exchange to allow the listing of non licensed producer (LP) cannabis ventures early on the rush for these stocks.

During Lift INN caught up with Aaron Salz, CEO of Stoic Advisory a businesses advising firm for the cannabis industry, to discuss the currents state of the market and some of the most biggest trends seen so far this year. Salz offered some advice to new investors starting to evaluate the potential of cannabis investing as well.

“You should always invest in things you can even relate to and so if you’re are a person let’s say that is particularly passionate about pets or something like that, and there might be a pet cannabis company for you,” Salz told INN. Watch the video below for more of what he had to say.

Also at the Lift & Co Cannabis Expo conference, INN spoke with an upcoming CSE listing offering an alternative business opportunity to the more established cannabis ventures. Sproutly will start raising capital on the CSE and will begin seeking beverage manufacturer partners for its patent hopeful cannabis-infused beverage technology lineup of drinks.

“We are going to partner up with people who have better marketing machines, they know how to brand and they already have the distribution logistics locked down,” Kris Dahl, VP of corporate development with Sproutly told INN during Lift. He explained the company currently is eyeing July 2019 as the date these beverages will be allowed legally in Canada.

Another developing market within the cannabis venture is the medicine use of the drug for pets. During a panel at Lift True Leaf Medicine (CSE:M) CEO Darcy Bomford said his company is working to begin extracting cannabidiol (CBD), terpenes and then re-incorporate them into standardized therapeutic products.

As part of the quarterly update season, a number of companies have provided financial results over the last week and. Share prices of the companies below have increased the most as a result. All numbers and figures are current as of 1:30 p.m. EST on Friday:

• TerrAscend (CSE:TER) – 5.38 percent increase to C$4.09
• Emerald Health Therapeutics (TSXV:EMH) – 2.20 percent increase to C$4.18
• Emblem (TSXV:EMC) – 2.20 percent increase to C$1.46
• Delta 9 Cannabis (TSXV:NINE) – 1.44 percent increase to C$1.41

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Cannabis for real-time news updates! Stay tuned to our cannabis channel for more stories from Lift.

Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: FSD Pharma is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.

** This article is updated each week. Please scroll to the top for the most recent information**Cannabis Weekly Round-Up: Aurora Wants to Buy MedReleaf for C$3.2 Billion

By Bryan Mc Govern – May 18, 2017

During the past trading week (May 14 to 18), the latest act of consolidation in the public cannabis market was confirmed with a major Canadian licensed producer announcing the acquisition of a fellow TSX-listed company.

A closer look at the most recent quarterly update from one of the newest cannabis producers to join the TSX completes this Cannabis Weekly Round-Up.

To start the week, the market received confirmation of Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB) buying fellow licensed producer MedReleaf (TSX:LEAF) in a deal worth nearly C$3.2 billion. Charles Taerk, president and CEO of Faircourt Asset Management, told the Investing News Network (INN) that in his opinion the biggest winners in this transaction are MedReleaf shareholders.

“To join Aurora, [MedReleaf shareholders] are getting a premium, and if they do hold onto the stock going forward Aurora seems to have good attention in the market and are getting a premium valuation, so it will be a good lift for MedReleaf shareholders,” Taerk said.

CannTrust increases expectations of new facility

INN also reported on CannTrust Holdings’ (TSX: TRST) first-quarter report, in which the company announced it will upgrade its production projections for its upcoming Niagara Greenhouse facility. Management now expects to produce 50,000 kilograms of cannabis product from its new facility.

In a research note issued on Tuesday (May 15), Echelon Wealth Partners analyst Russell Stanley maintained his “speculative buy” rating on the company and set a one-year price target of C$18.50.

During a recent episode of the Opportunities in Public and Private Markets podcast, Jason Karp, founder and portfolio manager at Tourbillon Capital Partners, gave his opinions on the cannabis market and offered investors his personal take on the competition between this burgeoning market and cryptocurrency investing.

“I think it is almost insane if you are an investor of any kind — public or private — to not have a strong opinion and not have basic knowledge on what’s going on with cannabis,” Karp said. “I would go so far as to say I think it’s far more important to be knowledgeable on this than it is to be on crypto,” he said. Karp explained he favors businesses with healthy cashflow if they involve alternative industries.

“Betting on a cryptocurrency is betting that someone is going to pay you more for the same thing that you bought without any cash flow generation,” Karp said. “Whereas with [cannabis] if your cash flows grow, you could be wrong on whether people want to buy it from you or not but you still win.”

US marijuana index goes up in April; Canadian index dips

The Marijuana Index tracks cannabis stocks across North America with exposure to the Canadian and US public markets. During the month of April, index managers reported that the US index increased in value by 19 percent, while its Canadian counterpart tracking 24 stocks dropped 9 percent.

“Canada’s stock market experienced mix results in April, with the S&P/TSX Venture Index, Canada’s leading small-cap index, decreasing 1.6 [percent],” said the Marijuana Index. “The average trading volume of constituents on the Canadian Marijuana Index decreased 16 [percent] in April.”

The US index can credit its boost to former Speaker of the House John Boehner’s decision to join the advisory board of US-focused private cannabis operator Acreage Holdings. According to the firm, the biggest gainers on the US index in April were General Cannabis (OTCQB:CANN) with a 96-percent return, and CV Sciences (OTCQB:CVSI) with a 60-percent return.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Cannabis for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.