Top 3 ASX Cannabis Stocks of 2023

1. Cronos Australia

Year-over-year gain: 66.67 percent; market cap: AU$278.27 million; current share price: AU$0.50

Cronos Australia (ASX:CRON) is a medical cannabis company that was spun off from Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON,TSX:CRON). The company services medical cannabis patients with nationwide distribution of its products.

As of June 30, 2022, when its latest annual report was released, Cronos Australia encompassed 24 companies in seven locations following a merger with CDA Health in December 2021. CDA Health, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Cronos Australia, has divisions such as CDA Clinics, wholesaler BHC and CanView, an online platform for doctors.

For its 2022 financial year, Cronos Australia’s product sales and medical consultation revenue reached AU$67 million compared to AU$20 million the prior year. It became the first ASX medical cannabis company to pay a dividend last August.

On January 16, 2023, Cronos announced that three CDA Clinics physical locations would be moving fully to telehealth to save on costs, as 95 percent of appointments were already taking place via telehealth.

2. Hygrovest

Year-over-year gain: 27.27 percent; market cap: AU$16.1 million; current share price: AU$0.07

Hygrovest (ASX:HGV) is an investment company with three cannabis companies in its portfolio. The company was previously known as MMJ Group Holdings and operated strictly within the cannabis space, but widened its lens in December 2021 alongside its rebranding to target other medical companies as well.

The cannabis investments in its portfolio are Southern Cannabis Holdings, an unlisted Australian company that operates business “across the cannabis value chain;” Weed Me, a vertically integrated Canadian cannabis producer; and Sequoya, a European CBD product company.

3. Neurotech International

Year-over-year gain: 24.14 percent; market cap: AU$55.23 million; current share price: AU$0.072

Neurotech International (ASX:NTI) is bringing cannabis-based medicines through clinical trials. Its leading treatment is NTI164, a cannabis-based medicine featuring a high amount of the cannabinoid CBDA, alongside other minor cannabinoids. The company has performed clinical trials for the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder using NTI164, and 93 percent showed symptom improvement. Neurotech intends to begin Phase II/III trials next.

On January 19, 2023, the company announced it has scheduled a meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration for March to discuss Neurotech's future investigational new drug submission in order to begin a clinical trial in the US.