Cannabis stocks traded broadly higher Tuesday, as an upbeat industry research note helped provide a welcome reprieve from the string of losses resulting from concerns over regulatory scrutiny and general stock market weakness.
The ETFMG Alternative Harvest exchange-traded fund MJ, +4.98% ran up 3.3% in afternoon trade, with 31 of 36 components trading higher. That puts the ETF on track to snap a five-session losing streak in which it tumbled 10% to close Monday at a five-month low.
The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF HMMJ, +4.39% shot up 1.6%, with 40 of 57 components gaining ground, after shedding 11.3% the past five days.
The gains come as the S&P 500 index SPX, +2.14% rallied 1.8%, after declining 2.9% the past five sessions, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +2.06% jumped 458 points, or 1.8%, after losing 766 points over the previous five days. See Market Snapshot.
On Monday, the marijuana sector extended its selloff after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Friday hearing on cannabis and cannabidiol, the nonintoxicating ingredient known as CBD, concluded without a clear-cut goal for standardization or evidence of health benefits and safety.
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Those concerns seemed to overshadow news that Illinois passed a bill to legalize adult use cannabis, and that Alabama passed a bill to open the way for legalizing medical marijuana.
Separately, Deloitte estimated that the next stage of cannabis legalization in Canada could create a consumer market for edibles and other alternative cannabis products worth about C$2.7 billion ($2.0 billion) a year.
In its latest annual report on the cannabis industry published Monday, Deloitte said it expected the new consumer market, boosted by the coming legalization of edibles containing cannabis and cannabis concentrates on Oct. 17, will generate higher profits for retailers than cannabis products that are currently legal, and reach new consumers who may have been reluctant to try traditional cannabis consumption methods.
“The edibles market alone is estimated to be worth about [C]$1.6 billion [$1.2 billion] a year in Canada, with cannabis-infused beverages adding a further [C]$529 million,” said Deloitte Canada’s Cannabis National Leader Jennifer Lee. “According to our research and stakeholder interviews, much of this economic boost will be on top of current cannabis product spending.”
Among other findings in the Deloitte note:
• The global market for alternative cannabis products is expected to nearly double over the next five years to $194 billion.
• Nearly half of likely edible users are planning to consumer gummy bears, cookies, brownies or chocolate at least every three months.
Among individual cannabis companies, shares of Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB, +9.92% ACB, +9.54% soared 9.0%, Tilray Inc. TLRY, +5.31% rallied 3.9%, Cronos Group Inc. CRON, +6.19% CRON, +5.57% climbed 5.8%, Aphria Inc. APHA, +7.74% APHA, +6.81% advanced 5.8% and Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. TGOD, +8.50% hiked up 7.3%.
Elsewhere, shares of Aleafia Health Inc. ALEF, +3.60% gained 2.2%, Canopy Growth Corp. CGC, +5.86% WEED, +5.81% advanced 4.6% and Green Growth Brands Inc. GGBXF, +12.86% soared 11%.
Green Growth said Tuesday it executed an “arm’s length definitive agreement” to buy all of the shares of Spring Oaks Greenhouses Inc., which holds a medical marijuana dispensary license and authorization to operate as a medical marijuana treatment center in Florida.
“Entering Florida through the Spring Oaks acquisition will be a great addition to our existing MSO [multi-state operator] presence in Nevada and Massachusetts, as well as to our CBD business that already has a national presence,” said Green Growth Chief Executive Peter Horvath.
In some other corporate news, Puration Inc. PURA, +4.93% said Tuesday it signed a new East Coast distributor for its EVERx CBD Sports Water, which the company targets 2019 revenue of $4 million, after generating $1 million in revenue in 2018.
Water Technologies International Inc. WTII, +0.00% said its New Company Now Brands Healthy Solutions has begun selling CBD and CBG oils, gummy’s, creams, balms and pet treats.
Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. HRVSF, -3.43% said it signed a “multi-million-dollar” partnership agreement with the Asian American Trade Associations Council to bring their Colors, CBx Essentials and Harvest-branded CBD product lines to more than 10,000 retail stores across the country.