Later this month, Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) (ACB) will host its first quarterly investor conference under new CEO Miguel Martin and this is an event that we will be tuning into.
2020 has been a roller-coaster for the Canadian cannabis producer and we expect the fourth quarter financial results to reflect this. From acquiring a US cannabidiol (CBD) company to conducting a reverse stock split, the last few months have been volatile for the business and expect to similar trend on a going forward basis.
Last month, rumors about a potential merger between Aurora Cannabis and another leading Canadian cannabis producer surfaced and the market initially responded favorably to it. We would not be surprised if Aurora merged with a similar sized business or was acquired by a larger cannabis business.
If Aurora Cannabis was to merge, we would not expect it to be the surviving entity and believe that it has tainted its brand with the investing community. When we mention Aurora Cannabis to our network, we receive a much different reaction than we did in 2018 and find the change in sentiment to be worth highlighting.
Going forward, the name of the game for Aurora is cutting costs and ramping revenues. The company needs to utilize the remaining resources that it has on growing the business in a way that is profitable and will be monitoring how the new leadership team is able to drive the business forward.
Although the new leadership team will not be able to impact the performance of the company in the fourth quarter, we expect the management team to provide guidance on the business for the next twelve months and expect this aspect of the quarterly report to be a big deal.
During the last quarter, several leading broker-dealers that cover the cannabis industry have gone negative on Aurora Cannabis and have been lowering price targets on the stock. This is a negative trend for the company and one that we will continue to closet follow. We expect to see additional price target and/or rating changes after the fourth quarter financial report, and this is a trend that we will be closely following.
Authored By
Michael Berger
Michael Berger is Managing Partner of StoneBridge Partners LLC. SBP continues to drive market awareness for leading firms in the cannabis industry throughout the U.S. and abroad.