Both APHA and CRON are heavily shorted
Two weed stocks are making outsized moves higher this morning. First, Aphria Inc (NYSE:APHA) stock is up 1.5% to trade at $6.87, after the company announced its president, Jakob Ripshtein, was resigning.
Aphria stock gapped lower in mid-April following a subpar quarterly report. Since then, the shares have carved out a channel of lower lows to the tune of a 32% one-month deficit, but seem to found a floor at the $6.50 level. Year-to-date, APHA is still up 20%.
Short sellers continue to flock to the equity, with short interest up 26% in the most recent reporting period. The 17.71 million shares currently sold short accounts for a healthy 7.1% of APHA's total available float, and three times the average daily trading volume.
Then there's Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON), up 6% to trade at $15.11, after the company entered a supply agreement with MediPharm Labs for cannabis concentrate. MediPharm will supply Cronos with up to $30 million worth of private-label cannabis concentrate, with the potential to increase to $60 million.
Cronos Group stock has been guided lower by its descending 20-day moving average since mid-March, and remains well off its Feb. 4 record high of $25.10. The $14 level has emerged as a short-term floor, an area that previously served as resistance in late 2018 and is home to the security's 10-month moving average. Year-to-date, CRON is now up 45%.
Similar to its sector peer, there's a good amount of short interest tied up in CRON. While short interest fell off 2.7% in the two most recent reporting periods, the 22.91 million shares sold short represents 13.4% of the equity's total available float, and nearly four days' worth of pent-up buying power.