Plus, 3 other cannabis stocks to watch in the coming weeks
Welcome back to our weekly series, Schaeffer's Cannabis Stock News Update, where we recap what happened in the world of marijuana stocks, and look at how the cannabis industry is shaping up as we kick off 2022.
The United States saw four more states, including New York, Virginia, New Mexico, and Connecticut, legalize recreational marijuana in 2021. While South Dakota had passed a voter-driven legalization measure approved in 2020, that was undone by its Supreme Court in 2021.
That leaves 20 states where recreational cannabis is legal to start off 2022. As of late 2021, marijuana is classified at the U.S. federal level as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act. In other words, cultivating, distributing, and possessing cannabis remains illegal at the federal level.
In addition, here is a quick summary of the major (and action-worthy!) cannabis stock news from this week:
The week kicked off with earnings from Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY), after the cannabis stock dropped to annual lows last week. TLRY released fiscal second-quarter earnings before the bell on Monday, and announced a new parent company name: Tilray Brands, Inc. Tilray's net revenue was up 20% year-over-year. As a result, TLRY stock jumped over 13%.
Quietly in the background of its earnings report, Tilray and Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (NYSE:BUD) ended their partnership that kicked off back in 2018. This is a deal many seem to have forgotten about, with Tilray intent on diving into the THC-infused beverage market, acquiring multiple beverage companies over the past year. These acquisitions include Green Flash Brewing and Alpine Beer during Christmas week, which came just weeks after Tilray acquired Breckenridge Distillery.
On Tuesday, Flora Growth Corp (NASDAQ:FLGC) said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cosechemo, extracted the first batch of crude oil at its new facility, which will become the primary center for processing FLGC'S dry flower. According to FLGC, “global cannabis markets are growing at an incredible rate, and Flora is ready to meet that demand for cannabis-derivatives with the completion of our new EU-GMP compliant extraction facility in Colombia."
GrowGeneration Corp (NASDAQ:GRWG) lowered its 2021 revenue forecast this week. The company expects to post a 25% same-store sales year-over-year jump for the year, despite a 12% year-over-year drop in the fourth-quarter. In a statement, officials noted that "although we continue to grow our business significantly, we experienced stronger-than-expected pressures in Q4 from the general slowdown in the hydroponics market. We did improve our inventory position throughout the quarter to align inventory levels with sales activities."