At this time last year, cannabis stock was considered to be the hottest investment trend on Wall Street as Canada lifted the veil of recreational marijuana, and it was legally approved for sale for adult-use, on Oct 2018.
Investors were hoping legal weed sales would grow to between $50 billion and $200 billion annually in roughly a decade's time.
This was the year when cannabis stocks should take off.
But shares for all the pot stocks are down this year, despite the hype about the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada and some US states.
Since their close on Aug. 14, 2018, to close on Friday, Aug. 24, here's how a handful of the major cannabis stocks have performed:
Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE:CGC): up 83%
Aurora Cannabis: up 61%
Aphria (OTC:APHQF): up 61%
Tilray: up 81%
Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON): up 76%
Unfortunately, things haven't gone as planned, and over the past seven months, as experts witnessed marijuana stocks go up in smoke.
Cronos Group (CRON) and Canopy Growth (CGC) have plunged more than 60% from their highs earlier this year, and are down about 15% for 2019. The fall in value has affected the performance of two major consumer product companies that back them.
Those aren't just the main cannabis stocks that are battling.
Shares of Aphria (APHA) have fallen nearly 10%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB), which has activist investor Nelson Peltz as a strategic advisor, is also down 15% this year.
Investors had hoped that the passage of the SAFE Banking Act in the House at the end of last month would give the stocks a significant boost. The bill, which would make it easier for financial institutions to provide banking services in states where legal cannabis businesses operate, still has to pass in the GOP-controlled Senate -- and that's not a sure thing.
What will it take for the sector to bounce back?
“There are still promising opportunities in the business of recreational and medical cannabis – the companies just have to prove that they are not a flash in the pan,” said George McBride, CEO of Hanway Associates, a London-based cannabis research consulting firm.
You have likely heard a lot about “pot stocks” after all, it’s a multi-billion-dollar market opening up after 100 years in the shadows. It’s forecast to grow at breakneck speed. And big companies are plowing huge sums of money in.
This should spell big opportunity for investors, right?
Before I tell you why look at the crazy gains marijuana stocks have produced.
Canadian marijuana grower Tilray (TLRY) shot up 400% in less than three months last year:
Source: RiskHedge
The valuation of the stock briefly hit a near $20 billion—roughly the same as American Airlines (AAL).
But get this, Tilray only brought in $200 million in revenue in 2018. American Airlines raked in $45 billion!
Dozens of other tiny marijuana stocks, with barely any sales, soared 10X, 20X, even 30X in just a few months.
This next one to soar might be Cannaone Technologies Inc.(CSE:CNNA) (OTC:CNONF) it could give a big return to investors because the company has recently launched proprietary e-commerce Cannabis tools BWell (
thebewellmarket.com) in the United States, Jun 2019, facilitating the sale of a large selection of premium CBD products from numerous suppliers to consumers.
Market research commissioned by the CMC estimates that the
CBD market is currently one of the fastest-growing wellbeing product categories in the UK. At the current rate, it will be worth almost £1B per annum by 2025, equivalent in size to the current entire UK herbal supplement market. 1
European Market
Europe’s cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) markets are set to grow exponentially over the next few years, with the weed sector set to rise over 2400% and CBD set to grow over 400% by 2023. Europe’s CBD market was estimated at $318m in 2018 and is tipped to rise to $416m in 2019, according to the report, entitled European CBD & Cannabis Market 2019 Report. CBD is then expected to grow to nearly $1.7bn by 2023. 2
Conclusion
To understand the Cannabis business, one must look to the past and future. It is a tough time for the Cannabis industry however, the future can be brilliant as the market will grow up and expand throughout the following years. Cannabis businesses will keep popping up everywhere. I'm sure big companies will keep on putting billions in the sector as massive growth is guaranteed and stocks will continue to rise as investors keep flocking to the sector.