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The McDonald’s of Pot & The Amazon of Weed

Part Two of our look at Casey's Crisis Investing Marijuana Stocks

By Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe, October 31, 2017

Many Gumshoe readers wanted me to follow up on yesterday’s marijuana article right away, identifying the other two stocks hinted at in the ads for Nick Giambruno’s Crisis Investing… and we aim to please, so let’s jump right into it.

If you missed part one, you can check that out here — the overriding argument in the ad is that Canadian legalization of recreational marijuana will happen any minute now, and that will drive these stocks all much higher (and higher than past US pot stock booms, since this is the whole country). I’ll remind you that Canadian legalization has been the assumption, promised by the government, for more than six months, and is widely expected to go “live” next Summer… so this is not at all a “contrarian” bet, this is a bet that the crazy bubble in pot stocks that we’ve seen inflate a few times over the past several years will be reinvigorated by whatever political progress is made in Ottowa, and will soon be surging higher again. I don’t know whether that will really happen or not, and for many specific companies I’m sure the details of the actual regulations and prices, none of which are certain yet, will be critical to their success… but we can at least name these top secret “pot stocks” for you.

Yesterday it was the “Mother of all penny pot stocks” we de-teased… today it’s the “Amazon of Weed” and the “McDonald’s of Pot” we’ll be searching for.

Clues, please!

“Marijuana ‘Boom’ Stock #2: The ‘Amazon’ of Weed”

This pitch focuses mostly on the huge demand increase from recreational marijuana…

“… while there will be lots of regional growers supplying the market, their output won’t be enough.

“But there’s one company that is already a national powerhouse.

“It builds and operates the largest sites in Canada and holds almost 10% of all marijuana growing licenses in Canada.

“And nearly half of all Canadian medical marijuana patients are its customers.

“With 500,000 square feet of growing space (that’s the size of nine football fields), it’s in position to dominate the recreational pot market.”

OK, so this is one of the big boys. What else?

“It’s building an additional 160,000 square foot facility in Alberta.

“It’s also one of Canada’s most diversified cannabis companies, producing over 45 strains of medical and recreational cannabis.

“And no other company in the history of marijuana has been as innovative or been first to market with as many breakthroughs.”

OK, I’m pretty sure many of you can already name this one now… but we do get a couple other clues for the Thinkolator…

“It’s already exporting medical marijuana to Germany and Brazil. And recently it was granted a license to grow marijuana in Australia.

“And it also acquired a German-based cannabis distributor that gives it even more access to the growing German market and the rest of Europe.”

And, of course, the “Amazon” connection…

“Earlier this year, it started working on its ‘Amazon of Recreational Weed’ e-commerce site.

“It’s estimated that the majority of recreational sales will come through mail order for the first two years after recreational marijuana is approved….

“After Canada legalizes recreational pot, the market will grow from $400 million to $8 billion. And this company will capture an even bigger slice of the pie.

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“In our opinion, this company is the safest bet in marijuana.”

So… hoodat? This is, no surprise, the largest marijuana company in the world, Canopy Growth (WEED.TO, TWMJF), which is the biggest player in the current medical marijuana business, exports medical marijuana to other countries (notably Germany, where their business is small but they see a lot of promise — the German market is potentially 10X larger than the Canadian market).

And yes, Canopy did take a short-term earnings hit by revamping their ecommerce operations last quarter as they prepare for what they think will likely be a big ecommerce opportunity, as provinces and municipalities debate the right way to “do” retail marijuana.

And, as we noted yesterday, it’s a pretty big deal that mega-alcohol company Constellation Brands has bought into Canopy Growth with a 10% stake — if only because it solidifies their leadership status and brings them a huge partner when it comes to branding and marketing, which could be key advantages for early recreational cannabis companies.

That doesn’t mean there’s no risk, of course — the company is insanely valued based on its current operations, with a C$3 billion market cap despite having revenues of less than C$50 million… which is crazy-high even if revenue is growing at more than 100% a year. And it’s certainly possible that regulations could squash their “brand” advantage — which is the fear you can see between the lines of their response to the Ontario government’s proposed recreational marijuana retail framework.

And, well, the stock just jumped 30% in two days because of the Constellation Brands news, and they report earnings in two weeks… to say nothing of the uncertain specifics of the cannabis retail environment next year… so to some degree the stock is walking a bit of a tightrope right now. I’d agree, given my fairly limited research, that it’s probably the best and most comforting cannabis company to invest in, and it’s the only one that I’ve seriously considered as a “grown up” pot company that has somewhat trustworthy financials and an established brand… but it’s also priced like it’s the best so there isn’t much margin for error. There are a couple analysts following the stock now, and they do forecast profits by 2020 for WEED.TO… so if they’re right (and it’s almost impossible that they could be, given the vast uncertainties on everything from regulation to pricing), the shares are trading at 30X forecasted 2020 earnings.

So if you’re looking for something to cling to that makes a pot stock look like a real company you can invest in without first spending 20 minutes in the closet with a full bong, well, maybe Canopy’s your best bet. It would be my first stop in building a marijuana portfolio, but I’ve never owned it (or any other pot stocks), so I clearly have not embraced the “wild west” part of the pot business.

And what’s pot stock number three?

“The McDonald’s of Pot

“Growing marijuana in the United States can be a horror show.

“American growers can only sell marijuana in the state it’s grown in.

“That’s a huge roadblock to growth….

“And because of the legal risk, most landlords won’t rent to growers.

“And it’s illegal for banks to loan money to pot growers.

“So even when property becomes available, funds are tight….

“But one company has come up with a solution.

“A solution that may catapult it to becoming the most profitable and richest marijuana company in America.

“… the first publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) for cannabis.”

Huh. I was hoping for some cannabis french fries, but apparently the McDonald’s connection is something else entirely… from the ad:

“What most people don’t know about McDonald’s is that it makes its money from real estate.

“As its former CFO, Harry J. Sonneborn, put it:

‘We are not technically in the food business. We are in the real estate business. The only reason we sell fifteen-cent hamburgers is because they are the greatest producer of revenue, from which our tenants can pay us our rent.’

“And this company will capitalize off the greatest producer of revenue for warehouses, which is now pot.”

So what’s the business? Sounds like it’s a pretty standard sale/leaseback REIT…

“Simply put, it buys warehouses from large growers and then leases it back to them.

“The marijuana companies get the funds they need to expand operations, become more efficient, and lobby states for better regulations.

“Without the headache of owning the property, it frees up cash that growers can put into operations and yield higher returns.

“This company is quickly becoming the largest owner of marijuana grow facilities in the nation.”

Any other clues?

“… this company just went public in December. And it’s already paying out dividends on profits.

“I expect the dividend payments to go up dramatically as it buys up more properties.

“If you get in at current prices, you could easily see double-digit dividend yields on your initial investment.”

OK, so that perks up the interest — dividend growth REITs that raise rents faster than expenses can be fantastic investments, as we’ve seen from so many sectors in recent years (data centers, self storage, cell phone towers, etc.)

The ad notes that they have other advantages — like the ability to own facilities in different states, which they couldn’t do if they were an actual grower… though it’s also important to note that advantages that are created by regulation can also be removed by regulation.

And we’re told that the founder is an old hand in REIT land — he founded two other REITs, including one that he sold to Blackstone last year for $8 billion. So what’s the stock?

This is, sez the Thinkolator, Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR), which is a small REIT that went public just under a year ago with the intention of buying up marijuana grow facilities and leasing them back to operators — thereby providing some financial flexibility to companies that can’t access the credit or debt markets very effectively.

And yes, its founder has “done it before” — Alan Gold grew BioMed Realty into a large owner of biotech lab and research facilities, and also was an executive at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and he did sell BioMed Realty to Blackstone for $8 billion.

IIPR is quite small at the moment — they raised about $60 million last December, and they just raised another $15 million or so with a preferred share offering that yields 9%… so there’s clearly some risk if they have to pay that much for capital.

And the potential returns on their facilities are quite high, with what look like an effective cap rate of about 15% on their most recent transaction. They own two facilities at this point, a PharmaCann facility in New York and the Alaking Property in Capitol Heights, Maryland, both medical cannabis cultivation facilities. Once the Alaking property starts paying rent, it appears that their cash flow should be pretty close to break-even — rent would be about $6.8 million a year, and their operating expenses annualize out to about $7 million a year.

So they’re in decent shape if they can make some other cash-flowing acquisitions, and on a Funds From Operations basis they’re not too far from being able to cover their 60 cent dividend payment (15 cents/quarter), so that’s a pretty good place to start for a company that has roughly $50 million in cash on the books to use in making more acquisitions.

I’m sure there’s plenty of risk, since they own facilities that produce what the Federal Government still considers one of the most dangerous drugs in America… though perhaps that risk is mitigated somewhat by the fact that their tenants, at least so far, are on the more regulated “medical marijuana” side of the business. You don’t get 15% cap rates for industrial properties without doing something special, and presumably what this REIT is doing that’s special is dealing with companies that other financiers are nervous about dealing with. The financials of their deals look appealing to me, and I can see that if they sign a few more such deals and put their capital to work, this will be unusually cheap for REIT and they can probably increase the dividend pretty dramatically… but that presumes that you can live with the political or regulatory risk, the marijuana business remains strong enough for their tenants to pay their rent, and that the company can find other good facilities to buy on attractive terms.

Sounds kind of interesting to me, I do like a good growth REIT… but I’m not ready to jump in just yet. I think I’ll probably put this one on the watchlist.

But it’s not my portfolio that matters here, it’s yours — so what do you think? Ready to leap into a marijuana REIT? Think owning the “blue chip” of the business is a better idea? Have other favorites (or warnings) to share? Let us know with a comment below.

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greenfire67
Irregular
October 31, 2017 4:30 pm

Way over bought in my opinion. But that does’nt mean it won’t keep running.
I find APHQF, CNNRF & EMHTF to be more fair value & relatively solid co’s.
This sector came out of it’s slump a few months ago and continues it’s forward momentum. Market cap is rising fast for all co’s mentioned & will probably top out in 6 to 12 months.

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tardis
tardis
October 31, 2017 4:41 pm

Travis, could this be related? Could you thinkolater this?

Kerrisdale Capital Investing Notes….Upcoming Report on Pharma Stock Worth More than 4x Current Trading Price.

Tomorrow we will issue a new report explaining our long position in a pharmaceutical company with a product that has the potential to deeply penetrate a multi-billion dollar market.

We will hold a conference call tomorrow at 10:30am ET to discuss our views. To participate in the conference call, dial 888-567-1602 (US and Canada) or 404-267-0373 (international) and reference the Kerrisdale Capital call.

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Steve
October 31, 2017 4:56 pm

Big alcohol will buy out canopy eventually. And the shareholders will walk away with a lot of cash.

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lthrman
lthrman
October 31, 2017 6:13 pm

Bought a few shares of twmjf @ 6.45 so am surprised, pleased, and hope it continues for a bit.

Barefoot
November 1, 2017 6:46 am

Aurora Cannabis Inc. has also been pitched as “the amazon of weed” by Money Map Press in its Nova X report due its large facilities and online order business

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stormin
Guest
stormin
November 7, 2017 12:02 pm
Reply to  Barefoot

Barefoot it is going up nicely the last several days and will grab some on profit taking.Any other good ones. I have one that looks good,IVITF stormin428@aol.com

pjotr
Guest
pjotr
November 1, 2017 1:04 pm

it is my opinion that the amazon of weed is meant for aurora not canopy.

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v4t1n4
November 4, 2017 11:48 pm
Reply to  pjotr

. It is my opinion that, if this is so, it is misguided.

Loooong $WEED

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Gopi Upreti
Member
Gopi Upreti
November 1, 2017 3:46 pm

Hi there
What is the ticker symbol of Canopy Growth ? I thought it was TWMJF but when I searched in my brokerage account to buy some of this stock, I did not find it. Can anyone help me on this ?

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erinkelle
erinkelle
November 1, 2017 6:31 pm
Reply to  Gopi Upreti

I may be wrong but I think Canopy Growth is on the Canadian Stock Exchange and will not show up if your brokerage only covers U.S. stocks. I purchased TWMJF the other day on Scottrade in which you are able to purchase stocks from other foreign stock exchanges such as Canada and other countries.
Please correct me if I am wrong. I am new at all this.

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oregon Don
oregon Don
November 7, 2017 12:01 pm
Reply to  erinkelle

I bought it at Morgan Stanley. Also, in my home town I just found out there is no major space available, taken up by pot growers

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Terry
Guest
Terry
April 23, 2019 11:17 am
Reply to  erinkelle

CGC

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money tree
money tree
November 4, 2017 10:27 pm
Reply to  Gopi Upreti

on TDAmeritrade, the ticker TWMJF works. Over the counter OTC BBN. Good luck.

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ray
Guest
ray
January 29, 2019 9:53 am
Reply to  Gopi Upreti

cgc

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design sage
July 14, 2019 12:22 am
Reply to  Gopi Upreti

CGC

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Rusty Brown in Canada
Member
Rusty Brown in Canada
November 2, 2017 11:59 am

“The only reason we sell fifteen-cent hamburgers is …”
I take it this is a quote from some years back.

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bullbuyer
November 5, 2017 9:46 pm

How about a mobile app to purchase canabis? One company out of Canada signed a licensing deal with canapay to market a mobile purchasing app for the canabis industry. Glance Technologies (GLNNF) has that and much more. Could be a big player servicing the global canabis purchasing market.
Bullbuyer

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oregon Don
oregon Don
November 7, 2017 12:04 pm
Reply to  bullbuyer

I have 1000 shs, it is a slow rocket!

roberthebel
roberthebel
March 26, 2018 2:36 am
Reply to  oregon Don

Hope you can down size glnnf don feburary Shopify was courted by Canadian govt which will cut in way to much for anyone looking at them as a PayPal or amazon or Priceline companies a lot of those angles have been reduced even on the most important part of your profit the crazy hype Pct that makes this the all time easiest way to just multiply your money in double to triples and if fortunate to play when under two bought than cannopy aphria and the second group licence monster Aurora as long as you open a few brokerage online accounts and are thanking god you did and have been holding your breath that nothing went wrong legally god bless the Canadian govt.

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jimkar
Member
jimkar
November 8, 2017 1:45 pm

Joining in on the cannabis craze – just bought 200 shares of Aurora and the stock is going up. I am staying away from the ‘crypto’ currency investments and making pot THE future for investments of this type – those that have the possibility of going ballistic!

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dcohn
Member
November 10, 2017 6:14 pm
Reply to  jimkar

Pay Gumshoe at least and get the tips you are missing

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Doc
Member
Doc
November 21, 2017 2:19 pm

Ian Wyatt pushing “Top 3 Canadian Marijuana Stocks to BUY NOW” plus a recent cannabis IPO. One of three touted as easily the lowest cost producer as well as largest with 67,000 kg of production capacity, another as having lowest valuation among the producers at under $15k per kg of production capacity

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Dr Strangelove
Dr Strangelove
January 17, 2018 11:24 am

My money is on Constellation Brands (STZ) to profit in the marijuana space. They have some interesting plans to add marijuana brewed/infused beverages to their portfolio of wines, beers, and spirits. I was in IIPR for awhile, but took profits. I think both Canopy and IIPR or too overvalued at this point to risk initiating a position at this point.

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roberthebel
roberthebel
March 26, 2018 2:15 am

Not sure this late in the game for the newer investors that canopy and especially iipr which amazon of weed never applied to anyone unless you have played in this game since the beginning and opened a separate brockerage account for the companies that were in the under 2.00 range and holding all the cards especially in the cultivation angle alone so if money wise the amazon of pot then yes there are Morethan just one but if we are calling them that for the selection and delivery that the amazon of pot winner turned up late in February in the form of Shopify who should of held Canada govt to a much Other Pct but either way this will be a very different round with the addition of a lot of late property investors disguised as holding corps like iantus who also have already dropped the ball quieta few times with a lot of late addition investors and places like village farms set to mass produce already supply and demand will be going from a worry to meet it into a over did it and even if this is a first time buy in and you are able to squeeze at least 5k at18-20 a share for canary you will be happy with your returns that have started for you and with the delays of Aurora and aphria with there friendly take over and larger buy out slow down that steady cash steam for being able to over buy and come up with early profits to add a couple of easy 300 Pct gains from holdings that at bottom will be can’t misses like future farms and liberty health science and even if you didn’t hold wheaton since earl November to late te November in the 60 cent range or early December in the 80 cent range there Pct ages of total profits ranging from 50 Pct to 80 Pct will allow them to sell any part of the industry for nothing as well as providing customer base for there turn key to another one of there turn keys to do business allows them to make 100 Pct profit on there end to double selling to there Other turn key and pick up another 100 Pct on there sale is a amazing business hopefully with structure there won’t be as much skimming so even at 1.25 your profits can be as life changing as you can afford.
Good fortunes to all as always

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matt t
Member
matt t
July 13, 2019 7:46 pm

Angel publishing says this $.30 stock is going to go parabolic that it has 35 patents they are connected all over the world have mountains of cash in their stock is currently selling at $.30 any idea who this might be

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