by Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe | May 8, 2019 10:46 am
The other four stocks teased by Jimmy Mengel[1] for his Crow’s Nest newsletter aren’t necessarily as interesting (story wise) as the one we looked at yesterday[2]… but I promised to try to ID them for you, so let’s jump right in.
I should let you know, first, that some of these are guesses. As usual, I’ll be clear when they are (I generally don’t like to post something that I’m less than 99% certain of, and usually we’re easily at 100% with the Thinkolator results, but sometimes I’ll hazard a guess).
We’ll go through them one at a time… first clues:
“BUYOUT FRENZY STOCK #2: A Green Grower for Big Growth
“I’ve found a marijuana[3] grower that’s expertly avoided the pitfalls of many of the other cannabis companies in the space.
“It owns grow sites all across Canada[4], and it’s proven itself time and time again in its ability to translate scientific and agricultural expertise into profits.
“This company is nimble and is ready to expand into new markets in Canada, the U.S., and across the globe.”
Not much in the way of actual clues, there, so I’ll leave it to you to guess… pretty much any of the larger growers would fit those clues. My guess would be Aurora (ACB) or the controversy-mired Aphria (APHA), but those are just guesses. Both are pretty ludicrously valued based on the size of their current market, but, of course, that’s true of pretty much all growers. Given their generally more steady profitability growth in 2017 and 2018 (though they’re not operating at a profit right now), I’d probably single out APHA as my top guess for those very limited clues.
Analysts continue to anticipate that sales for the big players (including ACB, APHA and CGC, though you could throw a couple others in as well) will quadruple over the next three years as legalization settles in, but those estimates would have to be considered pretty wild guesses at this point — since no one knows how supply and demand will shake out in Canada for their core products, which brands will emerge (and whether anyone is allowed to advertise heavily to help build some brands), or what value-added products will be legalized in the coming years.
I don’t really have a lot of confidence in the sustainability of being primarily a “grower” — it seems almost inevitable that prices are going to fall pretty precipitously over the next few years, and Canadian growers have almost certainly overbuilt their capacity, but your opinion could easily differ.
My bias is that I think of marijuana as an agricultural product, and expect it to pretty quickly become a fungible commodity. If you think of it more like wine grapes than like barley for beer, and think the growing location or the skill of the grower or the proprietary plant variety will matter more than the tonnage or the branding of the end product, then you might be more excited than I am about picking the best growers from the list.
If you are intrigued by Aphria, by the way, whether it’s Mengel’s pick or not, do pay attention to the kerfuffle they are trying to recover from — there was a strong short seller campaign against the stock early this year, alleging, among other things, that they overpaid for their Latin American acquisitions in part because the management team had a conflict of interest… that drove the shares down and led to a shakeup at the top, then a takeover attempt from Green Growth Brands that fell flat and was canceled a few weeks ago. I’m not interested in the stock, but it does trade at a dramatically lower valuation (on sales, at least) than either Canopy or Aurora… and it has obviously been a takeover target, at least briefly, though there wasn’t much interest in shareholders in selling at what they must believe are depressed prices.
Next?
“BUYOUT TARGET STOCK #3: Ditching Painkillers for Cannabis
“The management team of this next company is no stranger to the painkiller market…
“The co-founder and president is literally the man who brought the world the $3.6 billion painkiller OxyContin through his time as CEO at Purdue Pharma, one of the world’s largest privately-held pharmaceutical companies.
“But he’s left all that behind and is ready to bring the world a better product, free of the drawbacks of highly-addictive painkillers.
“His mission is to bring consistency to medical-grade cannabis.
“As the founders of this company told me on record: ‘We’re going to be producing that same consistent high quality… it’ll be the same every time. That’s what’s going to command the premium price.'”
That one is a stock that Mengel has been touting for years, Emblem… but it has now merged into Aleafia Health (ALEF.TO, ALEAF OTC in the US). This is how they describe themselves:
“Aleafia Health Inc is a vertically integrated cannabis health and wellness company which owns three cannabis product and cultivation facilities where it produces a diverse portfolio of commercially high-margin derivative products including oils, capsules and sprays. The company operates national network of medical cannabis clinics and has seen over 60,000 patients to date.”
Don’t know much else about them, though they say they’re growing fast and you can see their investor presentation here[5]. Their press release from last week[6] includes a little more detail, including the fact that the combined company hit revenue of $11.5 million in 2018 — which is rapid growth but, of course, that’s nowhere near enough revenue to cover their expenses, and it’s still trivial relative to the size of the company (market cap is about US$340 million). An interesting take on building up a medical cannabis brand network, so those interested in the health and wellness side might want to read up on this one some more.
While you do that, we’ll move on…
“BUYOUT TARGET STOCK #4: The FedEx of Cannabis
This company is currently constructing an 800,000-square-foot production facility at an international airport.
“It will be capable of producing in excess of 100,000 kg of cannabis per year.
“It’s also the world’s only cannabis facility located on the property of an international airport, which gives it access to international customs, as well as air and ground domestic and international courier services.
“AND BUILT-IN BONUS PROFITS: any and all new legalizations in the U.S. or global markets will bring an instant additional windfall.
“This pick already has the potential to instantly turn a $5,000 investment into $50,000… but its positioning in the U.S. can line your pockets with additional gains from there.”
That’s almost certainly Aurora Cannabis (ACB)[7], another of the large growers in Canada that’s also trying to set itself up strategically for international expansion. That hint is pretty old, so presumably this is one that they’re recycling from one of the older teaser pitches Mengel made in the past — the Aurora Sky growing facility was one of the more advanced facilities when it was being built near Edmonton airport in 2017, but construction was completed last year and they got their selling license back in October.
Aurora has been busy acquiring other growers for years as it expands, and it’s one of the biggies, so its earnings are always watched closely — they should report next week, there’s a sumup here from a Motley Fool[8] writer about what to look for in that report.
If Aurora does ever end up getting bought out, it would probably mostly be because they’re just one of the biggies and someone wants some instant scale. I’ve seen rumors over the past year or so indicating that both Diageo (DEO)[9] and Coca Cola (KO)[10] were interested in Aurora, though nothing big yet and Aurora just keeps acquiring more companies and growing its footprint… and, of course, all those acquisitions are being done with shares, so the share count is soaring and Aurora is trading at a bit of a price/sales discount to Canopy (assuming, for a moment, that anyone is thinking of valuation when it comes to Canadian marijuana growers).
And one more…
“BUYOUT TARGET STOCK #5: The Amazon of Marijuana
“Cannabis in pre-dosed pill form has become the new standard for medical marijuana.
It bypasses the risks and inconsistencies of smoking and puts medical cannabis where it most needs to be for many patients: on the shelf of the medicine cabinet.“This company has a growing share of the market, and it’s ready to jump into new areas.
“It has a streamlined process for new patients to find a clinic and receive a diagnosis.
“The diagnostic process is simple and easy… and keeps patients locked in.
“Then it supports these patients with direct shipments right to their doorstep.
“These are regularly-scheduled deliveries, not one-offs, and so they provide stable revenue.
“And a delivery takes just 24 hours to be processed and shipped — just like Amazon!
“This is the future of the industry, and this innovative company has very few rivals who can match its consistency, quality, and convenience.”
This is also less than certain, but I’ll go out on a limb and guess that it’s likely to be another pitch for the beaten-down Namaste Technologies (N.V in Toronto, NXTTF OTC in the US), which does have ambitions for that “Amazon of Weed” label, though once you get past that ambitious goal the company itself has been wildly disappointing — led by their now-ousted CEO Sean Dollinger, who was accused of fraud by Citron back in October[11].
I don’t really know if Mengel is pitching Namaste here — it is a company that was built up to create a telemedicine and big data[12]-fueled medical marijuana service to connect patients with virtual doctors (and prescriptions) and the best strains of marijuana, sold through their CannMart marketplace, though for most of its short life it has just been a roll-up of vape-pen retailers. It’s the best match for the clues, though I’d feel substantially more comfortable with Aleafia than with Namaste at this point on the “targeted wellness strains” and “relationships with doctors and clinics” front.
They are in transition to new leadership now, so I have no idea what their new strategy will be or how they’ll sell themselves, and they haven’t yet even released current financials yet, so buyer beware (they’ve also been dropping the “medical” pitch from their promo materials to some degree, it seems to me, so maybe they’re going after the recreational market more — which is, of course, likely to much bigger but also lower margin and more competitive).
This is one of the few marijuana stocks that has been a genuinely terrible performer, down about 80% from its highs of last Fall when it was touted by the Motley Fool as “Tom Gardner[13]’s Favorite Marijuana Stock” (a suggestion I imagine Gardner regrets, though he’s never written about it publicly), so maybe it appeals to bargain hunters who are on the takeover hunt… but it’s hard to see a large brand wanting to tie itself to this operation.
So… as I said, not so definitive this time around — Aurora and Aleafia are pretty certain matches, Namaste and Aphria are more in the “guess” category. Have any better matches for those four? Or any other marijuana takeover candidates you think are more compelling for whatever reason? Let us know with a comment below.
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I’m very familiar with Aphria and Aurora. While planning large production Aphria . has been rocked by scandal, many lawsuits, resignation/ retirement? of CEO and one of the founders, over extension and poor execution of the new management team. Conversely ACB doesn’t have these problems, but has been highly diluted so there are a lot of shares outstanding. Organigram is my choice for a well run, sensibly growing company. Check them out.
Agreed Dortelli. It seems that some of these companies were started by guys who were probably unfit and/ or untrained for the world stage. As a Human Resources professional, I believe that some of these corporate defectors will be visited by the SEC and the D,O,J. The blogs also talk about the scandal at Medmen (MMNFF). Thorough due diligence and reading Motley Fool can prevent getting fleeced and protect profits.
Agree with OGRMF Organigram. April 26 they applied to be listed on NASDAQ; generally takes about a month to be approved. If approved, would be worthwhile to buy before approval.
Hey Steve, I have owned Organigram since last September. They are up 19% in my portfolio, even better than Aurora! CURLF, ORHOF and CRON and HEXO are performing for me. I hope CGC gets past the objection from Marcato Capital.
me too, bought $2k speculative Organigram OGRMF June 1, ’18, now up 77.49%. I am considering buying a bit more before the end of the month.
I’ve been following Aphria for a while. New management include founder and former CEO of Haines Celestrial and former President of Diageo Canada. If they get things right Aphria has the biggest bang for the buck. IMO , they are very undervalued and I’m in it for a triple or more from current share price of roughly $7.00 US within next 2 years.
Aphria: Down 19%
Another one of the most popular pot stocks, Aphria (NYSE:APHA), found the sledding in April tough as well. Despite slotting in as the third-largest grower in Canada, with 255,000 kilos of peak annual output when at full capacity, third-quarter earnings results absolutely doomed the company.
Hello Gum Shoer’s
Aphria is red hot right now, Aurora isn’t doing much right now but I think they have another merge deal in mind. All companies know now that joining in with another company boost everything. I have to give Jimmy Mengal credit he predicted Canopy Growth awhile ago. To me out of all these gurus Jimmy mingle is probably the best. but I do have to say Matt McCall is also good. Matt McCall just made a prediction that the U.S. will legalize Marijuana on June 21st, 2019. So now you have to buy another set of stocks. And of course, the 2M fantasy is explained. This is what he is going by A former GOP lawmaker Republican Dana Rohrabacher spilled the beans during a recent FOX interview saying ” I have been talking to people inside the Whitehouse who know and inside the Presidents entourage I have been talking to them at length”. That again is claiming that on June 21, 2019, Marijuana will become legal in the whole United States of America. That’s what was said you can take it or leave it. But on the safe side, I will have money in my Schwab account and Matt McCall is supposed to give me like 5 penny stocks that are supposed to leap on the 21st. I will also post them on the IPO Matt McCall said was FLOWR you all know what I am talking about correct if not email me and will make sure you know where to go. I don’t think someone can tell you something and like none of them were correct. To be honest I think It’s either MattMcCall or Bonner & Bonner that the rest of these gurus buy their program and go from it to their followers. But I will be prepared for June 21st. Plus remember I will also post the stock that is supposed to soar on May 31st in the same report.
Thank-You
FRANK8MORRISS
cardano4.65e@gmail.com
You can also email me if you want to know some stock to watch and some other information about Marijuana stock
I do have to say ever since I started with Marijuana stocks. Sometimes I wake at 7:00 and can go until 2 am going through different marijuana sites and finding out a lot of information. A good site is pot network, seeking Alfa, Grizzle, Investing .com.
I have bi-polar and my mind is so preoccupied that I don’t even go there and feel a lot better. I also know I am going to make a substantial amount of money from this.
For the ‘bipolar aspect’ of your message …. look into this Canadian company that will parlay with your medical doctor. The company began when a Mennonite farmer lost his wife to suicide via a severe mental illness and he and another Mennonite friend began to develop several formulas of mineral & vitamins in which to treat others who suffer from
brain disorders such as bipolar/schizophrenia/
clinical depression/manic depression, ect.
Harvard began studies based upon this company’s product and the results are very impressive:
http://www.truehope.com
Interested in information on up and coming pot stocks HELP !!
Just buy the etf MJ and sleep at night
Which ones do you like best….YOLO?
There’s a hot new ETF that could help you play the cannabis space
There’s a hot new ETF that could help you play the cannabis space
3:49 PM ET Mon, 22 April 2019 | 03:40
You only live once, but when it comes to cannabis, your investing options are seemingly endless.
Case in point: Last week saw the debut of a new marijuana-themed exchange-traded fund called the AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF, an actively managed fund with nearly $2.5 million assets under management. Trading under the ticker YOLO, the ETF is backed by BNY Mellon and holds shares of Canadian growers like Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth.
A few things about this particular fund set it apart from its 3-year-old counterpart, the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF, ticker MJ. First, it’s actively managed, which means that it aims to outperform the broader cannabis space with the help of a professional money manager. Second, it’s bank-backed, which lends credibility.
“The previous fund here, MJ, had to kind of do a bit of an end-around” with its backers, ETF.com Managing Director Dave Nadig told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday. “They sort of turned a Latin American real estate fund into a marijuana fund. … They had to go get Wedbush, a broker-dealer, to hold the assets. And that’s fine, but the difference is it’s not a bank. It’s not regulated like a bank, and a lot of institutional investors really care about these things.”
AdvisorShares got around those hurdles by putting together a preapproved list of holdings with BNY Mellon, Nadig said.
“Because it’s actively managed, obviously they need to know what’s OK and what’s not OK” to trade, he said. “So they’re working through their ‘OK’ list, and they’ve put together a portfolio which, when you look at it, looks like a pretty darn good pure-play cannabis ETF.”
Another important distinction is YOLO’s list of holdings, which includes 20 stocks involved either directly or tangentially in the marijuana trade. Nadig pointed out just how “pure” that looks in comparison to MJ, which invests in companies like gardening product maker Scotts Miracle-Gro and tobacco giant Philip Morris in the hopes they’ll get into the space.
“The new fund, YOLO, is really a pure play,” he said. “This is a case where active management may make sense. This is a fast-moving space. … Being able to move around the edges of the industry, I think, is going to be really important for success.”
Reggie Brown, senior managing director of Cantor Fitzgerald’s ETF Group, said the real success of these investments will come down to the politics of pot.
“With cannabis, it really comes down to regulatory outcomes,” Brown said in the same “ETF Edge” interview. “It depends on how the regulatory bodies look at it, and then how the banks can adopt to be custodians broadly. So, it seems like there’s a lot of demand in cannabis. It’s an emerging new area of commerce, and so I can only see the ETFs be covered by that.”
AdvisorShares’ Pure Cannabis ETF is up nearly 3% this week. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF is up more than 4% this week, and over 41% year to date.
Thanks for the tip YOLO AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF; I was unaware. I will check them out.
PS – see you are TN VOL fan, I am Denver pro sports fan – appreciate Peyton Manning, and Todd Helton! – 2 of best TN Vol sports grads.
2 of the best for sure Steve….Manning my all time favorite
Yeah Peyton played one hell of a game in the Superbowl versus the Seattle Seahawks. Beast Mode!
Hey Steve…was wondering if you ever got a chance to look at YOLO and what your thoughts were. I’m thinking of starting a position this week but I’m still looking as of now.
Hi TN Vol Fan, out of town over weekend, just did brief 1 hour comparison of the two Cannabis ETF’s: the new YOLO Advisorshares Pure Cannabis ETF and the 3 year old MJ ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF. Both have a similar Top 10 holding %; YOLO 61.21% and MJ 58.94%. All Holdings YOLO (23) is 71.32% Canada, 26.81% U.S., & 1.87% Israel; and MJ (33) is 46.48% Canada, 43.17% U.S., 8.61% Europe, and 1.74% Japan. I like the balance of MJ with more evenly matched % of Canada and U.S. holdings compared to YOLO, I wish YOLO was heavier weighted in U.S……but as you mention in your original post above May 8, 2019 3:44pm MJ has a lot of non-related cannabis companies holdings (tobacco, beverages, gardening) – by my count holdings 13-33 by % weight) (except INSY 2.09%) = 27.47% and most of those, if not all, are U.S.
Also as you mention in your post, I like YOLO is actively managed, bank backed BNY Mellon, and all holdings are ‘pure cannabis’. I hope that YOLO does get involved in more U.S. holdings …… again, in your above post, as you quoted Reggie Brown, “……. will come down to politics …..” I think Mr. Brown may have been speaking about U.S. politics which is true, but just as important Canadian politics, especially the federal October 19, 2019 election, as I mention below in my May 9, 2019 8:22 pm post.
I do not own either MJ nor YOLO, but would seriously consider a little speculative in YOLO, especially if they purchase additional U.S. companies.
Thanks for your thoughts Steve, much appreciated buddy
Wow! A heady mess, it IS detective work!
Right now it seems like there is too much jockeying for dominance in the market by companies buying and selling each other and merging…that this “Thinko-Rooter,” is struck by your info detail that if Gardner got it wrong, we mere mortals surely will!
So I will continue to pursue a focus on companies engaged in the support side of the new Mj industry that are still very cheap yet as the in-sides of Small companies are actually in their own inside and more mature stages of technical progress at applied science, not flash for cash marketing! Dine it seems based on a more solid knowing what their own in-house developed technologies can sell as services in support to the final winners in the still risky, tricky looking canabalism dominating now! So as these companies engaged in managing the “side-effects” of the new foot print of this totally new industry one may end up ahead with less sweat!
Services re. quality based on these companies’ investments with their own inventions will end up offering sustaining services for quality controls’ proprietary interests through improved product monitoring capacity much better and more exhaustive than they themselves could do as a sort of overly simplistic function in-house!
Such things as tracking plant genetics (i. e. secure monitoring of the stains best for whatever medical result) so they can clearly define and and market a medical outcome which matches a strain of plant for specific clinical treatment! Also just to be better at preventing patent theft or mere industrial piracy=investment encroachment!
Also other companies •successful• in developing devices re. other angles like quality control inventions re. contaminants!
My own very recent experience of buying “CBD” oil with a relative intolerant of “opiates,” but in severe joint pain really made the point! They have a touted on-line name, as they are producing a plant based product that they gave 3 strengths of at high prices for a few ounces, but the Rx store selling it in the open, but with extreme caution, cannot explain much at all about it or its benefit! ➡️Seems like parade day for the 1960’s hippies already habituated to Mj finally rejoicing at getting their way!
My conclusion! It is still the wild west re. pharmacy quality gradation standards! So though in Mj, but not in big bucks, it would be best for me, an investor not liking the speculator’s logic of chasing a cheap stock up then dumping it at 2,000%+ profit above “11 cents-etc.,” for a fast profit! Then doing it again, best to avoid in these heady days, the end point of product sales volumes, instead just investing in solid companies dedicated to product production validity!
Or else➡️Nerve wracking! That seems like casino activity, and unlike many, best to know “thyself,” since this investor is a terrible game and card player!
Marion
Matt McCall was at one pointing touting AUXLY.
I am confident that ORGANIGRAM is a sleeping giant (along with EMERALD).
Aleafia/Emblem combination is interesting.
I personally am anxiously awaiting PROVINCE BRANDS and its IPO.
LOVE the info provided by Travis…he is amazing!
Good luck to all and HAPPY POT STOCK INVESTING!
The author of the Financial Post story on liquid drinks hasn’t heard of Sproutly.
beware of Canadian pot stocks; federal election is October 19, if Trudeau loses and conservatives win, they will try to slow down cannabis legal industry, including edibles slated to begin this fall/winter. Ted O’Hashi in his Let’s Toke Business weekly enewsletter (free) goes into much more detail.
I have 19 stocks in my Cannabis portfolio, only 5 Canadian: ACB Aurora Cannabis, CGC Canopy Growth, CRON Cronos, HEXO Hexo Corp (formerly Hydropothecary), and OGRMF Organigram. i am keeping an eye on the 5 Canadian companies.
Steveflick, thank you for your comments. Would you kindly share the other 14 pot stocks in your portfolio?
Hello New At This, the other 14 Cannabis stocks I own, 12 are U.S. and 2 International:
U.S.
ACRGF Acreage Holdings
CRLBF Cresco Labs
CURLF Curaleaf Holdings
CWBHF Charlotte’s Web
GTBIF Green Thumb Industries
HRVSF Harvest Health
IIPR Innovative Industrial Properties (the only pot stock that Mr. Gumshoe himself owns, and one of few that pays dividends)
MMNFF MedMen
SNNVF Sunniva
TCNNF Trulieve Cannabis
TGIFF 1933 Industries
TLRY Tilray
and 2 International
GWPH GW Pharmaceutical – HQ in U.K., U.S. office in California
KHRNF Khiron – Colombia, gateway to Central & South America
Best to you.
Thanks for sharing Steve & good luck
Thank you again for sharing, Steve.
As you can tell, I am “New At This,” so I very much appreciate your input.
good luck on your due diligence and picking marijuana stocks you like. Also suggest you become a Stock Gumshoe Member (I believe free?) or an Irregular ($79/year) – best financial money spent- instead of teasers asking $999 to $3,000 a year.
Curious how you handled TLRY in September 2018 crazy volatile month if you owned it then? Thanks.
@Wombat, 8-27-18 I bought 40 shares TLRY Tilray @51.93, held on and still hold, 6-14-19 close $39.01 = -24.88% loss. hindsight, should have sold 1/2 shares in September, and also should have sold 1/2 or all shares in mid-January at $100.15.
Thanks for all your thoughts: nice to read your investors point of view!