by Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe | July 1, 2019 1:01 am
Eddy Elfenbein is out with a teaser pitch for his Growth Stock Advisor[1] newsletter, and, like so many other pot-focused touts we’ve seen in years past, it’s essentially all about the fact that you need to get in today on a once-in-a-generation opportunity in the crazy-fast-growth of the legal marijuana[2] industry.
I don’t think I’ve ever written about Elfenbein’s stuff before, but I’ve certainly seen it around from time to time — he was an early investment blogger and had a micro-cap newsletter 20 or so years ago, and he’s a fun follow on Twitter [3](it’s hard to be sure of the machinations of the industry, but it looks like he took over Growth Stock Advisor from Tony Daltorio[4], who now runs Growth Stock Confidential for the same publisher).
And, of course, as the hook to get you to subscribe he dangles out one particular stock that he thinks is the big winner…
“The $6 Under-the-Radar Stock Staking Its Claim on a… $160 BILLION PRIZE!
“NYSE Listed (not a shady penny stock)
“Sales Up 133.7% in the Past Year
“Patents in The U.S., Canada[5], and Australia[6]”
And he positions it as the “Merck of Marijuana,” giving some extra air of legitimacy — helpful in an industry that has seen more than its share of charlatans, and which (probably rightly) still frightens lots of “mom and pop” investors.
What’s the story of this “Merck of Marijuana?” Here’s a bit from the ad:
“It all started back in 2013 with… that’s right you guessed it, a team of pharmacists.
“From day one, this company has used advanced methods to create some of the highest quality cannabis-derived products in the world.
“Staying true to the Hippocratic Oath of ‘Do No Harm’ they are laser-focused on the well-being of its patients.
“They even have a Chief Medical Officer on the Executive team, leading research programs, medical education initiatives and product innovation.
“It’s Chairman is a Pharmacist with over 40 years of healthcare[7] experience under his belt.”
OK, so right away that sounds better than the crazy startups that got in trouble for hosting huge parties with Snoop Dogg and scanily-clad marijuana “nurses” … but that’s not saying much. What else do we learn about this “secret” stock?
Well, it’s got a market cap somewhere in the sub-$1 billion range… which we learn when he shows a little bar graph, comparing this company’s sub-$1 billion valuation to the larger Tilray, Aurora Cannabis and other leaders…
“If Wall Street knew what I know… the jig would be up…
“And it’s share price would be 3X, 5X, 10X or more its current level….
“To a valuation similar to Tilray or Canopy Growth.”
And he compares this pot boom to the internet boom of the 1990s, but also notes that some of these pot stocks are too richly valued today…
“… you’re in the first innings of the Marijuana Boom.
“And I’ve found the perfect stock to own as this industry blossoms.
Are you getting our free Daily Update
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just click here...“You see, the problem with Tilray is that it’s already made investors rich.
“It’s got a market capitalization of almost $5 billion… despite having made total sales last year of just $43 million.
“Aurora Cannabis is even worse at almost $10 billion in valuation on just $55 million in 2018 sales.”
So the implication is that this smaller company is a better value in some way, though he doesn’t throw any numbers out for us just yet. What else do we learn?
“It’s already a leader in the race to create Patented, High-quality, Medical-grade drugs from the cannabis plant….
“This company has a whopping 12 full-time PhD’s on staff.
“It even has a nanotechnologist working to make their offerings more effective….
“To date, this company has helped over 68,000 patients… 1/6 of the entire Canadian Medical Marijuana Market.”
And apparently there’s a catalyst — they are expected to complete a new facility in 2020, in Ontario — with a 430,000 square foot giant greenhouse, which helps the company to produce at a low cost of 75 cents per gram. And the tease says they’re also going to expand into Phase 2 after that, adding another 300,000 sq. ft., getting their production capacity up to “as much as 300,000 kg of cannabis starting in 2020.”
More from the ad:
“This massive production jump is coming faster than anyone imagined.
“And when it arrives, investors will start piling into the newest Marijuana production powerhouse.
“There’s no telling how high the stock could go once the market realizes what’s going on.
“As we’ve already learned, this company has almost 70,000 active medical patients – 1/6 of the entire Canadian market.
“These patients have come to count on the Merck of Marijuana through the 2,400 physicians in its network.”
What other clues do we get? Apparently they’re also working on some joint ventures…
“Late last year, it scored an enormous win…
“An exclusive partnership with Apotex, Canada’s largest generic drug producer, to jointly create and distribute generic medical cannabis products….
“Together, the two companies plan to develop proprietary dosage formats for medicinal marijuana products.”
And they’re apparently expanding overseas as well, like some of the other big Canadian producers…
“It just inked a deal to gain a foothold in Australia via an investment in a local producer and distributor.”
And, again, acting like a pharmaceutical company:
“To solidify its commitment, they are also moving full steam ahead on a slew of Australian clinical trials.
“One such trial, being conducted at Australia’s Gold Coast University Hospital, is verifying the impact and efficiency of it’s CBD Oil on Lateral Sclerosis and Motor Neuron Disease.
“Paving the way for eventually regulatory approvals…”
And apparently they have at least a toe in the “recreational” water[8] as well…
“Back in 2015, it had the foresight to partner up with one of Canada’s largest coffee[9] roasters to create a brand of cannabis-infused coffee.
“They know the science behind Marijuana, and their partner knows coffee — a win-win scenario.
“The final product works just like a coffee pod that fits into any Keurig – and it’s patented in the US, Canada, and Australia!”
And finally, some hints about recent financials:
“It’s Q1 2019 results revealed:
“A 400% increase in cannabis production.
“Revenues rising 115%.
“Total Medical Patients served up another 70%.”
So who is it? This, sez the Thinkolator, is CannTrust Holdings (CTST), which uplisted to the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year and enjoyed a little surge in its share price as a result… though now it’s back to trading near a new low for the year.
And yes, the valuation is clearly nutty — though arguably a little less so than some of the other producers — they’re trading at about 14X sales at the moment, and presumably will be ramping up those sales a bit as production increases over the next year or so with their new facility. They aren’t profitable — even on a unit basis (the gross margin is negative 50%) — so you’d have to have some insight into how they’re going to get to scale and also get a lot more efficient, but it’s certainly not the worst income statement I’ve seen in marijuana land.
Still “relative value” is a tough argument to make in a sector when no stocks are rationally valued — if there’s no real foundation for any of the stocks, since no one knows what the Canadian market will bear in terms of pricing or production once everything settles down, then the stocks are probably trading not on their financials… but on their brand value and perceived growth potential. Since CannTrust has been one of the worst performers among the larger Canadian cannabis companies, that indicates the “momentum” and sentiment trade isn’t headed their way. Maybe the relative undervaluation on current financials, compared to Canopy or Aurora, means that there’s slightly less downside if the market gets ugly — but when you’re thinking about upside for large-cap growth stocks it’s often safer and more sensible to go with the brand names that attract money when things are going well.
That’s hard for me to even type, since I’m much more comfortable analyzing fundamentals — but bubblicious sectors like marijuana don’t seem to trade much on fundamentals… one reason I’ve avoided most of the stocks.
Part of the problem seems to be delays with CannTrust’s expansion project, which has led to delays in revenue growth and a bad fourth quarter that drove the shares down just as they threw in a $200 million equity raise. So a lot of bad news is, at least, in the shares, and it might be that they’ll recover at some point over the next year if the expansion goes well…. I guess that’s the possible catalyst to get CannTrust back into the good graces of the growth-focused pot investors. But beyond that, I can’t see enough to make me want to jump in with both feet.
That doesn’t mean you have to be as cautious as me on this one, of course, I know plenty of people have happily been dabbling in marijuana investment for several years and enjoyed gains that I’ve missed out on. It takes all kinds.
If you want to dig into CannTrust and don’t know the story, Elfenbein is on target with the “pharmaceutical” background — though not, just yet, with the “blue chip” financials you might expect given the “Merck of Marijuana” tagline. I’d start with their Investor Presentation here[10].
And I’m sure plenty of eager readers out in Gumshoe land have looked at CannTrust before — see anything you like? Excited for that expansion potential? Burned and angry after an ugly few months? Let us know with a comment below.
Disclosure: I do not own any of the companies mentioned above, and will not trade in any stock covered for at least three days (per Stock Gumshoe’s trading rules).
Source URL: https://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/growth-stock-advisor/elfenbeins-merck-of-marijuana-teased-as-undervalued-compared-to-other-cannabis-companies/
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Travis, thanks. BTW I feel strongly it is time to part ways with a great recommendation of yours, IIPR. Strong competition now, deals will be done at considerably lower terms & many of their tenants will not survive, looking out 1-3 years. No Position 2, If you want to really get in on the ground floor, do some DD on CBIIF, CBII (under 10 million market cap USD. Position
I just bought a few shares of IIPR I must have missed some info . I am a beginner and still learning by binge reading and study about stocks and the market. The few shares I have is a big investment for me. Is it time to get out now and sell it ?
If you are a new investor, purchase of an individual stock especially one that is speculative and volatile is not in your interest. If you are committed to investing in the POT movement you might want to consider an EFT. Since I choose not to participate in this “industry”, I have no recommendation for you—Sorry. Perhaps Travis can give you some choices. Good Luck!
My favorite is Organigram OGI on NASDAQ. Low cost producer, great products, putting in lots of additional capacity, great sales channels and one of the few making money.
In my opinion, you simply cannot take a good look at OGI and not want to own some of it. I’ve been playing with weed since six months pre-legalization in Canada or so. When I saw a video of OGI’s set up, I was immediately sold. As I watched them get agreements with, I think, all of the provinces, to supply, It seemed like vindication. Then they got some overseas stuff happening. Then they bought a chocolate factory pre-edibles legalization (coming in Oct 2019). I’d choose ACB if I could only hold one weed stock, but OGI would be a close second. ACB is just simply larger and so has more upside, but the quality of OGI, top to bottom, is just plain obvious…
I agree with both dortelli and Owen Parker about Organigram (ORG) being a solid buy with their agreements boosting their sales channels, and their international expansion. I also agree with ACB, which is my largest pot holding, but its a real roller coaster ride, and right now, we’re on the downward slope. Those are two of my favs, along with Hexo, Green Thumb and Canna Royalty, all of which are in the green. But bought a small amount of Cann Trust and it promptly took a nose dive into the red — where it still is.
I like OGI, but they lost money last quarter and missed on earnings expectations.
While true that OGI’s revenues were modest compared to its peers, they earned equal to $8.8M in adjusted gross profit which was an industry high 71%. This allowed OGI to have positive quarterly free cash flow. As production scales up, these numbers, should they stay on the same levels as is expected, will be a thing of beauty.
I owned ACB for awhile, but I was very concerned about the heavy dilution. I also owned Aphria, lost a lot of money when the scandal happened with the Latam short seller report. I’m thankful I was able to segway over to more shares of OGI at a lower price than I sold Aph. Lucky that I had lemons and was fortunate to make lemonade.
Unfortunately unless you bought organigram prior to mid 2018 you are going out on a limb . They are a great company there biggest competitor use to be hydro which is now hexo are small companies and now that analysts are using there normal y charts and the evil word dilution is the same as Jeff sessions back when they have one average size grow facility just recently got into the oil late to see there is more profits to be made Canada was behind the USA when companies were reporting flower to oil profits they are content with Canadian sales very small staff buying and selling around quarterly earning is fine but as a long term hold not the company I would hold a full position. As soon as the profitability isn’t the evil word which there current pride is almost 1/3 over what it should be simply because they don’t have the negative losses is only due to not expanding to even a second location no international sales they are one bad quarter or when they are forced to expand and spend big bucks with the need of extraction they will not have the same gross profits to loss as they do now and will fall were they should be priced no growth equals bought or forced to sign a horrible contract selling off a part of the company vrs. The majority choosing to dilute for growth . I visited there facility and they are awesome using all the new technology to grow more in less space . With the govt cornering the retail market the opposite of any other country I wouldn’t get to deep your betting on the next company to e funded which still won’t have the growth instead a couple of week hype gains. Great company for the current times in Canada but not equipped for any real share price grot
Held CTST CannTrust twice, 4 months in 2018 April-August, and 5 weeks in 2019 March. BTW, read your recent trade selling some of your IIPR, Friday I sold my $8.2k basis and will keep my eye on profitable balance using Tradestops VQ% alert. Thanks for the great recommendation IIPR Travis.
I still say read the latest news on KALY and see that they are profitable, quite possibly a big opportunity! Big deal just signed with the state of New York.
So glad someone brings up KALY. I’m guessing the Cannabis investor group I subscribed to is going to wait to start pushing it after they buy it at a penny. Make no mistake. KALY. And PURA. Go hand in hand. PURA a little more I bought at 6 cents. For those of us who can’t afford to get in stocks at $7 and higher. It’s a great starting point. Thanks for Bringing them up Rick
thank you,what investment group do you belong to
Two studies out recently on MJ and MJ Oil.
One concludes MJ is bad for mental development for under 25 year olds.
2nd study shows MJ Oil may cause liver damage much like alcohol.
Citations please!
The study in question (https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/24/9/1694) used huge doses:
“Animals were gavaged with either 0, 246, 738, or 2460 mg/kg of CBD”
So, they fed mice a CBD dose of 2,460mg/kg. That was apparently the “allometrically scaled” equivalent to the max human dose of 20mg/kg. That’s the part I don’t get. How is 2,460mg/kg (mouse) equivalent to 20mg/kg (human)?
Anyway – it caused liver injury. What a surprise. Would probably bankrupt them after the first day as well.
Please read the following article released by a renowned CA cannabis company. “The recent noise around CBD and liver damage are not what it seems.”- Mara Gordon Founder and CEO of Aunt Zeldas
https://auntzeldas.org/2019/06/28/the-truth-about-cbd-and-liver-damage/
well what about HEMP
A little off topic, but anyone have any insights on best cannabis brokerages? This has been an ongoing discussion in an email group of investors we all bought in a company – not a newsletter type thing. Some say Interactive Brokers, but expense and a few other downsides; some Schwab Global…it goes on… Thanks.
Sorry to chime in and NOT really answer your question. I have just been reading what Interactive Brokers lists as its commission and monthly maintenance charges. It seems on par or better than just about any of them from what I found. It is certainly used by a number of Gumshoe members.
When you ask ‘best cannabis brokerages?’, I can only think you mean brokerages that will let you buy on the Canadian exchanges as well the US exchanges. It seems many of the well known decent discount brokerages do that. If you have as little money as some of us then you’ll save a few nickels if you buy/sell less often and only pay the $5 to $9 a trade that most charge, where there is no monthly maintenance cost.
From what I read, Interactive Brokers charges a monthly maintenance of $10 but less in trade costs so it will cost less monthly overall if you actually make 2-3 trades a month. If you have a minimum of $2000 in Equity you might have no monthly fee at all. I am sure the more experienced traders here can give you a fuller answer or correct anything I misstated.
TDAmeritrade…no problems trading MJ.
I use Fidelity.$4.95 per trade. They also will let you import other investments too so you can have everything on one page such as IRAs and even DRIP accounts. I like simple.
What is the easiest brokerage to buy American Cannabis Companies with? Is there any options that are free of fees? Most articles say that American Cannabis Companies will be much larger and more successful that the Canadian companies.
I don’t know of any brokerages free of fees. I trade cannabis companies at Fidelity, $4.95 per transaction.
Through Fidelity you can purchase OTC stocks in American Cannabis Companies?
Yes, I own several OTC Cannabis Companies, symbols ending in F, bought at Fidelity. Also saw your post about CTST CannTrust recent drama….I read about it today, I’d stay away. See my post in this article July 1st 1:25pm.
Look into Robin Hood as a broker
Do own CTST and like it’s prospects / potential. Also own Aurora, Charlotte’s Web, Wayland Group and Planet 13. Planet 13 is my largest holding and, in my opinion, soon to take off like a rocket ship !!
Good work! Elfenbein appears to have missed the first cycle move on CTST, but might be close on the entry for the next one. I own a wee bit of this name, but it is one of the worst performing of the mj stocks I own.
This is a show me trade that isn’t showing much yet. A stable of PHD’s is a stable of costs (high one’s). So, the management team here is going to have to get real traction through real products creating real repeatable revenue before the market will wrap them in a soft blanket.
As always, thanks for your work in unmasking the antics of pumpers and newsletter mills. Some of them are real doozies!
Wow, dopey coffee! I hope it’s not sneezy or bashful. I wonder what Doc says about that.
This must produce a slightly sleepy goofy consumer, who also thinks that they are “woke” because of the coffee. Are they trying to produce the most easily led voter? Hmmm?
What about the recent drama with CannTrust? Do you think this setback will be a temporary thing? If so this is possible a once in a lifetime buying opportunity. But if things go the other way, this could bankrupt them.
I currently have 8 pot stocks, but Cann Trust is now no longer one of them. Like the Pit and the Pendulum, it was “down, down and still down it came”, and went down like a rocket yesterday blowing right past my stop loss of $4.75 to $3.83. No thank you sir, I won’t have another. There are too many other good ones, such as Oganigram, Hexo, Green Thumb, Aurora, Canna Royalty, etc.
Brilliant timing for Elfenbein. Is he selling seats on the Titanic this week? This company will be out of business before 2020.
Would SOMEONE PLEASE tell Who Motley Fool Keeps pushing as their #1 Cannabis pick and has page after page & Massive Google links.
CTST appears to be a total loser. Look at the stock chart for past few months: in the toilet. I drank the Cool Aid and bought in at $10, dumped some at 7 and the rest at $5. Today it is $2.77, on 7.19.19.