The Week In Cannabis: Earnings, Financings, M&A, Cookies U, DEA, DJ Khaled, And More

In an earnings-heavy week, cannabis stocks experienced considerable volatility. On average, stocks surged on Monday and Tuesday, dropped sharply on Wednesday and were somewhat back in the green during the last two days of the period, aided by tobacco giant Altria Group Inc MO coming out in support of legalization in the U.S. and news about a new marijuana legalization bill potentially being introduced into Congress as early as next week.

Benzinga Cannabis’ content is now available in Spanish on El Planteo.

Meanwhile, in Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey signed off on the state's medical cannabis bill, SB 46, making it the 36th state to legalize medical cannabis.

Patients can qualify through several approved conditions, including but not limited to Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, cancer, Crohn's disease, HIV/AIDS, autism and epilepsy.

Operators have various opportunities to obtain licensing under the current rules. Alabama's Medical Cannabis Commission plans to issue licenses for:

Up to 12 cultivation licenses
Up to four processors
Up to four dispensaries

Berner’s brand Cookies is launching a new CBD flower line.

In addition, the company teamed up with former NBA star Chris Webber and cannabis investor Jason Wild to kick off a training program that aims to help communities impacted by the War on Drugs. The initiative, dubbed Cookies U, will provide resources and create opportunities for students in marginalized communities.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB ACB is seeking to raise $300 million by selling its commons shares through the at-the-market offering.

Grammy Award-winning artist and media personality Khaled Mohamed Khaled — better known DJ Khaled — launched a new CBD-infused “men’s grooming line,” BLESSWELL, in partnership with Endexx Corporation EDXC.

ETFs posted mostly positive performances. Over the five trading days of this week:

The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ: gained 2.3%.
The AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF YOLO: was flat.
The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF MSOS: shed 2.2% of its value.
The Cannabis ETF THCX: rose 3.1%.
The Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF CNBS: was up 1.1%.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed the week down 0.26%.

Policy, Science And Data

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced on Friday, May 14, that it will begin approving applications that will allow some cannabis growers to become federally authorized to manufacture the plant for research purposes.

Up until now, one cultivator - a farm functioning as part of the University of Mississippi - was the only legal source of cannabis for federal research. The university had obtained the license back in 1968, which made it the only source for research cannabis in the United States for over 50 years.

The Mississippi Supreme Court on Friday overturned (on a technicality) the state's voter-approved medical cannabis initiative in a six to three vote.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill doubling the marijuana possession limit for adults 21 and older to up to two ounces.

In addition to increasing the cannabis possession limit, House Bill 1090, which was cleared in a Senate vote in late April, seeks to identify people with prior convictions for up to 2 ounces of pot possession and clear their records.

Financings And M&A

Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. IIPR will raise up to $200 million through a private placement of its senior notes.

The company also finalized the purchase of a Warren, Michigan-based property for around $10.3 million. The acquired property spreads across 85,000 sq. ft. of industrial space.

TPCO Holding Corp. GRAMF, which does business as "The Parent Company," opted to invest some $50 million in GH Group, Inc. (Glass House Group) via a private placement offering by Mercer Park Brand Acquisition Corp. BRND MRCQF.

The company also reported its first-quarter financial results with first-quarter net sales of $39.9 million. These results cover the period from January 15^th when the company finalized its qualifying transaction, prior to which it had no commercial activities.

HEXO Corp. HEXO HEXO will acquire 48North Cannabis Corp NCNNF in an all-stock deal valued at $50 million.

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. CURA CURLF is acquiring Colorado-based Los Sueños Farms, the largest outdoor cannabis grow facility in the state. The company agreed to pay roughly $49 million for the Los Sueños operating companies and $18 million for the assets in relation to the real estate and farm.

Stability Cannabis raised some $44 million through a Series A funding round.

Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies, backed by Snoop Dogg, launched Friday on the London Stock Exchange with an opening price of 5 pence per share. From its initial public offering, the cannabinoid-focused pharmaceutical company raised gross proceeds of £16.5 million ($23.35 million).

Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd GLDFF, now operating as Chalice Farms, closed its purchase of Homegrown, a chain of five retail dispensaries located in Oregon, for $9.75 million.

Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. XLY CBWTF completed an $8 million private placement offering of units, with ATB Capital Markets Inc. acting as the only agent.

Bast Fibre Technologies (BFT), a cleantech natural fiber engineering company working with hemp, announced this week the closing of a CAD$8.5 million ($7 million) Series A equity financing round.

TRIP, a leading CBD drinks and oils brand in the U.K., is making its U.S. debut following a strategic $5 million (£3.5m) funding round from investors including Depop CEO Maria Raga and serial entrepreneur and investor Christian Angermayer.

Petalfast, a sales and marketing agency for the cannabis industry, announced the closing of a $2.8 million capital raise led by Merida Capital Holdings.

Earnings Reports

Columbia Care Inc. CHW CCHW CCHWF (FSE:3LP) reported its financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2021, including revenue of $92.5 million in the first three months of the fiscal year, up 220% year-over-year.

MediPharm Labs Corp. LABS MEDIF MLZ reported its first-quarter revenue amounted to CA$5.49 million ($4.53 million), down by roughly 9% sequentially and 50% year-over-year.

MariMed, Inc. MRMD disclosed its core revenue spiked 230% year-over-year, reaching $24.6 million in the first quarter of 2021, marking it the company's highest-ever quarter of core cannabis revenue and profitability.

Verano Holdings Corp. VRNO VRNOF reported it had generated $143 million in revenue in the first three months of fiscal 2021, representing year-over-year growth of 117%. In addition, gross profit, on an unadjusted basis and not including the impact of biological assets, amounted to $89 million or 62% of revenue, increasing from $50 million in the corresponding quarter of last year.

Clever Leaves Holdings Inc. CLVR posted its first-quarter financial report, with revenue of $3.5 million, up by 19% from $2.9 million in the same period of the previous year.

Acquired Sales Corp. AQSP revealed its revenue increased 53% sequentially to $3.35 million in the first quarter of 2021. Net income also grew over the same period to $618,359, from $549,531.

Greenlane Holdings, Inc. GNLN reported its first-quarter 2021 earnings, highlighted by back-to-back quarterly sales records and 9.4% growth from the fourth quarter of 2020. The company saw revenue rise from the previous year, with first-quarter sales reaching $8.5 million compared to $7.2 million during the same period last year.

Agrify Corporation AGFY posted its first-quarter earnings, reporting revenue of $7 million, compared to $4.4 million and $1 million in the previous quarter and the same quarter of 2020, respectively.

Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. AAWH reported it had generated $66.1 million in the first quarter of 2021, representing a 21.8% sequential growth.

TerrAscend Corp. TER TRSSF reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2021, highlighting a substantial cash balance of $234 million. In the first three months of the fiscal year, net sales amounted to $53.4 million, up by 106% year-over-year.

Find all the details on these and other earnings reports on Benzinga Cannabis’ Earnings Center.

Other News

The United States Cannabis Council (USCC) signed on as a corporate partner with Responsibility.org. The cross-industry partnership is the first of its kind, with a focused effort to prevent underage consumption and impaired driving.

“As we draw closer to federal cannabis legalization, we must keep responsible consumption at the heart of our efforts. This partnership between the United States Cannabis Council and Responsbility.org is a natural next step and central to ensuring safety stays top of mind in the pursuit to end federal cannabis prohibition. This will be pertinent in creating an equitable industry focused on promoting the safe use of cannabis products,” Steve Hawkins, USCC interim president, told Benzinga.

Springbig announced a partnership with Lendica to increase access to capital for growing cannabis brands and retailers. Since traditional financial institutions refrain from lending to cannabis companies due to federal illegality, the partnership should benefit up-and-coming brands and retailers looking for funding to scale their operations.

“We see how brands and dispensaries across the country invest in our loyalty, messaging, referral programs with stellar returns,” said Jeffrey Harris, CEO of Springbig. “The partnership with Lendica aims to help our customers expand their marketing budget, reinvest more into their marketing automation and comfortably buy more inventory. This takes some extra capital, which we are proud to now offer through Lendica.”

Executive Moves

Canopy Growth Corporation WEED CGC will deepen its collaboration with household guru Martha Stewart, who has agreed to serve as the company's official strategic advisor.

Also find out all about the latest executive moves at:

AWH, Neptune, Keef Brands, Canopy Growth, Cresco

The Parent Company, MindMed, Australis, Flourish Software

PharmaCielo, BC Craft Supply, The Alkaline Water, TILT, Aurora

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