Shares of Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) (TSX:CRON) bounced back yesterday, regaining some of what they lost at the end of last week when the Canadian-based cannabis grower reported its fourth-quarter earnings.
Despite beating analysts’ expectations by posting revenues of US$17.05 million for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, the company stock dropped approximately 4.5% to close at $10.45 last Friday. It recovered yesterday to close at $11.03, a gain of 5.5% on the day. Analysts had expected revenues to come in at US$13 million.
The wrinkle for investors was a bigger-than-expected loss of US$75.2 million, which included US$15 million in inventory-related write-downs.
But the write-downs were significantly down from the same period in the previous year, which points to Cronos' production coming into line with demand.
Despite the loss, there was still a lot of positive in the quarterly report, especially when viewed through a longer-term lens. The hike in revenues to attain the US$17.05 million mark represents a more than 130% increase compared with the previous year. This was attributed to better sales in Canada for recreational cannabis, a push into the medical cannabis market in Israel and increased sales in the United States.
In fact, US sales improved by 30%, an impressive marker.
Building on the quarterly metrics, Cronos offered clear direction of where it is headed longer term, with its marked increase in investment in edibles, its move deeper into the Israeli market and a deal with Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) to more aggressively market CBD-based health and beauty products.
“We are poised to build upon the growth we experienced in 2020 as we continue to push cannabinoid innovation and differentiated product offerings under our portfolio of brands,” said president and CEO Kurt Schmidt. “My goals this year will be to focus on building a winning team by fostering a collaborative, performance-driven culture; continue to focus on creating disruptive technology and innovation; grow and develop our brands and strengthen our ability to compete through R&D, strategic global infrastructure and engaging in the legislative process in key markets.”
As the US is poised to legalize cannabis at the federal level, providing the marijuana sector increasing tailwinds, there was yet another indication of the renewed bullish landscape within the sector last week when AdvisorShares announced its AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (NYSE:MSOS) hit a significant milestone: surpassing the $1-billion-in-assets-under-management mark.
Launched in September 2020 with only $2.5 million in assets, MSOS was the first US listed ETF focused on US-based cannabis companies, including multi-state operators.
“There's a lot of excitement surrounding the cannabis investment space right now and for a variety of a reasons," said Dan Ahrens, AdvisorShares' chief operating officer and portfolio manager of MSOS. "We firmly believe that the U.S. cannabis market provides a compelling long-term investment opportunity that clearly differentiates itself from other areas of the globe.”
In addition to MSOS, AdvisorShares also manages the AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis (NYSE:YOLO), which was the first US-listed ETF dedicated to cannabis. It focuses on cannabis sector assets from around the globe.