Marijuana News Today: CGC Stock Soars, Marijuana-Infused Beer Spreads in U.S.

Marijuana News Today

The marijuana news today has Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE:CGC) soaring after a healthy endorsement from a respected bank analyst, while marijuana-infused beer is going to be available in Maryland.

Green Leaf Medical, LLC is partnering with Flying Dog Brewery to produce marijuana-infused beverages for sale in Maryland. The drink will contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), but no alcohol. (Source: “Green Leaf Medical On Launching A Marijuana-Infused Beer,” Forbes, January 25, 2019.)

At this time, it is not yet legal in Maryland, which does not permit medical marijuana companies to sell edibles. Once approved, however, the drink would only be available at the state level—for now.

Green Leaf Medical has extraction, cultivation, and retail licenses in Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, with its “gLeaf” brand having produced and sold nearly two million grams of medical cannabis.

The partnership between the local Maryland brewery and the medical cannabis company looks to take advantage of the growing non-alcoholic beer and wine market, valued at $16.0 billion in 2017 and expected to grow. (Source: Ibid.)

In any case, the marijuana-infused beer would not be the first drinkable cannabis product in the state, with iced tea, lemonade, and a variety of other cannabis-infused beverages already on sale.

It’s also worth noting that recreational use of marijuana is still illegal in Maryland (albeit decriminalized).

While the move is a relatively small one—and there’s no direct way for investors to interact, considering that Green Leaf is a private company—this bodes well for the future of pot stocks.

Being able to capitalize and expand the cannabis-infused beverage market in the U.S. is going to not only help establish the foundations of a highly profitable segment of the industry, but also help push along legalization.

After all, combining marijuana with beer could be a great way to shoehorn acceptance among those who would at first balk at the idea of smoking pot. Furthermore, it speaks to the vast potential of American companies operating within the U.S.

Once the whole country eventually legalizes marijuana (an inevitability at this point), these companies will be free to leverage their strong market positions into initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers, acquisitions, etc. The overall effect will be a second marijuana gold rush, with many companies seeing huge returns in small periods.

Which means that marijuana bulls who are patient and ready for U.S. marijuana legalization to kick into full gear will find themselves with a bevy of choices, and many of those opportunities will likely lead to big money.

CGC Stock

Another positive nugget in the marijuana news today comes by way of an old favorite here, Canopy Growth Corp. CGC stock jumped by five percent in early-morning trading and finds itself up 7.5% over the past five days.

Canopy Growth stock’s big morning is attributable to Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC) raising the company’s stock price target, saying that it is “well positioned” in the emerging and growing market. (Source: “Canopy Growth shares climb premarket as Piper Jaffray raises price target to $60 vs. $40,” MarketWatch, January 25, 2019.)

Piper Jaffray has perhaps one of the loftiest projections for the marijuana market, that the industry will hit about $15.0–$50.0 billion in the near future while being worth $250.0–$500.0 billion in the long term.

All this to say that the bank is bullish on the marijuana industry, and CGC stock in particular.

Of course, it’s easy to see why. I’ve long championed Canopy Growth for its strong fundamentals, savvy business moves, and overall solid foundations.

The company’s CEO, Bruce Linton was present at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Also, the company was endorsed by analysts earlier this year, sending the stock on a rise.

Overall, CGC stock appears to be the strongest marijuana stock around, with good prospects to likely see somewhere in the vicinity of 50%–100% returns in 2019, barring any major disaster or recession.

TLRY Stock

One marijuana stock that has me unsure, however, is Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY). While my position on CGC stock has remained steadfast for years now, TLRY stock has baffled me since its IPO.

I’ve found it difficult to predict the future of this stock because it still contains a high degree of volatility. While that could be said of any marijuana stock, it goes double for Tilray stock.

TLRY stock was up about one percent in early-morning trading today, but over the past five days it fell by double-digits.

There have been times when the stock has outperformed the market, and other times when it has performed woefully, each time seemingly random.

As such, I believe Tilray to be among the most unpredictable stocks in the marijuana industry, but not without value.

It has many strong foundations in place (although not as strong as Canopy Growth or several other pot stocks), which it could leverage into long-term success.

As it stands, I believe that Tilray will be successful in 2019, but there will be many bumps along the road and I’m not quite sure just what the ceiling is on the company.

For now, I’d rate the company as speculative for investors willing to roll the dice a little bit, as well as for day traders looking for quick gains.

For all those looking for a long-term strategy, I’d give more consideration to CGC stock—after doing your own research, of course.

CGC and TLRY Stock Performances

The performances of CGC stock (black line) and TLRY stock (blue line) over the past week are seen on the chart below.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

Analyst Take

Another day in the marijuana industry, another step forward for pot legalization in the U.S.

The marijuana news today has us eager with anticipation as cannabis-infused beverages continue to land in the market, opening up a whole new segment of the industry to be explored.

This is a huge new product, and one that will not only increase revenue, but also likely play a part in the push for legalization.

Meanwhile, the marijuana stock market is continuing to show positive signs that banks, analysts, and Wall Street are gathering behind it. This was evidenced again today with another positive rating of Canopy Growth Corp, by a notable analyst, sending the company’s shares flying.