Marijuana News Today: Cannabis Stock Market Surges

Marijuana News Today

The marijuana news today is rather positive as pot stocks rise across the board. Meanwhile, we are seeing the first legal recreational weed sales in Michigan.

Michigan has officially launched recreational marijuana legalization across the state. “Across the state” is perhaps not the best wording, however; 1,400 of the state’s 1,773 cities, villages, and townships have barred the sale of weed. (Source: “On first day of Michigan recreational marijuana sales, customers line up for flower,” Marijuana Business Daily, December 2, 2019.)

Michigan’s legalization rollout is not an ideal situation—there are many restrictions getting in the way—but it’s a welcome one all the same.

It’s better to have a bad rollout than no rollout at all. A sale is a sale, after all, and this partial legalization will still help increase the share prices of pot companies that operate within Michigan’s borders.

The state is said to have a marijuana supply shortage, something that is pretty absurd when you consider that cannabis stockpiles are overflowing a few dozen miles north in Canada.

Of course, with the U.S. federal ban on marijuana still in effect, it would be near impossible to import Canadian weed directly to sell in Michigan.

Still, the silliness of the situation should not be lost on readers. It will likely not be lost on American voters, who are increasingly demanding cannabis legalization as time goes on.

As far as demand goes, Michigan had a fine opening day for legal marijuana sales. Hundreds of people lined up in Ann Arbor, the largest city that had operational recreational pot dispensaries (Detroit’s recreational weed dispensaries will likely not be operational until at least January 31).

Reports are that hundreds of thousands of dollars were earned on the first day of sales. As legal marijuana sales spread across the state, that will only increase.

Michigan represents another triumph in the fight for marijuana legalization in the United States.

That said, we’ve seen enough legalization processes take place at this point that you would think approaching it the right way wouldn’t be difficult for governments, yet they continue to make the same mistakes.

Namely, not having enough supply to meet demand and creating byzantine legal structures that often increase the price of legal pot while allowing illicit marijuana providers to flourish.

Still, overall this is a very positive development and one that will further the ultimate goal of federal legalization of pot.

CRON Stock

As mentioned earlier, the marijuana news today is very positive when looking at the pot stock market. Many marijuana stocks are up big-time, seeing gains in November and so far in December.

Shares of Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON) climbed over four percent in early-morning trading today. Over the past 10 days, CRON stock gained nearly 10%.

Cronos stock has never been my favorite pot stock, but its recent gains are making me look twice at the company.

Cronos has typically tried to go about things in its own way, often deviating from the norm of the marijuana sector by attempting unorthodox strategies.

Rather than relying on straight revenue and sales, Cronos Group has in the past put more focus on less straightforward marijuana channels.

While sometimes successful, this strategy has for a long while kept me wary of CRON stock, as it was less predictable than other, more typical, marijuana stocks.

Remember, Cronos partnered with Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO), using the tobacco giant’s expertise to propel some of its products. That partnership also helped steer Cronos stock upward for a good while.

In any case, CRON stock has surged lately and I believe that it could see big gains in 2020, provided that management begins to focus on sales revenue.

If the company can use the leverage of the Altria deal to begin raking in solid financial numbers, then I believe Cronos stock could easily double in 2020.

CGC Stock

A company I’m much more solid on is Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE:CGC). Canopy Growth has never tried to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it has focused on smart acquisitions and partnerships, as well as global expansion.

That’s why, for a long while in 2019, CGC stock was my top pot stock—and the share price reflected that.

Canopy Growth stock had a very strong end to November, seeing 31% gains over the past 10 days. Today, the stock jumped nearly four percent in early-morning trading.

Canopy Growth released its quarterly report recently, with the numbers helping propel CGC stock toward gains.

The future of Canopy Growth stock is about as unpredictable as it has ever been now that Bruce Linton, the former CEO and co-founder, has been gone for a substantial period.

Still, the company’s fundamentals are strong and its global presence is impressive. I believe CGC stock could easily gain 50% in the next six to 12 months.

ACB Stock

A company similar to Canopy Growth (if smaller), Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB) has tried at every opportunity to ape Canopy Growth. At one point, Aurora even managed to briefly overtake it in market share.

Having abandoned that dream, Aurora Cannabis is now focused on getting back into the black and sparking share-price growth with strong sales numbers.

Aurora Cannabis stock climbed about four percent in early-morning trading today. Over the past 10 days, ACB stock saw a 10% jump.

Aurora Cannabis, much like Canopy Growth, has a solid presence both in the Canadian and global markets.

While it has recently run into a hiccup in Germany, with the country’s regulators halting sales as they undertake an inspection of the company’s products, Aurora Cannabis is still a strong company.

It has a global marijuana sales chain that could lead to huge revenues when countries like Germany move toward legalization.

Aurora Cannabis stock is set to see strong gains, but I’m less bullish on ACB stock as I believe CGC stock to be largely superior in almost every way.

CRON, ACB, & CGC Stock Performances

The performances of CRON stock (black line), ACB stock (blue line) and CGC (red line) over the past 10 days are seen in the chart below:

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

Analyst Take

The marijuana news today is largely good.

Michigan became the latest state to authorize recreational marijuana sales. While the rollout was nowhere close to being perfect, it will boost marijuana sales while increasing the pressure to legalize marijuana across the United States.

The past week or so has been stellar for several pot stocks, chief among them Canopy Growth stock. Many cannabis stocks are up over the past few days, and today has seen another market-wide surge.

If December can match November, we can expect to see more strong performances from pot stocks.