Ayr Wellness Inc: A Pot Stock With Explosive Upside Potential?

This Cannabis Operator Could Be Special

If you’re a pot stock investor and you haven’t heard about Ayr Wellness Inc (CNSX:AYR.A, OTCMKTS:AYRWF), now is the time to pay attention.

Like many other pot stocks, Ayr Wellness stock has come down in price quite a bit since reaching a peak in early February. But due to recent developments, AYRWF stock has once again built up solid upward momentum. And if things play out, its next upside move could be huge.

Allow me to explain.

Ayr Wellness Inc is a vertically integrated, U.S. multistate cannabis operator. The company wasn’t a big player at first, but thanks to a series of acquisitions, it managed to expand into new markets very quickly. Now it has a presence in seven states with an addressable population of more than 73 million.

According to its latest investor presentation, Ayr Wellness has more than 550,000 square feet of cultivation and processing facilities, 51 open dispensaries, and a wholesale business that distributes more than 100 cannabis products. (Source: “Ayr Wellness Inc.: May 2021,” Ayr Wellness Inc, last accessed May 28, 2021.)

Looking at the Ayr Wellness stock chart, we see that, since the upside breakout at the beginning of 2021, the $26.50 region has acted as a support level on multiple occasions. Moreover, since the beginning of April, AYRWF stock appears to have formed a double-bottom, which could indicate a change from downtrend to uptrend.

In its most recent trading sessions, Ayr Wellness stock broke above its 50-day moving average. The stock’s relative strength index (RSI) is climbing, and we also see a positive uptrending moving average convergence/divergence (MACD).

These are all bullish signs for AYRWF stock.

Ayr Wellness Inc (OTCMKTS:AYRWF) Stock Chart

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

There is an issue from a technical point of view, though: the trading volume during the recent upward move was not high. But I’m not too concerned about that because, fundamentally, the company has been churning out so much growth that, given enough time, it will likely get a lot more investor attention.

Ayr Wellness recently reported its first-quarter 2021 earnings. The report showed that, in the quarter, the company generated $58.4 million of revenue, which represented a 74.0% increase year-over-year and a 22.7% increase quarter-over-quarter. (Source: “Ayr Wellness Reports First Quarter 2021 Results,” Ayr Wellness Inc, May 26, 2021.)

The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came in at $18.4 million, which more than doubled the $7.8 million generated in the year-ago period. As a percentage of revenue, the company’s adjusted EBITDA margin expanded from 23.2% to 31.5% over the past year.

That said, Ayr Wellness reported an operating loss of $8.4 million for the first quarter of 2021. However, the figure included non-cash and one-time expenses of $26.5 million.

The really exciting part about Ayr Wellness stock is what the company can do in the future. For the second quarter of 2021, management expects Ayr Wellness to generate about $90.0 million of revenue. That would mark not only a 218% increase year-over-year, but also a 54% increase quarter-over-quarter.

Note that the market already anticipates that many companies will report higher year-over-year financials in the second quarter of this year because the results in the year-ago period were impacted by pandemic-induced lockdowns.

Ayr Wellness Inc is projecting strong sequential top-line growth, too—measured against the already impressive results in the first quarter of 2021. If the projected 54% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth is achieved, it would make Ayr Wellness one of the fastest-growing companies in the business—and should cheer up investors even more.

Looking further ahead, management expects the company to generate revenue of at least $725.0 million and adjusted EBITDA of $300.0 million in 2022.

Analyst Take

The bottom line is that momentum is building behind AYRWF stock.

Combined with its strong fundamentals, Ayr Wellness Inc could deliver some serious returns to investors.