Cannabis Companies Kick Off Earnings Season with Strong Reports

The Public Cannabis Company Revenue & Income Tracker, managed by New Cannabis Ventures, ranks the top revenue producing cannabis stocks that generate industry sales of more than US$12.5 million per quarter (C$15.9 million). This data-driven, fact-based tracker will continually update based on new financial filings so that readers can stay up to date. Companies must file with the SEC or SEDAR and be current to be considered for inclusion. Please note that we have raised the minimum quarterly revenue several times as the industry has scaled up, including from US$10.0 million in November 2020, US$7.5 million in June 2020, US$5.0 million in October 2019 and US$2.5 million in May 2019.

39 companies currently qualify for inclusion, with 28 filing in U.S. dollars and 11 in the Canadian currency, which is up by one from our update a month ago. This month, Cronos Group (TSX: CRON) (NASDAQ: CRON) requalified as did Supreme Cannabis (TSX: FIRE) (OTC: SPRWF), while Liberty Health Sciences (CSE: LHS) (OTC: LHSIF) failed to meet the minimum after its revenue declined in its fiscal Q3. We continue to expect several additional companies to qualify in the future, including some newly public companies.

In May 2019, we added an additional metric, “Adjusted Operating Income”, as we detailed in our newsletter. The calculation takes the reported operating income and adjusts it for any changes in the fair value of biological assets required under IFRS accounting. We believe that this adjustment improves comparability for the companies across IFRS and GAAP accounting. We note that often operating income can include one-time items like stock compensation, inventory write-downs or public listing expenses, and we recommend that readers understand how these non-cash items can impact quarterly financials. Many companies are moving from IFRS to U.S. GAAP accounting, which will reduce our need to make adjustments. Please note that our rankings include only actual reported revenue, and not pro forma revenue. We also note that companies with non-cannabis operations must provide segment-level financial reports that detail not only revenue but also operating profit to be included in the tracker.

During February, several companies reported financials, including Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG), GW Pharma (NASDAQ: GWPH), Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR), MedMen (CSE: MMEN) (OTC: MMNFF), Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) and Cronos Group. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s Hawthorne division saw a seasonal decline in revenue during its fiscal Q1but its 71% year-over-year growth was stronger than expected. The company boosted its fiscal 2021 growth outlook for the division from 15-20% to 20-30%. GW Pharma had pre-announced its Q4 revenue, which was ahead of analyst expectations by more than 3%. The company has announced its pending sale to Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ).

Innovative Industrial Properties modestly failed to meet expectations in Q4, as the ramp to rental payments for some of its tenants was delayed a bit as the company builds out new assets. Analysts had expected revenue to be $38.5 million. MedMen too failed to meet expectations during its fiscal Q2, as the company cited weakness related to COVID-19. It had been expected to generate revenue of $38.8 million. Tilray’s cannabis revenue rose substantially and exceeded expectations. The strong growth was due to its adult-use sales, which more than overcame a dramatic reduction in bulk sales a year ago. Cronos Group also beat expectations, with its non-U.S. operations fueling the growth.

American Dollar Reporting – Public Cannabis Company Revenue Tracker

During March, we will hear from some of the largest cannabis operators as well as many others, and these companies are expected to have experienced very strong growth during Q4. Several companies are now filing with the SEC, and their reports are due in March, while the balance of year-end reports will be due by the end of April for those companies still using IFRS accounting instead of U.S. GAAP. The companies that will be reporting in March and that generated more than $40 million in revenue in Q3 include Curaleaf (CSE: CURA) (OTC: CURLF), Green Thumb Industries (CSE: GTII) (OTC: GTBIF), Trulieve (CSE: TRUL) (OTC: TCNNF), GrowGeneration (NASDAQ: GRWG), Columbia Care (CSE: CCHW) (NEO: CCHW) (OTC: CCHWF) and AYR Wellness (CSE: AYR.A) (OTC: AYRWF).

According to Sentieo, analysts expect Curaleaf to grow revenue sequentially by 31% to $239 million, which would be up 217% from a year ago. This will be the first full quarter of including revenue from the recent Grassroots Cannabis acquisition. GTI is expected to grow revenue by 5% to $165 million, which would be up 118% from a year ago. The company has beaten the expectations significantly in each of the past three quarters. Trulieve Q4 revenue is expected to increase 18% sequentially and 102% from a year ago to $161 million.

Analysts had expected GrowGeneration Q4 revenue to be $57 million, but they now expect it to be $61 million following the company’s pre-announcement in January. This represents growth of 140% from a year ago and 11% sequentially. Columbia Care Q4 revenue is expected to have increased 63% sequentially to $80 million, which would be up 244% from a year ago. Ayr Wellness is expected to have generated $48 million, up 7% sequentially and 48% from a year ago.

During February, several Canadian LPs reported, including Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED) (NASDAQ: WEED), Aurora Cannabis (TSX: ACB) (NYSE: ACB), Supreme Cannabis and Valens Company (TSX: VLNS) (OTC: VLNCF). Canopy Growth exceeded expectations slightly, Aurora Cannabis was just below the consensus, Supreme was substantially higher than what analysts expected and Valens was in line with its pre-announced range of C$15-16.5 million.

Canadian Dollar Reporting – Public Cannabis Company Revenue Tracker

During March, TerrAscend (CSE: TER) (OTC: TRSSF) will report its Q4, while HEXO Corp (NASDAQ: HEXO) (NYSE: HEXO) will report its fiscal Q2. Retailer High Tide (TSXV: HITI) (OTC: HITIF) will report its fiscal Q4, and Zenabis (TSX: ZENA) (OTC: ZBISF) will report its Q4.

TerrAscend pre-announced its Q4 recently, suggesting it generated revenue of C$65 million, up 152% from a year ago and 28% sequentially, with the adjusted EBITDA margin expanding to 40%. HEXO is expected to have grown revenue 10% sequentially to C$32.3 million, which would be up 90% from a year ago. High Tide disclosed that it expects to report Q4 revenue above the analyst consensus of C$24.1 million, which would represent growth in excess of 111% from a year ago.

For those interested in more information about companies reporting, we publish comprehensive earnings previews for subscribers at 420 Investor, including for Focus List members Columbia Care, Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries, GrowGeneration, TerrAscend and Trulieve.

Visit the Public Cannabis Company Revenue Tracker to track and explore the complete list of qualifying companies. We have recently created a way for our readers to access our library of Revenue Tracker articles. For our readers who are interested in staying on top of scheduled earnings calls in the sector, we have have created and continually update the Cannabis Investor Earnings Conference Call Calendar.

Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as founder of online communities 420 Investor, the first and still largest due diligence platform focused on the publicly-traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. At New Cannabis Ventures, he is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before shifting his focus to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst following over two decades in research and portfolio management. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 at Seeking Alpha, where he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a frequent source to the media, including the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email