GWPH Stock: This Pharma-Marijuana Hybrid Stock Is Set to Explode in 2020

GWPH Stock Sees Gains as it Expands Into Europe

Marijuana investors can be fickle at times. With marijuana legalization gaining traction around the globe, many forget where the first legal cannabis profits came from medical marijuana.

This is a very lucrative subsector that is continuing to grow, and investors ignore it at their own peril.

One example of a thriving medical marijuana stock ready to explode in the coming months is GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ:GWPH). GW Pharmaceuticals stock is ready for a breakthrough.

The thing about GWPH stock is that it operates as much like a pharma stock as it does a marijuana stock.

What this means is that traditional pharmaceutical company trappings—rigorous testing followed by regulatory approval—apply to the company just as much, if not more, than typical marijuana company attributes.

As such, it’s a very different process for investing in GW Pharmaceuticals stock than investing in other marijuana stocks. Having said that, GW is still a pot company in one very important way: it is looking to make big gains due to the growing acceptance of cannabis around the world.

And that brings us to the company’s flagship medication “Epidiolex” (sometimes spelled “Epidyolex”).

Epidiolex was the first cannabis-derived drug approved in the U.S. for prescription by doctors.

Now the drug is set to enter the European market, with European Union (EU) officials recently approving the use of the drug in 28 countries to treat seizures in patients with two rare, severe forms of childhood-onset epilepsy.

“We’ll be launching these countries over the next year or two and there’s a market of 500 million people in Europe and we’re very excited,” said GW CEO Justin Gover.  (Source: “GW Pharma to launch first CBD-based epilepsy drug in Europe ‘over the next year or two,’ CEO says,” CNBC, September 24, 2019.)

Naturally, the medication gaining steam across the world has been a boon for the GW Pharmaceuticals share price, sending it higher over the past few days.

What’s more, the company is looking into potentially expanding the drug’s use to tackle other forms of epilepsy. That could dramatically increase the number of patients that could make use of the medication.

“I see very few alternative organizations that I think have the wherewithal, the science, the reputation, and the track record to make cannabinoids a reality across other disease states,” said Gover. (Source: Ibid.)

Large markets like France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are expected to be first in line for Epidiolex releases in the fourth quarter, while Spain and Italy are slated for 2020. Overall, the drug is being opened up to millions of patients.

If the U.S. is anything to go by, the sales projections for Epidiolex look great. GW Pharmaceuticals PLC saw strong sales in the first half of 2019, with more than 12,000 patients being prescribed the drug.

And that could grow; the company projects that there are 3.4 million people living with epilepsy in the United States.

GWPH Stock Prediction

GW Pharmaceuticals stock is unique in that it is one of the few companies in the marijuana space that has a foothold in almost every major EU market. As such, there’ s a lot to like about the GWPH stock prediction.

If GW manages to keep its sales growing—which shouldn’t be that difficult, with organic growth in the U.S. and the massive boost the company will receive when its drug is available in Europe—I anticipate the company continuing to see strong share-price growth.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

As you can see in the above chart, GW Pharmaceutical stock nearly doubled leading into this summer, before the overall market pullback brought the stock falling back to Earth.

While not ideal for investors who already got into GWPH stock earlier in 2019, now could be a fantastic time for new investors to get in before the stock hits a recovery phase.

You see, if sales continue to grow, I see no reason why GW Pharmaceuticals stock won’t be able to hit its highs of 2019 again in 2020.

Which is to say there’s a good chance this stock’s price could double in 2020 if the company keeps up the pace on global expansion and revenue increases.

That shouldn’t be too difficult if Epidiolex proves to be a popular treatment for certain types of epilepsy. Many major countries have already deemed it so.

GWPH stock has a lot of potential right now. The company has vast room to expand in terms of market cap and sales, through expanding the types of illnesses its cannabis-derived drug can treat.

It’s fair to say that GW Pharmaceuticals PLC is leading the pack when it comes to medical marijuana, and I don’t see it relinquishing that lead any time soon.

Analyst Take

When looking at pharmaceutical marijuana stocks, you have to understand that these companies operate differently than recreational pot companies. Some may be reluctant to call them pot stocks at all because they behave much more like pharma stocks.

But pharmaceutical marijuana stocks are very much like pot stocks in the most important way: they have huge room for growth.

These companies are attempting to innovate and grow an industry from basically scratch by introducing potentially life-altering drugs derived from cannabis. These new products could become massively helpful to millions of people around the world.

If that’s the case, GW Pharmaceuticals stock will likely continue to rise.