There was a surge of green today when it came to cannabis stocks, with major gains from players including Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC), Aphria Inc (TSX:APH, OTCQB:APHQF) and Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON, TSE:CRON).
Canopy Growth shares jumped today after Cowen analyst Vivien Azer, a senior research analyst in the beverage, tobacco and cannabis sectors, reiterated an outperform rating and raised the company’s price target to C$74 from C$56. Shares were up 15.4% at C$68.83 in Toronto and 14.6% at US$52.40 in New York.
On the back of that, Canopy shares have been rocketing higher thanks to its deal with Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ). Constellation announced a C$5bln deal in August to increase its ownership stake from less than 10% to nearly 38%. Canopy has also been busy doing deals with Health Canada to increase its growing capacity. In short? Busy times make for booming stock prices.
READ: Canopy Growth shares jump after Cowen analyst raises price target
Aphria Inc (TSX:APH, OTCQB:APHQF) announced Tuesday it is partnering with Schroll Medical to cultivate organic medical cannabis. Shares were up 9.2% at C$18.55. Schroll Medical, a subsidiary of European flower producer Schroll Flowers, will hold an 85% interest in the partnership. Aphria will provide €100,000 in exchange for 15% interest in the partnership.
"We are pleased to share a background in cultivation, look forward to applying the expertise and knowledge from Aphria to produce the highest standard of organic medical cannabis to reach patients in need around the world,” said Carsten Schroll, founder of Schroll Flowers, in the company’s press release.
READ: Aphria partners with Schroll Flowers subsidiary to produce organic medical cannabis
Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON, TSE:CRON) shares were up 12.9% at US$11.15 in New York and up 14.4% at C$14.65 in Toronto after it announced it was partnering with Boston-based biotech Gingko Bioworks Inc to produce cultured cannabinoids or genetically engineer the active compounds in marijuana.
When it comes to detractors, Calyx Ventures (CVE:CYX) was down 8.33% at C$0.06. Calyx’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Cannigistics is a software development company that initially focused on developing mobile applications for the legal cannabis industry within Canada.
The North American Marijuana Index, a series of equally-weighted stock indices that track the leading cannabis stocks in the U.S. and Canada, reported that its North American Index was up 13.18% on Tuesday at $310.62.