Cannabis stocks had a rough day on Monday, echoing the widespread losses felt across Wall Street.
The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks leading cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, fell 1.8% to 286.5.
Buds
Bucking the trend, shares of Arcadia Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:RKDA) surged Monday after announcing it received its first industrial hemp license in Hawaii. The Davis, California-based company recently launched Arcadia Specialty Genomics, a unit dedicated exclusively to cannabis, which will begin research in April on a 10-acre facility. As a result, shares of the food ingredient company are up 11.1% to $8.01.
Also trading higher was Vancouver-based Harvest One Cannabis Inc (CVE:HVT), which saw share prices jump 9.1% to $0.72 after the company announced an agreement Monday to acquire biotech company Delivra Corp (TSXV:DVA) in a C$19 million all-stock deal. Delivra’s LivRelief brand produces topicals and creams, which Harvest One’s CEO Grant Froese says will serve them well with cannabis-infused products expected to become legal in Canada this fall, per a press release from the two companies.
Duds
Shares of Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE:ACB) dipped 2.7% to $7.14 amid a deal to acquire a stake in privately held Whistler Medical Marijuana. The Edmonton-based company will pay roughly US$175 million to Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON) for its 19% stake in Whistler, with Cronos getting about 2.5 million of Aurora common shares worth about C$24.6 million.
Last September, Aurora was said to be in talks with The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) about a joint venture in CBD-infused beverages. Nothing has come to fruition yet, but analyst Rob Wertheimer of Melius Research has rated the company Overweight.
Falling even farther was Terra Tech Corp. (OTCMKTS:TRTC), whose shares dropped 12.8% to $0.77. The Irvine, California-based company announced today that renovations of its cultivation facility in Oakland have been completed. Planting is expected to commence later this week, per a statement from the company.
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