Cannabis stocks suffered on Thursday, broadly declining across North American markets.
The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, dropped 4% at 285.10 points on Thursday. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF fell 2.7% at C$20.71.
Duds
TILT Holdings Inc (CSE:TILT) (OTCMKTS:SVVTF) shares plummeted on Thursday after it released its 2018 financial statements on Monday, showing a net loss of US$552.1 million. The company reported revenues for the year of US$5.65 million.
Shares dropped sharply, down 16.9% at C$2.21 in Toronto, down 16.5% at US$1.64 in New York. The firm offers same-day delivery for retailers, wholesalers and consumers in four states.
According to the firm, the net loss included a $496.4 million "one-time, non-cash goodwill impairment taken at the end of fiscal 2018 related to the company’s reverse takeover of SVH," noted the company in a release. Excluding the goodwill impairment, net loss for fiscal 2018 was US$55.7 million.
READ: Canopy Growth acquires German cannabinoid pharmaceutical company C3
Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE:CGC) (TSE:WEED) shares were dropping on Thursday after the company announced it was buying a German medical cannabis firm for C$343 million.
Under the terms of the deal, Canopy will acquire C3 Cannabinoid Compound Co, a German company that specializes in cannabinoid-based medical therapies.
Markets responded, sending shares down 4.8% at C$64.90.
Other laggards on Thursday included Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) down 3.7% at US$50.03. It's been a tough ride in 2019 for the Nanaimo-based cannabis company, as the stock has continued to drop, far below its all-time highs of $300/share, seen in September 2018.
Aphria Inc (TSE:APHA) (NYSE:APHA) shares also slipped on Thursday, down 5.2% at C$9.43 in Toronto and down 5.2% at US$7.08 in New York.
Buds
A number of stocks bucked the trend on Thursday.
Empower Clinics Inc. (OTCMKTS:EPWCF) (CSE:EPW) shares were soaring after it announced Wednesday that it has closed the acquisition of Sun Valley Certification Clinics Holdings in a sizeable deal, expected to create one of the largest clinic groups in the medical cannabis sector in the US.
Shares were up 14.3% at C$0.19 in Toronto and up 19.9% at US$0.15 in New York.
The combined group will have 12 locations and have a total patient count of 165,000 across Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada and California, and the potential to rapidly expand the clinic network via the Sun Valley franchise program.
READ: Empower closes acquisition of Sun Valley Clinics, creating one of the largest clinic groups in US medical cannabis sector
Also on the rise on Thursday was Nextleaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS) afer it got named as a top pick by Bruce Campbell, president and portfolio manager at StoneCastle Investment Management.
"NextLeaf is entering the cannabis extraction sector to provide turnkey processing solutions for licensed cannabis producers," noted Campbell. "Several catalysts are expected in 2019 to transition the business."
Shares were up 8.5% at C$0.77.
The company recently announced it is boosting its previously-announced non-brokered private placement to $4 million, thanks to investor demand.
Contact Katie Lewis at katie@proactiveinvestors.com