March Update: Canadian LP Pot Stocks Up 13%; American MSOs Down 3.5%

TM Editors' note: This article discusses a penny stock and/or microcap. Such stocks are easily manipulated; do your own careful due diligence. 

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The number of constituents in the munKNEE "Seed-to-Sale" Pot Stocks Index has been reduced by one to 19 with the removal of 4Front Ventures which has traded below the minimum price threshold of at least US$1/share for the past three months.

The munKNEE "Seed-to-Sale" Pot Stocks Index now consists of:

• the 19 non-ancillary (i.e. pure-play) vertically integrated cannabis companies whose stocks
  • trade for at least US$1/share,
  • have a market cap of at least US$200M, and
  • trade on one or more of the Canadian and/or American stock exchanges.
• The Index is made up of two categories, namely:
  • the Pure-Play Canadian LP Pot Stock Sub-Index of 5 Canadian Licensed Producers and
  • the Pure-Play American MSO Pot Stock Sub-Index of 14 American Multi-State Operators
    • which, in total, represent approximately 10% of the total universe of 217 cannabis and ancillary companies currently trading.
• The non-tradable indices gives each constituent the same importance to provide a comparison of the performance of each with the others and the stated sector as a whole.

You will note that each constituent in the analyses below has 6 areas of additional information that are imperative for any individual considering investing in this sector:

1. The company name is hyperlinked to its website to provide you with a description of the company and an analysis of its stock.
2. The trading symbol is hyperlinked to additional financial data and commentary on the company (where available).
3. The percentage change YTD is hyperlinked to a chart of the company's stock performance.
4. The Chance of Financial Distress percentage is sourced from macroaxis.com (visit the site and type in the stock symbol to obtain detailed financial data on the health of the company).
5. The Analyst Consensus is sourced from stockanalysis.com (visit the site and type in the stock symbol to obtain a detailed consensus of their recommendations and projections). 
6. The articles are sourced from Stone Fox Capital, TalkMarkets and Ted Waller to provide the latest analyses/commentaries.

The munKNEE Pure-Play Canadian LP Pot Stock Sub-Index

Below is how the Canadian Licensed Producer constituents has performed in March (specifically, from the close of business on Friday, February 25), in descending order, with their year-to-date (YTD) performances in brackets:

1. Tilray (TLRY): +28.2%; (+10.5% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: +63%
   • Analyst Consensus: 25 stock analysts currently rate TLRY as a HOLD.
   • Recent Analysis/Commentary: Tilray: Keeping Competition Alive
2. Organigram (OGI): +11.4%; (-5.1% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: less than 1%
   • Analyst Consensus: 17 stock analysts currently rate OGI as a BUY.
3. Cronos (CRON): +9.9%; (-0.8% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: 50%
   • Analyst Consensus: 20 stock analysts currently rate CRON as a SELL.
4. Aurora (ACB): +6.1%;  (-26.1% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: 49%
   • Analyst Consensus: 18 stock analysts currently rate ACB as a SELL.
5. Canopy Growth (CGC): +5.9%; (-13.2% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: +61%
   • Analyst Consensus: 26 stock analysts currently rate CGC as a SELL.

The LP Sub-Index went UP +13.1% in March (specifically, from the close of business on Friday, February 25) but is still DOWN -7.2% YTD and is now DOWN -84.1% from its high in 2021.

The munKNEE Pure-Play American MSO Pot Stock Sub-Index

The American Multi-State Operator Index consists of the following constituents: Acreage Holdings, Ascend Wellness, Ayr Wellness, Columbia Care, Cresco Labs, Curaleaf Holdings, Goodness Growth, Green Thumb, Jushi Holdings, Planet 13, TerrAscend, Trulieve Cannabis, Valens Company and Verano Holdings.

Three (3) of the 14 constituents went UP in March and they are shown here in descending order, with their year-to-date performances in brackets. In addition, 3 constituents went DOWN by -10% or more during the month and they are noted below as well with their YTD performances in brackets. The other 8 constituents went down by less than 10%.

Constituents that went UP in March were:

1. Acreage (ACRDF/ACRHF): +9.0%; (+6.3% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: +70%
   • Analyst Consensus: None following Acreage
   • Recent Article Analysis/Commentary: Acreage Holdings Q4 Financial Results Show Dramatic Increase In Net Loss
2. Curaleaf (CURLF): +1.4%; (-20.0% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: 39%
   • Analyst Consensus: 23 stock analysts currently rate CURLF as a BUY.
   • Recent Analysis/Commentary: Curaleaf: Trend Remains Up
3. TerrAscend (TRSSF): +1.1%; (-5.7% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: +60%
   • Analyst Consensus: None following TRSSF
   • Recent Articles/Analyses/Commentaries: TerrAscend Bounces Higher On Q4 Financial Results But Remains Down YTD and TerrAscend: Find A Better MSO Stock

Constituents that went DOWN by 10% or more in March were:

1. Ascend Wellness (AAWH): -10.0%; (-38.7% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: 50%
   • Analyst Consensus: 5 stock analysts currently rate AAWH as a BUY
   • Recent Article Analyses/Commentaries: Ascend Wellness Q4 Metrics Down Across The Board and Ascend Wellness: New York Is Only A Bonus
2. Valens (VLNS): -18.2%; (-30.2% YTD)
   • Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: 50%
   • Analyst Consensus: 13 stock analysts currently rate VLNS as a BUY
   • Recent Article Analysis/Commentary: The Valens Company's Q4 Financials Results Were Very Disappointing
3. Jushi (JUSHF): -22.8%; (-11.7% YTD)
   •  Chance of Financial Distress in next 2 years: +62%
   • Analyst Consensus: None following JUSHI
   • Latest Article Analysis/Commentary: Jushi Is Starting To Look Like One Of The Best Value Plays In The U.S. Cannabis Sector

The MSO Sub-Index has gone DOWN -3.5% since February 25th and is now DOWN -16.0% YTD and DOWN -61.0% from its high in 2021.

In sum total, the munKNEE "Seed-to-Sale" Pot Stocks Index went DOWN -0.6% in March and is now DOWN -14.4% YTD and DOWN -69.7% from its high in 2021.