Latest Earnings Give Aurora Cannabis Shares A 65% Boost; Hexo On Notice

Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), (TSX:ACB) caught investors’ attention late last week when it posted its latest quarterly earnings, which highlighted an unexpected jump in revenues.

The news triggered an impressive upward swing in its stock price. Indeed, shares gained more than 65% on the day last Friday.

The stock continued its march higher on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, where it gained an additional 52.68% on the day to close at US$17.10. Canadian markets were closed yesterday for the Victoria Day holiday.

The Edmonton-based cannabis grower posted revenues of C$75.5 million (US $5.43 million) in its third quarter, which ended March 31, an increase of 35% compared with the previous three-month period. But it was not all good news. The company ended the quarter with a net loss for the quarter of C$137.4 million (US $985,921) and an EBITDA that amounted to a C$50.9-million loss. Despite the disappointing result, it was a comparative improvement over the previous quarter where Aurora posted a whopping C$1.3-billion loss.

“I am … pleased that our third quarter 2020 financial results were in line with our expectations, and that we remain firmly on track with the cost-savings and capex goals we detailed during our business transformation plan in February 2020," said Michael Singer, the company’s executive chairman and interim CEO.

Despite the eye-catching jump in share price, Aurora stock has still lost almost 90% of its value in the past year. This time last year, shares were trading at just under US$104.

Green Thumb First U.S. Pot Firm To Top US$100 Million In Revenues

A Chicago-based marijuana packaging and retail distributor has become the first U.S. cannabis company to post quarterly revenues that topped the US$100-million mark last week.

Green Thumb Industries (OTC:GTBIF) posted is first-quarter figures last Thursday. It generated US$102.6 million in the first reporting period of 2020, a 267.6% increase over the $27.9 million posted in the same period in 2019, and 35.4% more than in fourth quarter of 2019, when the company generated $75.8 million.

“We achieved a major milestone by breaking $100 million in quarterly revenue along with substantial EBITDA growth,” said Green Thumb CEO Ben Kovler. The company posted an adjusted operating EBITDA of $25.5 million, a 85% quarter-over-quarter increase.

The company’s assets totaled $140.8 million, including $71.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, according to the figures it unveiled.

Green Thumb operates 44 stores across the U.S. in 10 states, including in Illinois, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It is licensed to open a maximum of 96 retail outlets.

Hexo Put On Notice By New York Stock Exchange

Quebec-based Hexo Corp. has confirmed that it has received notice from the New York Stock Exchange that its stock has failed to comply with listing standards.

The notice serves as a warning that its stock has fallen below the US$1-per-share threshold for a period of 30 days. Hexo stock can be deemed to return to compliance if the stock trades above the US$1 mark on the last trading day of May and then maintains its price above that mark for a 30-day average within the next six months.

On Monday, Hexo shares gained just over 42% to close at US$0.75. It last traded above the $1 threshold on March 27. It closed yesterday at C$0.76 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up about 22.5% on the day.