Shares of the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (TSX:HMMJ) were up 2.83% in early afternoon trading on January 31. The ETF is still down 10% over the past week. Its three largest holdings were all experiencing an uptick on Wednesday. The recent slump comes after a Statistics Canada report that showed cannabis revenues hit $5.7 billion in 2017.
Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:WEED) was up 4.49% in afternoon trading. The stock has dropped 8.6% week over week. Canopy Growth recently announced that it would release its fourth quarter results on February 14. Canopy Growth leadership attempted to dispel concerns over the growth potential of the cannabis market, with CEO Bruce Linton stating that the Statistics Canada numbers were not reflective of how valuable the industry will become.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB) was up 4.22% in early afternoon trading. The stock has sputtered – down 9.7% week over week - since the company announced it would acquire CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. and become the largest producer in Canada. It will be forced to pay a steep price for CanniMed in comparison to its original $24 per share bid.
Aphria Inc. (TSX:APH) stock was up 4.29%. Shares have dropped 16.7% week over week. On January 29 the company announced the acquisition of Brampton-based Nuuvera Inc. for $826 million.
With recreational legalization fast approaching, cannabis producers will be forced to justify valuations that have surpassed $6 billion in the case of Aurora and Canopy Growth.
