Companies and Brands

Cannabis Stocks See Rising Tide in Short Interest

Chris Lange

Published: May 12, 2020 9:39 am

Cannabis stocks in general stumbled in the latter half of last year. Wall Street expects profits, and none of these companies is anywhere near profitability. In the United States, high state and local taxes took a toll on sales, as did the lack of federal legalization of marijuana for either medical or recreational use.

While a fair number of these companies are based outside the United States, many of them trade on U.S. indexes. With Canada legalizing weed back in October of 2018, many hope that the United States will follow in the near future.

Many investors are wondering where the cannabis stocks go from here. With this increased speculation, short sellers have plenty of room to play with whether share prices have bottomed.

The April 30 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest in most of these selected marijuana stocks increased.

Short interest in Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) increased to 39.70 million shares from the previous 38.40 million. The stock was trading at $14.97 Tuesday morning, within a 52-week range of $9.00 to $46.97.

The number of Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) shares short decreased to 42.16 million from 42.59 million in the previous period. Its shares were trading at $5.27, in a 52-week range of $4.00 to $17.86.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) saw its short interest jump to 222.97 million shares from 217.44 million in the prior period. The stock was trading at $7.41. The 52-week range is $7.05 to $108.60.

Tilray Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TLRY) short interest increased to 17.18 million shares from the previous 16.52 million. Shares traded at $8.08, in a 52-week range of $2.43 to $51.03.

Short interest in Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) increased to 45.34 million from the previous 34.50 million. The stock was trading at $3.26, and its 52-week range is $1.95 to $7.68.

Hexo Corp.’s (NYSE: HEXO) short interest fell to 25.57 million shares from the previous 26.24 million. The stock was trading at $0.50. The 52-week range is $0.34 to $7.40.