Companies and Brands

Short Sellers Up the Ante in Cannabis Stocks

Chris Lange

Published: April 27, 2020 9:52 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 15 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) decreased to 38.40 million shares from the previous 39.64 million. The stock was trading at $15.59 Monday morning, within a 52-week range of $9.00 to $52.74.

The number of Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) shares short decreased to 42.59 million from 48.06 million in the previous period. Its shares were trading at $6.20, in a 52-week range of $4.00 to $17.86.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) saw its short interest jumped to 217.44 million shares from 192.21 million in the prior period. The stock was trading at $0.73. The 52-week range is $0.60 to $9.37.

Tilray Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TLRY) short interest increased to 16.52 million shares from the previous 15.33 million. Shares traded at $8.07, in a 52-week range of $2.43 to $54.10.

Short interest in Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) increased to 34.50 million from the previous 33.37 million. The stock was trading at $3.54, and its 52-week range is $1.95 to $7.68.

In OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OGI), short interest increased to 12.12 million from the prior 9.08 million. The stock was trading at $1.58, and the 52-week range is $1.41 to $8.44.

Hexo Corp.’s (NYSE: HEXO) short interest fell to 26.24 million shares from the previous 28.70 million. The stock was trading at $0.48. The 52-week range is $0.34 to $8.40.