Short Sellers Hike Their Bets in Cannabis Stocks

Companies and Brands

Published: June 10, 2020 10:05 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 May 29 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 45.80 million shares from the previous 43.13 million. The stock was trading at $17.73 Wednesday morning, within a 52-week range of $9.00 to $43.94.

The number of Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) shares short grew to 48.49 million from 45.57 million in the previous period. Its shares were trading at $7.51, in a 52-week range of $4.00 to $17.46.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) saw its short interest rise slightly to 21.87 million shares from 21.29 million in the prior period. The stock was trading at $14.81. The 52-week range is $5.30 to $95.76.

Tilray Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TLRY) short interest increased to 18.30 million shares from the previous 17.08 million. Shares traded at $10.13, in a 52-week range of $2.43 to $51.03.

Short interest in Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) decreased to 38.38 million from the prior 39.08 million. The stock was trading at $5.06, and its 52-week range is $1.95 to $7.60.

Hexo Corp.’s (NYSE: HEXO) short interest rose to 22.43 million shares from the previous 21.69 million. The stock was trading at $1.09. The 52-week range is $0.34 to $6.63.