This is a copy of the May 5th edition of our weekly Newsletter, which we have been publishing since October 2015.
Friends,
While mainstream companies are in the thick of “earnings season” for Q1, the cannabis industry just wrapped up the end of Q4 reporting, or at least it was supposed to have done so. April 30th marked the filing deadline for companies listed in Canada to submit financials, and many companies did so at the last minute or even a bit late, and several still haven’t filed despite four months having passed since year-end. One would think that’s enough time, but, due to the reliance upon a single auditor by most U.S. cannabis companies listed on the CSE that apparently overextended itself, some operators were not able to provide audited statements by the deadline.
Because of federal illegality, most audit firms won’t touch U.S. cannabis operators. The only major auditor in Canada that will provide the service to the many publicly-traded companies is MNP, though they are not the only service provider. We aren’t sure exactly what happened, but the jump in new public issues late in 2018 along with the many complexities of reverse-merger accounting and fair value adjustment of biological assets appears to have left the firm unable to complete all of the audits it promised based on many conversations we had this week. Several companies that met the deadline did so just barely, and, quite frankly, this industry moves so fast that looking at December financials in late April is not that helpful.
The month of May will see a flood of quarterly filings for the quarter than ended in March, with the deadline in mid-May for U.S. listed companies and May 30th for those listed in Canada. Fortunately, as these aren’t audited, the last-minute or late filing challenges of this past week won’t be repeated. Looking ahead, though, the trend towards U.S. companies going public via the CSE may be impacted by this critical bottleneck. Unless MNP is able to devote more resources to the sector or other auditors are willing to do the work along with them, companies looking to go public may have to deal with this issue. For investors, these delays appears to have impacted some of the stock prices during the week. Analysts should perhaps consider that an overworked auditor may possibly miss something in the rushed process.
Hopefully the challenges the accounting firms faced for 2018 audits will lead to improved processes for next-year. One benefit to the SAFE Banking Act would be to make it easier for firms to provide audits to the American operators. If the audit bottleneck persists, many companies pursuing the public option may need to reconsider.
American cannabis operator Vireo Health quietly began trading publicly on the CSE on March 20th, but it has been building its brand since 2012 with a distinct focus on science. Noted for having won 1 of 2 medical cannabis licenses in Minnesota and then one of the first 5 New York licenses, it now has a 10-state footprint that spans the country and Puerto Rico and is positioned to win additional licenses in highly competitive merit-based medical cannabis markets. The physician-led company, which is focused on prudent capital allocation as it enters new markets, is committed to differentiating itself by building a disruptive intellectual property portfolio. Vireo also holds two hemp production licenses.
To learn more about Vireo Health, a client of New Cannabis Ventures, visit the company’s Investor Dashboard that we maintain on its behalf and click the blue Follow Company button in order to stay up to date with their progress.
New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is some of the most interesting business content from this week:
- Exclusive: Acreage Holdings CEO Views Canopy Growth Deal as Prelude to Larger Merger with Constellation Brands
- Alcanna Locks Down Improved $70 Million Revolving Credit Facility at Prime Rate to Fund Expansion
- Exclusive: American Cannabis Stocks Give Up Some Gains in April
- Exclusive: Cannabis Investors Shift Attention to Canadian Extraction Companies and Larger LPs in April
- Exclusive: Cannabis Stocks Pause in April
- CannTrust Raises $US170 Million Selling Shares at US$5.50
- Canopy Growth Buys German Synthetic THC Maker for C$343 Million
- Curaleaf to Buy Leading West Coast Cannabis Oils Brand for $949 Million in Stock
- DionyMed Brands Expects Q1 Sales of $19.2 Million from California Cannabis Operations
- Former Senior Executive of Kellogg Company to Lead Charlotte’s Web as CEO
- Kushco Holdings, Inc. Announces The Private Placement Of US$21,300,000 Senior Unsecured Note
- Breaking: Leaked Letter Reveals a Leaner MedMen
- Exclusive: Top 31 Revenue Generating Cannabis Stocks Ranked as of May 1st
- Exclusive: Why Cannabinoid Biosynthesis Will Have a Significant Role in Fueling the Growth of Global Cannabis Brands
To get real-time updates download our free mobile app for Android or Apple devices, like our Facebook page, or follow Alan on Twitter. Share and discover industry news with like-minded people on the largest cannabis investor and entrepreneur group on LinkedIn.
Use the suite of professionally managed NCV Cannabis Stock Indices to monitor the performance of publicly-traded cannabis companies within the day or over longer time-frames. In addition to the comprehensive Global Cannabis Stock Index, we offer a family of indices to track Canadian licensed producers as well as the American Cannabis Operator Index.
View the Public Cannabis Company Revenue Tracker, which ranks the top revenue producing cannabis stocks that generate industry sales of more than $2.5m per quarter.
Discover upcoming new listings with the curated Cannabis Stock IPOs and New Issues Tracker.
Stay on top of some of the most important communications from public companies by viewing upcoming cannabis investor earnings conference calls.
Consider subscribing to 420 Investor, Alan’s comprehensive stock due diligence platform since 2013 for more in-depth information and market intelligence about the publicly traded cannabis sector.
Find your place in the cannabis industry by visiting our Careers and Jobs Page and learn which companies are hiring aggressively.
Sincerely,
Alan & Joel
