The Canadian Cannabis LP Index broke a three-month losing streak in June, increasing 1.2% to 359.27.
The index, which rallied 22.1% in Q4 but still fell 30.1% in 2020 to end at 275.16, is up 27.0% over the past year and 30.6% year-to-date in 2021:
It remains substantially below the all-time closing high of 1314.33 in September 2018, just ahead of Canadian legalization. In March 2020, it posted a new 52-week closing low of 196.10, a level not seen since late 2016, and it closed 83.2% above that level at the end of June:
The Canadian Cannabis LP Index, which is rebalanced monthly, included 39 qualifying publicly traded licensed producers that traded in Canada at the end of May, with equal weighting for each stock. Note that two companies, Supreme Cannabis and Zenabis, were removed during the month following their being acquired. Each of the members was also included in a sub-index, with 4 in the Canadian Cannabis LP Tier 1 Index, 15 in the Canadian Cannabis LP Tier 2 Index and 20 in the Canadian Cannabis LP Tier 3 Index during the month. At the end of June 2020, we revised the rules for inclusion, requiring companies to have a price of at least C$0.20 unless they are generating at least C$2.5 million quarterly from their cannabis production operation. Previously, we required revenue in excess of C$1 million for stocks trading below C$0.20. There are currently about two dozen publicly traded LPs that fail to qualify.
Tier 1
Tier 1, which included the LPs that are generating cannabis-related sales of at least C$25 million per quarter, fell 2.1% to 703.73 in June. Tier 1, which dropped 23.9% in 2020 when it ended at 488.96, has rallied 43.9% in 2021. We have increased the minimum revenue required to be included over time. At the beginning of 2021, we raised it from C$20 million. During 2019 and the first half of 2020, companies needed to generate revenue in excess of C$10 million for inclusion. In 2018, we used C$4 million as the hurdle.
This group included Aurora Cannabis (TSX: ACB) (NASDAQ: ACB), Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED) (NASDAQ: CGC), HEXO Corp (TSX: HEXO) (NYSE: HEXO) and Tilray (TSX: TLRY) (NASDAQ: TLRY).
Among these largest LPs by revenue, HEXO Corp, last month’s best performer, was the worst performer, losing 16.4%, while Tilray gained 9.0%.
Tier 2
Tier 2, which included the LPs that generate cannabis-related quarterly sales between C$5 million and C$25 million, fell 5.1% to 559.67. In 2020, it lost 35.9% in 2020, closing at 365.19, and it is up 53.3% in 2021. Prior to July 2020, companies needed revenue in excess of C$2.5 million to be included in this tier.
This group included 48North (TSXV: NRTH) (OTC: NCNNF), Aleafia Health (TSX: AH) (OTC: ALEAF), Auxly (TSX: XLY) (OTC: CBWTF), Cronos Group (TSX: CRON) (NASDAQ: CRON), Decibel Cannabis (TSXV: DB) (OTC: DBCCF), Delta 9 (TSX: DN) (OTC: DLTNF), MediPharm Labs (TSX: LABS) (OTC: MEDIF), Organigram (TSX: OGI) (NASDAQ: OGI), Supreme Cannabis (TSX: FIRE) (OTC: SPRWF), The Green Organic Dutchman (CSE: TGOD) (OTC: TGODF), Valens Company (TSX: VLNS) (OTC: VLNCF), Village Farms (TSX: VFF) (NASDAQ: VFF), VIVO Cannabis (TSX: VIVO) (OTC: VVCIF), WeedMD (TSXV: WMD) (OTC: WDDMF) and Zenabis Global (TSX: ZENA) (OTC: ZBISF).
The best performer for the second straight month was Decibel Cannabis, which gained 25.5%, with Village Farms increasing almost 15%. The weakest name was Auxly, down 28.8%.
Tier 3
Tier 3, which included the 20 qualifying LPs that generate cannabis-related quarterly sales less than C$5 million, rose 6.1% as it closed at 76.36. It ended at 66.59 in 2020, declining 31.2%, and is up 14.7% in 2021. Rapid Dose Therapeutics (CSE: DOSE) (OTC: RDTCF) was by far the strongest performer, gaining 176.2%. The worst performer was BevCanna Enterprises (CSE: CNX) (OTC: BVNNF), falling 26.5%.
The returns for the overall sector varied greatly, with 4 names gaining more than 20% and 4 declining by more than 20%. The entire group posted a median return of -4.3%:
For July, the overall index will have 38 constituents, with the addition of Heritage Cannabis (CSE: CANN) (OTC: HERTF) to Tier 3. HEXO Corp will move from Tier 1 to Tier 2 after its quarterly revenue slipped below the C$25 million minimum for inclusion in Tier 1. Indiva (TSXV: NDVA) (OTC: NDVAF) will move from Tier 3 to Tier 2.
In the next monthly review, we will summarize the performance for July and discuss any additions or deletions. Be sure to bookmark the pages to stay current on LP stock price movements within the day or from day-to-day.
