After dropping 11.4% in June, the Canadian Cannabis LP Index managed only a slight recovery in July due to weak performance from the largest LPs, gaining 0.8% to 285.33:
Over the past year, the index has declined 64.0%:
The index remains substantially below the all-time closing high of 1314.33 in September 2018, just ahead of Canadian legalization. In March, it posted a new 52-week closing low of 196.10, a level not seen since late 2016, and it closed 45.5% above that level at the end of July. The index has declined 27.5% from its close of 393.78 at the end of 2019:
The Canadian Cannabis LP Index, which is rebalanced monthly, included 35 qualifying publicly traded licensed producers that traded in Canada at the end of June, with equal weighting for each stock. Each of the members is also included in a sub-index, with 6 in the Canadian Cannabis LP Tier 1 Index, 10 in the Canadian Cannabis LP Tier 2 Index and 19 in the Canadian Cannabis LP Tier 3 Index during the month. At the end of June, 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 over 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$20 million per quarter, fell 7.0% to 383.64. In 2019, it declined 38.5%, when it ended the year at 642.23, and Tier 1 remains the weakest sub-sector in 2020 after declining 40.3% so far this year. We have increased the minimum revenue required to be included over time. 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 Aphria (TSX: APHA) (NASDAQ: APHA), Aurora Cannabis (TSX: ACB) (NYSE: ACB), Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED) (NYSE: CGC), HEXO Corp (TSX: HEXO) (NYSE: HEXO), Organigram (TSX: OGI) (NASDAQ: OGI) and Valens Company (TSX: VLNS) (OTC: VLNCF).
Among these largest LPs by revenue, Organigram, down 23.6%, Aurora Cannabis, down 18.7%, Valens, down 12.9%, and HEXO, down 8.1%, declined, while Canopy Growth, up 11.2%, and Aphria, up 9.8%, advanced.
Tier 2
Tier 2, which included the LPs that generate cannabis-related quarterly sales between C$5 million and C$20 million, rose 1.0% to 433.09. In 2019, it lost 44.3% after closing at 569.54 and is down 24.0% in 2020. Prior to July, companies needed revenue in excess of C$2.5 million to be included in this tier.
This group included Aleafia Health (TSX: AH) (OTC: ALEAF), Auxly (TSXV: XLY) (OTC: CBWTF), Cronos Group (TSX: CRON) (NASDAQ: CRON), Delta 9 (TSX: DN) (OTC: VNRDF), MediPharm Labs (TSX: LABS) (OTC: MEDIF), Radient Technologies (TSXV: RTI) (OTC: RDDTF), Supreme Cannabis (TSX: FIRE) (OTC: SPRWF), VIVO Cannabis (TSX: VIVO) (OTC: VVCIF), WeedMD (TSXV: WMD) (OTC: WDDMF) and Zenabis Global (TSX: ZENA) (OTC: ZBISF).
The worst performers in this tier included WeedMD, down 26.8% and Auxly, down 15.5%, while Aleafia, up 33.3% and Zenabis, up 25.0%, performed the best.
Tier 3
Tier 3, which included the 19 qualifying LPs that generate cannabis-related quarterly sales less than C$5 million, rose 3.2% as it closed at 75.88. It ended at 96.76 in 2019, declining 45.0%, and is down 21.6% in 2020. Six names in this group declined by more than 20% while three posted gains. The strongest performers, all of which gained more than 20%, included Rapid Dose (CSE: DOSE) (OTC: RDTCF), TerrAscend (CSE: TER) (OTC: TRSSF), RMMI Corp (CSE: RMMI) and Emerald Health (TSXV: EMH) (OTC: EMHTF).
The returns for the overall sector varied greatly, with 6 names gaining more than 20%, while 4 declined by more than 20%, with the entire group posting a median return of -3.6%:
For August, the overall index will have 34 constituents, with the removal of Heritage Cannabis and Terranueva, which no longer meet the rules, and the inclusion of Canadabis Capital. Organigram and Valens will move from Tier 1 to Tier 2 due to their revenue dropping below $20 million.
In the next monthly review, we will summarize the performance for August 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.
