It seems like July was the month of marijuana management shakeups, with the larger cannabis companies seeing significant losses after firing CEO after CEO.
It’s left many investors shaken within the industry, and it shows. Shares across the board have plummeted, despite some strong earnings results being posted for the first time in quite a long time.
So while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend selling your shares in these companies right now, I wouldn’t recommend buying them up in bulk either. Not quite yet. Instead, there are two other options out there that have quite a promising future. And for a fraction of the cost.
Curaleaf
A cannabis company on the war path right now is Curaleaf Holdings (CNSX:CURA), a pot stock looking to play with the big boys as it snaps up acquisition after acquisition that has seen its production capacity and U.S. footprint for the future sky rocket. Its recent acquisition of GR Companies and Cura Partners put the company over the top, with dispensary licenses, cultivation sites, and processing facilities now scattered across the United States and abroad. Yet it’s this U.S. growth that has many investors excited, as the company is completely set up for legalization if it happens.
So why is the stock down? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States recently alleged Curaleaf had been selling drugs unapproved, stating some were “not generally recognized as safe and effective” and making “unsubstantiated claims that the products treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, opioid withdrawal, pain and pet anxiety, among other conditions or diseases.”
While this looks bad, it absolutely warrants a buying opportunity. Curaleaf will make the actions necessary to meet FDA requirements, and be quickly back on track to its goal of being one of the largest – if not the largest – pot producer in the world. With analysts giving the company a price target of $25, that would give today’s investors an increase of 200% as of writing.
Aleafria
An even cheaper stock with huge potential is Aleafria Health (TSX:ALEF). While this stock might not have as high a target price as Curaleaf, it certainly has the triple-digit growth in share price.
A lot of this comes down to two moves by Aleafria. First, the company’s acquisition of Emblem Cannabis, which paved the way for the largest adult-use cannabis order in the company’s history. The sale is expected to generate proceeds of about $1 million. Then, Aleafria announced Health Canada had approved its license to quadruple the size of its Port Perry Outdoor Grow Facility, from 292,000 square feet to 1.1 million square feet. While it’s unknown how much the company will now produce, it currently stands at 138,000 kilograms per year. That number already puts it in the top 10, so this addition will surely boost that number much further.
The major excitement investors have surrounding this stock is that with all this news, the stock has so much room to grow. It has just jumped over the milestone of shipping abroad, starting with Australia, and is now looking at Germany. Its most recent earnings report this week was also promising, coming in with a 377% increase in revenue, and an increase in profit to $2.9 million.
