Cannabis Earnings Season Reveals $500 Million Annual Profitable Revenue Ahead for Leading MSOs

The Public Cannabis Company Revenue & Income Tracker, managed by New Cannabis Ventures, ranks the top revenue producing cannabis stocks that generate industry sales of more than US$10 million per quarter (C$13.2 million). This data-driven, fact-based tracker will continually update based on new financial filings so that readers can stay up to date. Companies must file with the SEC or SEDAR and be current to be considered for inclusion. Please note that we raised the minimum quarterly revenue several times as the industry has scaled up, including from US$7.5 million in June 2020, from US$5.0 million in October 2019 and from US$2.5 million in May 2019.

35 companies currently qualify for inclusion, with 21 filing in U.S. dollars and 14 in the Canadian currency, which is up from the 34 when we reported at the end of July. In the U.S., we added cbdMD (NYSE American: YCBD). In Canada, we added MediPharm Labs (TSX: LABS) (OTC: MEDIF) and removed Aleafia Health (TSX: ALEF) (OTCD: ALEAF). Some companies have taken advantage of revised filing deadlines that have been extended due to the pandemic, and we expect to continue to see some delays. We also expect to add a few names to the rankings over the balance of this reporting season and the rest of the year.

In May 2019, we added an additional metric, “Adjusted Operating Income”, as we detailed in our newsletter. The calculation takes the reported operating income and adjusts it for any changes in the fair value of biological assets required under IFRS accounting. We believe that this adjustment improves comparability for the companies across IFRS and GAAP accounting. We note that often operating income can include one-time items like stock compensation, inventory write-downs or public listing expenses, and we recommend that readers understand how these non-cash items can impact quarterly financials. Many companies are moving from IFRS to U.S. GAAP accounting, which will reduce our need to make adjustments. Please note that our rankings include only actual reported revenue, and not pro forma revenue. We also note that companies with non-cannabis operations must provide segment-level financial reports that detail not only revenue but also operating profit to be included in the tracker.

In the first part of August, some of the leading MSOs handily beat expectations on revenue and profitability. Trulieve (CSE: TRUL) (OTC: TCNNF) regained the top spot for MSOs, reporting revenue of $121 million, up 26% sequentially and 109% from a year ago, well ahead of expectations. The company’s adjusted operating income represented 45% of sales. Trulieve, which generated $484 million in revenue on an annualized basis, upped its 2020 guidance to $465-485 million million from $380-400 million. Green Thumb Industries (CSE: GTII) (OTC: GTBIF), which had been expected to generated $103 million revenue, reported $120 million, up 17% sequentially and 168% from a year ago. The company’s adjusted operating margin was 12%. Harvest Health & Recreation (CSE: HARV) (OTC: HRVSF) also beat expectations, reporting revenue of $55.7 million, up 26% sequentially.

Other reports of note included GW Pharma (NASDAQ: GWPH), which met expectations at $121 million, up 1% sequentially and 68% from a year ago, and GrowGeneration (NASDAQ: GRWG), which far surpassed expectations. The company grew revenue 32% sequentially and 123% from a year ago, generating an operating income of $2.8 million. It boosted guidance for 2020 from $135-140 million to $170-75 million and adjusted EBITDA from $12-14 million to $17-18 million, and it provided initial guidance for 2021 to generate revenue of $245-260 million and adjusted EBITDA of $26-28 million.

American Dollar Reporting – Public Cannabis Company Revenue Tracker

During the second half of August, we will get several more updates, including from two of the largest MSOs, beginning with Curaleaf (CSE: CURA) (OTC: CURLF) on the 17th. According to Sentieo, analysts expect revenue to be $109 million, up 14% sequentially and 124% from a year ago. Q2 will be the first to include a full quarter of contribution from the Select acquisition earlier this year but will exclude revenue from the recently acquired Grassroots Cannabis. In Q1, the company reported a pro forma revenue of $147 million that is intended to depict the revenue generation of the company with all pending and closed acquisitions as well as gross up revenue from managed services, and it guided for Q2 pro forma revenue to $165 million, which would be up 12% from Q1.

Cresco Labs (CSE: CL) (OTC: CRLBF), which reports on the 20th, is expected to see Q2 revenue increase 14% from Q1 to $76 million, which would represent 154% growth from a year ago. The company acquired Origin House early in Q1, which helped boost revenue during the quarter, and it also reported strong contributions from Illinois and Pennsylvania.

For those interested in more information about companies reporting, we publish comprehensive earnings previews and reviews for subscribers at 420 Investor on many of these companies, including for Focus List names Cresco Labs and Curaleaf.

Of the companies that report in Canadian dollars, Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED) (NYSE: CGC) maintained its leadership position as it surpassed analyst expectations by reporting revenue of C$110 million, up 2% sequentially and 22% from a year ago. It also improved its adjusted operating loss to -C$172 million. The company’s growth was supported by sequential growth in its ancillary businesses. Sundial saw a large gain in cannabis revenue as it decreased its operating loss by 40% to a still quite-large C$21.6 million. MediPharm Labs rejoined the list after growing revenue by 26% sequentially, though this represented a 56% decline from a year ago.

Canadian Dollar Reporting – Public Cannabis Company Revenue Tracker

During the second half of August, Alcanna (TSX: CLIQ) (OTC: LQSIF) and TerrAscend (CSE: TER) (OTC: TRSSF) will report their Q2 financials. Alcanna generates predominantly non-cannabis revenue through its liquor-store operations. According to Sentieo, it is expected to increase 26% from a year ago to C$253 million. TerrAscend recently pre-announced its Q2 ahead of guidance it had provided in May. The company had previously projected revenue of C$45 million, with gross margin and adjusted EBITDA expected to improve sequentially. It will report revenue of C$47.2 million, up 36% from Q1 and 169% from a year ago, and adjusted EBITDA of C$11.4 million, up approximately 128% from Q1. 90% of the company’s revenue is generated from its American operations.

For those interested in more information about companies reporting, we publish comprehensive earnings previews and reviews for subscribers at 420 Investor, including for Focus List members Alcanna and TerrAscend.

Visit the Public Cannabis Company Revenue Tracker to track and explore the complete list of qualifying companies. We have recently created a way for our readers to access our library of Revenue Tracker articles. For our readers who are interested in staying on top of scheduled earnings calls in the sector, we have have created and continually update the Cannabis Investor Earnings Conference Call Calendar.

Exclusive article by Alan Brochstein, CFA
Alan Brochstein, CFA
Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as founder of online community 420 Investor, the first and still largest due diligence platform focused on the publicly-traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. At New Cannabis Ventures, he is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before shifting his focus to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst following over two decades in research and portfolio management. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 at Seeking Alpha, where he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a frequent source to the media, including the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

Get Our Sunday Newsletter