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After postponing the release of its fourth-quarter results last week, Quebec-based cannabis company Hexo Corp (NYSE:HEXO), (TSX:HEXO) will explain its latest performance figures in a conference call this morning.
The company said last week it needed more time to finalize its earnings reports after issuing a C$70 million (US$53.6 million) private placement.
Hexo is attempting to stem the flow of bad news, which started earlier in October when it withdrew its fiscal 2020 financial outlook after missing analysts’ revenue estimates in advance of its fourth-quarter report. This move sent shares sliding, losing more than 22%. In its earnings revision, Hexo said fourth-quarter revenue will be between C$14.5 million (US$10.96 million) and C$16.5 million (US$11.04 million), below its previous predictions that had pegged revenues being twice as much as its third-quarter figures of C$13 million (US$9.83 million).
Last Thursday, Hexo announced it was laying off 200 employees, including management staff. The layoffs will affect all departments and facilities. Among the key management personnel leaving is its chief manufacturing officer and chief marketing officer. The company had just over 1,000 employees.
In the past week, the company’s stock price went from US$2.74 (C$3.80) on Oct. 18 to close yesterday at US$2.32 (C$3.03), a 15.3% (20.2%) plunge.
Perhaps in an attempt to turn the tide on the bad news, Hexo released a statement yesterday announcing it has received a research and development license from Health Canada for its Centre of Excellence in Belleville, Ont. The licence expands the scope of activities the company can conduct on cannabis and its derivatives.
“The research license will allow us to take our innovation work to the next level, with testing on derivative products, including taste testing,” said Hexo CEO and co-founder Sebastien St-Louis. “Consumers have high expectations for their packaged goods experiences, and cannabis will be no different.”
The facility will serve as a production and distribution hub as it ratchets up to offer cannabis derivative products. Earlier this month, Hexo provided notice to Health Canada that it would be producing new products that fall into the newly legalized cannabis-infused products. The company has also recently been issued an amended license that will allow it market cannabis topical, extracts and edibles from its cultivation and production facility in Gatineau, Que.
Firms Specializing In CBD Extraction Attracting Attention
With marijuana-infused products, including beverages, and a wide array of edibles now legal in Canada, the cannabis market is looking ahead to the size and expectations of these so-called 2.0 products. With this shift, companies that specialize in the extraction and processing of CBD oil are attracting more attention.
In fact, one such company, Valens GroWorks Corp (OTC:VGWCF), (TSXV:VGW), has seen its stock jump slightly more than 7% since the middle of October.
Valens GroWorks specializes in an extraction method, distillation and purifies cannabinoid isolation. Being able to produce CBD isolate that is consistent and measurable to be able to be used as an ingredient in commercially available consumer products is key. And Valens GroWorks has secured contracts to do just that with several major companies in the cannabis space. These companies include Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY), Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC), (TSX:WEED), Green Organic Dutchman (OTC:TGODF), (TSX:TGOD) and OrganiGram (NASDAQ:OGI), (TSX:OGI).
Shares of Valens GroWorks closed down 2.58% yesterday in Toronto and New York.
Another company emerging as a major extractor is MediPharm Labs Corp (OTC:MEDIF), (TSX:LABS). The Ontario-based company specializes in purified pharmaceutical-grade cannabis oil extract needed for derivative products. Its shares gained more than 43% in the U.S. and 44% in Canada since the close on Oct. 1 They closed yesterday at US$3.67 (C$4.81), down 2.24% on the day.
MediPharm has secured strategic partnerships with Canopy, as well as other companies, including Cronos (NASDAQ:CRON), (TSX:CRON), Emerald Health Therapeutics (OTC:EMHTF), (TSXV:EMH) and Supreme Cannabis (OTC:SPRWF), (TSX:FIRE).
Finland, Germany Edging Toward Legalization
Finland is headed toward decriminalizing cannabis. According to an Oct. 25 report by YLE, the Finland’s national public broadcaster, a citizens’ initiative calling for the legalization of the weed will be considered by the country’s members of parliament after receiving the required 50,000 signatures from residents.
The initiative requests the decriminalization of possession of marijuana, and that the use and cultivation of small amounts of the substance be permitted.
In Germany, the government is considering legalizing recreational cannabis. According to news reports, the German government is weighing the move, imposing control measures on production and distribution. Right now, cannabis is only legal for medical use. It production, sale and importation is strictly controlled by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices.
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