(Bloomberg) -- Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) extends its pre-market surge, soaring 40 percent to $217.16 per share in New York, setting the pot stock up for a third straight day of gains, after CEO Brendan Kennedy touted the company’s growth prospects in a CNBC interview with Jim Cramer Tuesday.
- Tilray soared 29 percent Tuesday after announcing the U.S. DEA approved plans for it to import medical marijuana to supply a clinical trial in California; the stock has gained 42 percent this week and more than 800 percent since its trading debut in July
- Cannabis peers traded higher in early U.S. trading Wednesday, with ADRs for Cronos Group rising 3.8 percent and Canopy Growth adding 2.3 percent
- Related stocks also got a boost, including a 12 percent lift for New Age Beverages, which said it was testing CBD-infused beverages
- Kennedy on Tuesday said there’s a clear global growth opportunity for medical cannabis and he expects to see another country follow in Canada’s footsteps by legalizing marijuana in the next year
- “That’s where the real opportunity is,” Kennedy said. “It’s not about Canada. It’s about all the countries that follow.”
- In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Kennedy said the company is exploring consumer products that include marijuana ingredients and would rather build his business than get acquired by a large consumer company
- “I don’t want to get bought by AB-InBev or Diageo (LON:DGE), I want to be that company,” he said Tuesday
- Tilray briefly erased Tuesday’s post-market gains after Cramer warned in an earlier segment that marijuana stocks could fall after Canada’s legalization takes effect next month
- “If you are buying it up here, you better have more of a thesis than just that the quarter is good because I think October 17th is not going to be nearly as much as a watershed,” Cramer said