If you've never heard Canadian cannabis producer Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB) and big biotech Gilead Sciences(NASDAQ: GILD) mentioned in the same sentence, this will be a first for you. You might not think that Aurora and Gilead have anything in common, but they do. Both companies are currently conducting clinical trials. And both companies have skeptics who doubt how well their stocks will perform over the long run.

Over the last couple of years, Aurora has been the clear winner when it comes to stock performance. It's a different story over the lifetimes of these two companies, though, with Gilead delivering much larger gains (albeit over a much longer period of time).

Canadian cannabis producer HEXO (NYSEMKT:HEXO) recently unveiled results from the three months ended April 30, 2019. There were some impressive top-line numbers, but they were largely ignored and the stock finished the week of its announcement 32% lower than a peak it reached near the end of April.

Is this dip a chance to pick up a leading cannabis producer at a discount, or could this be the beginning of a longer slide? Here's what you need to know about HEXO's chances to turn this ship around.

Reasons to buy

There aren't many industries growing faster than licensed cannabis right now. Using 2018 as a baseline, global sales are expected to double by 2022.

If you're considering buying either Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) or Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG), you probably wish you could turn back the hands of time. Both stocks are up more than 50% so far in 2019. The nice gain is a welcome change for Scotts, but just a continuation of momentum for Canopy Growth, which has skyrocketed around 1,950% over the last three years.

It's not too late to jump aboard either of these stocks. But which one is the better pick for long-term investors now? Here's how Canopy Growth and Scotts stack up against each other.

Bigfoot. The Loch Ness monster. Profitable pot stocks -- All three things are rumored to exist but are very hard to find.

Investors have good news, though: It's not impossible to find the third item on the list. While most cannabis-related companies remain unprofitable even when their sales are soaring, there are a handful of businesses operating in the cannabis industry that are actually generating solid earnings.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB) (NYSE:ACB) is a Canadian cannabis stock and is the second-largest Canadian cultivator by market cap. The Company has invested a significant amount of money into innovation and efficiency, which makes them attractive as an investment.

Staff from WeedMD’s operations in Aylmer and Strathroy, along with members of its leadership team and Strathroy-Caradoc Mayor Joanne Vanderheyden, rolled up their sleeves and planted marijuana in a 10-hectare plot previously used to grow asparagus.

More than 20,000 clones – small cannabis plants grown from the cuttings of a mother plant – will go into the ground in a fenced section of the company’s 64-hectare property that also houses its greenhouse operation.

The farm is outfitted with an irrigation system and plastic row coverings to keep weeds from growing.

“I can confidently say that we’ve thought of everything here. We will have an amazing bumper crop,” WeedMD chief cannabis officer Derek Pedro said.

Cannabis stocks continued to drop Thursday after a tough week so far with broad losses across North American markets.

The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, was down 2% to 239.7 points on Thursday. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF was down 1.7% to C$18.77. The OTCQX Cannabis Index was down 2.3% at 735.1 points.

Duds

HEXO Corporation (NYSEAMERICAN:HEXO) (TSE:HEXO) announced fiscal third-quarter results Wednesday that showed surging revenue thanks to the ongoing rollout of a legalized cannabis market in Canada. The cannabis producer saw sales jump more than tenfold to C$13 million but fell short of Street estimates by C$1 million. 

The marijuana stock market has seen quite the amount of exciting updates over the course of the past few months. In that time, we have seen companies move toward reaching their future goals, as well as a newfound acceptance coming from the market as a whole. Because of these shifts, it seems as though now is the friendliest time ever to take a first or second look at investing in the world of cannabis. One of the things to keep in mind, however, is that cannabis can be quite volatile. This is one of the reasons that many choose to invest, but the most important factor is to always do the proper research and to know all one can about the market and its fluctuations.

Hexo Corp. shares fell sharply in Thursday trading after the company announced a sequential decline in revenue as part of its third-quarter earnings just months following recreational legalization of marijuana in Canada.

U.S.-traded shares HEXO, -8.53% HEXO, -8.44%  of the Canadian licensed pot producer fell 8.4% in afternoon trading Thursday.

Marijuana stocks are in demand again after Colorado and Illinois legalize recreational marijuana. While the federal government classified cannabis as a Schedule I substance, states have a more relaxed approach to cannabis possession and use. As of June 2019, a doctor’s recommendation can let users use cannabis for medical purposes in 33 states, four permanently inhabited US territories and the District of Columbia. Recreational marijuana is legal in 10 states.