Ottawa looks to limit THC concentration in cannabis edibles

Canada has a legal and regulated pot industry, but some of the best weed in the world is still grown just south of the border in the United States.

Today, we have identified six Canadian cannabis stocks with strong balance sheets going into 2019.

In 2019, in general, cannabis companies will need cash to expand production facilities to meet consumer demand, as well as to make strategic acquisitions to increase market share and/or to become further vertically integrated (seed to sale).

These companies also have a solid inventory position, which is another important metric for 2019.

The Canadian marijuana company Tilray announced yesterday (December 18) that it has signed an agreement to partner with Novartis subsidiary Sandoz to sell medical marijuana in countries where it is legal, currently numbering 35. This is likely the first time a major pharmaceutical company has gotten into the medical marijuana business, STAT notes.

Shopify Inc (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) has had a fantastic run in 2018, all things considered. Although its shares have fallen about 13% in the past week, they’re still up over 30% year-to-date. Shopify’s gains this year are particularly impressive compared to the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which is down 10%.

But with large and growing (non-adjusted) losses, why is Shopify able to outclass all other Canadian tech stocks–when some of its competitors are consistently pumping out profits?

There are three basic reasons. I’ll start with the most obvious: growth.

Aleafia to buy Emblem for $173M in all-stock deal

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, and Canadian pot producer Tilray Inc. are partnering in a US$100 million joint venture to research cannabis-infused non-alcoholic drinks for the Canadian market, the companies said Wednesday.

The alliance, the latest in a string of deals by global alcohol and tobacco giants in Canada’s cannabis sector, comes amid booming demand for cannabis and a long-term decline in alcohol consumption and smoking.

AB InBev’s Labatt Breweries of Canada, which makes such brands as Blue, 50, Alexander Keith’s, Kokanee and Budweiser, will work with Tilray’s Canadian cannabis subsidiary, High Park Co., which develops and sells cannabis products in Canada, the companies said in a statement.

Canada-listed Harvest Health & Recreation, Inc. announced it won every license it applied to open more retail stores. According to the public cannabis company, each license permit it won allows to open up to three retail stores.

Harvest has cleared the criteria set by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which issued a total of 23 dispensary permits for Phase II of the medical marijuana program. Harvest will now have six months to become operational before it begins dispensing medical cannabis.

The status of cannabis component CBD as a trendy new superfood ingredient may be cemented this week by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The US$867 billion farm bill, headed to the president for his signature, would remove industrial hemp from a list of federally controlled substances, a major step as weed culture pushes into the U.S. mainstream. That would create a legal market for CBD that could be worth more than US$20 billion by 2022, according to research firm Brightfield Group.

“This is nothing short of seismic for the cannabis industry,” said Kristen Nichols, editor of the trade publication Hemp Industry Daily. “All the obstacles that cannabis faces stem from it being federally illegal.”

Canada is the second sovereign nation to legalize marijuana for adult use, after Uruguay, but it is still grappling with many of the same problems, such as pricing, supply, demand, international activity and the traditional marketplace.

Licensed Canadian growers and producers are hoping to supply European countries, as the United States producers remain frozen out due to Republicans blocking legalization for the past two years.