Even As Execs Continue To Flee, Cannabis Sector Forecasts Point To Growth
Investing.com | Feb 04, 2020 03:31AM ET
The growing string of individuals at the helm of a marijuana company who have exited the corner office got a little bit longer in the past week, as the chief executive officer of Medmen (OTC:MMNFF), (CSE:MMEN), a U.S.-based cannabis retailer, resigned effective Feb. 1.
In fact, since the beginning of 2020, the rate of departures from the executive suites in the cannabis sector has reached a headline-making pace.
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The announcement of Adam Bierman’s departure from MedMen came last Friday and it is not an uncommon tale in the industry, which has seen stock prices plunge throughout much of 2019. In MedMen’s case, the company has seen its stock value diminished by a shocking 87% in the U.S. — and more than 91% since peaking on the Canadian Stock Exchange in October of 2018.
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The company, which operates across the United States, will set up a committee to launch a search for Bierman’s replacement and has named chief operating officer Ryan Lissack as interim CEO.
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MedMen has struggled with a series of setbacks. This past October, it announced it was pulling out of a US$682 million (C$905 million) deal to acquire Chicago-based PharmaCann in what was described as one of the biggest deals in the U.S. marijuana sector.
Before it was called off completely, the deal-that-wasn’t had suffered delays due to regulatory issues as the state of Illinois wrestled with legalizing marijuana.
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But that was not MedMen’s only stepback. In November, it announced layoffs. Then, on Dec. 27, it announced the sale of what it termed “non-core assets” to bolster its cash assets.
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The day before Bierman’s departure from MedMen was announced, Sundial Growers (NASDAQ:SNDL), a Calgary-based cannabis producer, released a statement about the resignation of its CEO, Torsten Kuenzlen, and COO, Brian Harriman. The company’s executive chairman, Ted Hellard, also stepped down. Board member Zach George was named new CEO.
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Traded on the NASDAQ, Sundial Growers shares lost almost 27% the day the departures were announced. The stock has come back some, gaining more than 11.5% yesterday. But since hitting its peak early last August, Sundial shares have lost almost 90% of their value.
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Similarly, there was a shake-up at Flowr Corp (OTC:FLWPF), (TSXV:FLWR), a Canadian-based grower that is traded in the U.S. and Canada, which announced last week the departure of its CFO, chief strategy officer, chief research and innovation officer, and chief policy and medical officer. You could almost hear the echo in the room when they all cleared out.
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The company’s stock has lost almost 14% since the announcement, closing down again yesterday 9.36% on the TSX Venture exchange and almost 7.5% in the U.S. OTC market.
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Forecast Of Cannabis Consumer Spending Very Positive
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While the view of the cannabis industry from the executive level might seem somewhat precarious and many investors are still licking their wounds from the double-digit losses, the latest industry data report points to more positive prospects.
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According to Archview Market Research’s latest report, The State of Legal Cannabis Markets, released last week, consumer spending on legal cannabis in 2019 increased by 46% to reach US$14.9 billion. What’s more, worldwide legal cannabis spending is projected to reach US$42.7 billion by 2024, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 26.9% from 2018.
The forecasted increase compared with previous estimates is based on the “expected strength in adult-use markets in key U.S. states and Canada through 2024,” notes the Archview report.
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Indeed, it claims several markets performed better in 2019 than originally forecasted. And several major U.S. markets will be seeing cannabis legalized in 2022, including New York and New Jersey, while smaller U.S. markets are expected to introduce medical cannabis programs in 2023 and 2024.
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