The 2019 forecast for marijuana stocks is already turning bright
The leading analyst for the cannabis industry on Wall Street just gave an additional nod to the market. Vivien Azer, the managing director and senior research analyst for the Cowen Group, says that marijuana is going to be even stronger this year than she had previously predicted and has raised her projections for the year.
Azer was quoted by CNBC as saying, “We expect continued growth in newly established U.S. states, and more robust growth in Canada as more supply comes online and new form factors hit the market. Given our outlook for continued strong growth in North American cannabis in 2019, we remain constructive on all three of our publicly traded cannabis stocks.” The three stocks she was referring to are Tilray, Canopy and KushCo, the latter being an American company that sells cannabis packaging.
Tilray and Canopy have signed off on partnerships and investment deals with beverage manufacturers that will lead the way for the creation of cannabis-infused drinks on a global scale. Tilray has also formed an alliance with a subsidiary of Novartis, Sandoz, which will help it move deeper into the international medical cannabis market. Azer said of that deal, “We continue to view the international medical market as one of the primary investment highlights for Tilray, which currently operates in 12 countries.”
The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill in the U.S. was another factor for the analyst to revamp her stance. She said that the bill will create an entirely new industry, adding, “We expect the category could generate $1.6 billion in revenues over the next year or two, depending on the timing of FDA commentary and the pace of retail acceptance.”
It’s an exciting time to be alive, watching the changes in the marijuana industry. On both a medical and a recreational level, the world is finally coming to understand the true value of Mother Nature’s wonder drug and is reversing course on measures that have prevented it from properly flourishing over the past 100 years.
