Cannabis Stocks Slide Again in May
As we described in a previous article, the Global Cannabis Stock Index fell sharply in March, plunging 15.2%, leaving it down 12.5% in the first quarter of the year. This followed a record decline of 70.4% for 2022. In April, the index dropped again, falling 2.9% to 8.25. May was worse, as the index fell 7.0% to 7.67, a new all-time low and down 21.0% year-to-date.
In this exclusive article we will summarize the performance of the other managed indices that New Cannabis Ventures offers to its readers. We will discuss the performance of the American Cannabis Operator Index, Ancillary Cannabis Index and Canadian Cannabis LP Index.
The American Cannabis Operator Index fell less than the overall sector. In March, the index plunged 14.0%, and it fell just 0.2% in April to 13.00. In May, it declined 2.2% to 12.71:
Down 8.6% in Q1, the index is down now 10.8% in 2023, ahead of the Global Cannabis Stock Index. Over the past year, the index has declined 54.3%:
The index, which launched in October 2018, finally took out the low from March 2020 in late 2022 and extended the decline in April. In May, it held that all-time low:
During May, two stocks provided investors double-digit percentage gains, Glass House Brands (OTC: GLASF) (NEO: GLAS.A.U), up 20.3%, and Curaleaf Holdings (OTC: CURLF) (CSE: CURA), up 11.7%. Three stocks with large losses included Upexi (NASDAQ: UPXI), Trulieve (OTC: TCNNF) (CSE: TRUL) and Planet 13 Holdings (OTC: PLNHF) (CSE: PLTH), each of which dropped by 21% or more.
In June, the index will increase to 12 members with the deletion of Upexi and the additions of Ascend Wellness (OTC: AAWH) (CSE: AAWH), Ayr Wellness (OTC: AYRWF) (CSE: AYR.A) and MariMed (OTC: MRMD) (CSE: MRMD), all of which now meet the minimum for daily value traded.
The Ancillary Cannabis Index dropped 2.6% to 13.16:
The index, with a massive loss of 76.6% in 2022 to 15.02, has declined 63.5% over the past year. It is down 12.4% in 2023, also better than the Global Cannabis Stock Index:
The index is down over 86% since launching at the end of March in 2021:
The worst performing stock in the index in May was Turning Point Brands (NYSE: TPB), which fell 12.0%. The best stock was GrowGeneration (NASDAQ: GRWG), which gained 8.2%.
In June, the index will increase to 7 members with the addition of SHF Holdings (NASDAQ: SHFS).
The Canadian Cannabis LP Index was very strong to begin the year, rising 19.4% in January and falling just slightly in February, but the index plunged 15.4% in March. In April, it rose 2.9%, but it was very weak in May, falling 7.4% to 69.23:
The index, up 0.1% in Q1 after falling 11.4% in Q4 , declined 62.8% in 2022 to 72.59. It is down 4.6% so far in 2023. Over the last year, it has dropped by 41.6%.
The index, which had made a new all-time low in December, set a new all-time low this week. It is down a lot from its peak:
During May, the index was helped by the big gains in IM Cannabis (CSE: IMCC) (NASDAQ: IMCC), up 54.5%, and Cannara Biotech (TSXV: LOVE) (OTC: LOVFF), up 37.0%. Canopy Growth (TSX: WEED) (NASDAQ: CGC) was the worst-performing stock again, dropping 35.4%. Two other stocks that fell by 33.3% were Aleafia Health (TSX: AH) (OTC: ALEAF) and Rubicon Organics (TSXV: ROMJ) (OTC: ROMJF). Four other companies lost more than 1/4 of their value.
In June, the index will drop from 23 to 21 members with the removals of Christina Lake Cannabis (CSE: CLC) and TerrAscend (CSE: TER) (OTC: TRSSF).
New Cannabis Ventures maintains four proprietary indices designed to help investors monitor the publicly-traded cannabis stocks, including the Global Cannabis Stock Index as well as the Canadian Cannabis LP Index. The third index, the American Cannabis Operator Index, was launched at the end of October 2018 and tracks the leading cultivators, processors and retailers of cannabis in the United States. Afterwards, we introduced the Ancillary Cannabis Index at the end of March 2021, reflecting the increasing number of publicly-traded companies providing goods or services to cannabis operators.