(Bloomberg) — Aphria Inc. became the first large pot producer to report a second consecutive profitable quarter Tuesday, sending its stock up as much as 24% in trading before the opening bell.
The company said it earned C$16.4 million on revenue of C$126.1 million in the quarter ended Aug. 31, a slight decline from the prior quarter. It also reiterated its outlook for fiscal 2020, which calls for revenue of C$650 million to C$700 million and adjusted Ebitda of C$88 million to C$95 million.
Notably, revenue from recreational cannabis sales rose 8% quarter-over-quarter to C$20 million. The increase comes as other companies like Canopy Growth Corp. have reported sales declines. Hexo Corp. withdrew its guidance for fiscal 2020 last week, citing slower-than-expected store openings, a delay in government approval for new products and early signs of pricing pressure.
Aphria’s New York-listed shares jumped in pre-market trading. Prior to Tuesday, they had lost about 16% since the beginning of the month amid broader weakness in pot stocks.
“We believe the reaction is due to industry sentiment (and valuations) near all-time lows, making an in-line quarter very well received by many industry investors,” CIBC analyst John Zamparo said in a note.
Other cannabis producers also joined in the gains, with the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF adding 3.8%. Tilray Inc. rose 3.3%, Cronos Group Inc. gained 3%, Canopy was up 2.6% and Aurora Cannabis Inc. added 2.3%.
Aphria has posted a remarkable turnaround since late last year, when it was the target of short sellers who accused it of paying inflated prices to buy Latin American assets from insiders. That resulted in the ousting of Chief Executive Officer Vic Neufeld, who was replaced on an interim basis by Irwin Simon, who previously ran Hain Celestial Group Inc.
(Adds chart, analyst quote in paragraph 5, other stock moves in paragraph 6)
To contact the reporter on this story: Kristine Owram in Toronto at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brad Olesen at [email protected], Will Daley, Steven Fromm
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