Cannabis stocks perked up on Tuesday, with broad-based gains across North American markets.
The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, gained 2% at 210.3 points. Elsewhere, the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF gained 1.25% to C$17.03, while the OTCQX Cannabis Index was up 1.9% to 699 points.
Buds
() (OTCMKTS:HRVOF) shares were on the rise Tuesday after the firm announced its Satipharm Ltd subsidiary saw strong results from a clinical trial of its CBD GelPell capsules to treat children with epilepsy.
Shares of Harvest One were up 3.5% at C$0.59 in Toronto, and up 5.4% at US$0.44 in New York.
The Phase 2 trial of children with treatment-resistant epilepsy found a median monthly seizure reduction of 82% over the 12-week treatment period when GelPell was added to patients’ current medications. More than half of the patients who started treatment saw a reduction in seizure frequency of at least 50%, and two patients were seizure-free within five weeks.
READ: Harvest One subsidiary Satipharm's CBD capsules shown to reduce seizures in Phase 2 pediatric epilepsy trial
Also on the rise Tuesday was () (), after it boosted its fourth-quarter expectations, anticipating about $19 million for 4Q. Forecasts for net revenue in fiscal 2020 came in between $150 million and $180 million.
Shares were on the rise, up 10.5% at US$1.05, and in New York, up 12.1% at C$1.39.
"Our company has taken deliberate steps to grow in a focused, responsible and compliant manner, building a strong core business and an authentic brand and then expanding into new lines of business and international markets," said Navdeep Dhaliwal, CEO of Supreme Cannabis.
Duds
Laggards Tuesday included MariMed Inc (), despite posting record 2Q financial results. Its shares were down 1.2% at US$1.65.
The firm reported a 774.0% rise in revenue to US$25.7 million in 2Q. Net income came in at US$4.7 million, improving from a net loss of US$393,000 in the year-ago period.
“The second quarter of this year marks a milestone,” said MariMed president and CEO, Bob Fireman. “Both of our business divisions—cannabis and hemp—delivered this quarter to drive record results."
Also lagging Tuesday was () (NYSE:CTST), which continued to slide after the company announced Monday that Health Canada had found a second of its facilities was "non-compliant with certain regulations."
Shares dropped 2.6% to C$2.96 in Toronto, and were down 3.2% at US$2.24 in New York.
CannTrust has been embroiled in a scandal since early July after Health Canada found it was growing cannabis in unlicensed rooms at its Vaughan, Ontario facility.
According to a company release Monday, the firm noted Health Canada has flagged the company for improper cannabis storage procedures, inadequate quality assurance, failing to retain documents and inadequate security protocols at a second facility, also located in Vaughan, Ontario.
-- Harriet Mclelland contributed to this report --
Contact Katie Lewis at [email protected]
