Tilray soars on CEO’s optimistic views on marijuana industry

Shares of marijuana producer Tilray (TLRY) skyrocketed over 50% during today’s morning trading session and the stock hit a fresh new high after its CEO Brendan Kennedy gave an interview to Jim Crammer on CNBC’s Mad Money program expressing his optimism on marijuana industry. The stock, which soared close to 30% Tuesday after the interview, doubled the momentum and continued to surge today also.

Watch out Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy’s interview with Jim Crammer
Courtesy: Mad Money, CNBC

On Tuesday, Tilray received approval from the US Drug Enforcement Administration to import cannabis products to the US from Canada for a clinical trial at the University of California San Diego. This trial, which is expected to give solutions for patients with essential tremor (a neurological movement disorder), is targeted to begin in early 2019.

Tilray will jointly provide financial support to this trial with International Essential Tremor Foundation.

In the interview given to Jim Crammer, the Tilray executive chief said that the global medical cannabis market could be around $100 billion. The company had allied with Sandoz Canada in Canada, a unit of Novartis Group, in March this year to develop medical cannabis products.

Kennedy expects this partnership to expand to other parts of the world. He also added that pharma companies, alcohol companies and their investors should invest in the cannabis industry. Kennedy said the company is looking for opportunities to raise its capital.

With already Constellation Brands (STZ) increasing its stake in weed company Canopy Growth (CGC) and Coca-Cola’s (KO) partnership with Canada-based Aurora Cannabis, Tilray hopes to form strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical and alcohol companies.

As more states in the US and many countries in the world are preparing to legalize marijuana for the medical use, Tilray is confident of increasing its business in the US and also expanding its supply footprint around the world.

Tilray, which debuted in Nasdaq in July 2018, had a stunning rise of more than 1200% so far from its IPO price of $17. The company almost doubled its revenue to $9.7 million in the recently ended second quarter, while selling 1,514 kilograms of cannabis products, which was up 97% from the prior-year quarter.

Meanwhile, shares of other pot producers Canopy Growth and Cronos Group (CRON) were trading up about 3% and 20%, respectively during Wednesday’s morning trading session.

However, trading in the stock was halted five times during the afternoon session due to the high volatility and pared its gain. It was up 38.12% at $214.06 when the market closed Wednesday and in the after-hours trading, the stock was pushed into the negative territory.

Marijuana stocks experience a euphoric rise

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