The marijuana industry is budding before our eyes, and investors are certainly taking notice. Over the trailing 12 months, most pot stocks have doubled or tripled in value as legal weed sales have soared and public opinion toward cannabis has shifted.
Within the U.S., a number of national polls have found that a record percentage of Americans are in favor of full legalization, even if the federal government hasn't budged on its current scheduling of the drug. Meanwhile, sales estimates from various sources suggest the legal pot industry in North America could grow by between 25% and 35% annually over the intermediate term. Investors looking for sustainable growth appear to have found it with marijuana stocks.
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But as the industry has matured, weed stocks have seemingly popped up out of the woodwork. A quick screen of cannabis-related companies returned dozens upon dozens of stocks. It essentially means there are a lot of intriguing marijuana stocks that are probably flying under investors' radars. Clearly, not all pot stocks are worth buying into. Many are still losing money and their long-term survival is far from guaranteed. However, some unknown marijuana stocks bear watching, as they possess intriguing qualities that could one day make them attractive to investors. Here are two unknown cannabis stocks I'd suggest you consider following.
Namaste Technologies
With a company name of Namaste Technologies (NXTTF +38.78%), most folks are probably unaware that it has anything to do with the cannabis industry. However, this Toronto-based company has three ways of penetrating Canada's burgeoning pot market.
First, Namaste Technologies sells vaporizers and smoking hardware products across 32 e-commerce websites in 20 countries. It's worth pointing out that more and more countries worldwide have legalized medical cannabis for certain ailments, opening the door for the importation of medical cannabis and/or hardware for cannabis consumption. Expansion in Europe, among other regions, has been critical to Namaste's growth. It's also worth pointing out that the U.S. isn't one of these markets. Namaste sold any assets related to the U.S. market last year to avoid any legal conflicts.
Second, Namaste Technologies announced the acquisition of CannaMart, a medical cannabis distribution company, in April 2017 for CA$3.55 million ($2.77 million). Not only does this transaction give Namaste access to a growing medical patient population in Canada, but it also acts as a central platform for the company to offer its vaporizers and smoking hardware. The launch of Namaste MD in early 2018, which blended these operations, essentially provides a one-stop shop for medical cannabis patients to order marijuana or any hardware online for delivery.
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Lastly, the company has worked out supply or hardware deals with some of the biggest names in the industry. Aurora Cannabis (ACBFF +2.69%), which is the second-largest pot stock by market cap, exclusively gets its vaporizers from Namaste. Meanwhile, Namaste signed a deal with The Supreme Cannabis Company in January 2018 to receive 1,000 kilograms of cannabis that can be sold to its CannaMart customers.
Having recently locked up more than $31 million in gross proceeds from a bought-deal offering, and shaken off some near-term financing concerns in the process, this pot stock is starting to really turn some heads.
Emerald Health Therapeutics
Another intriguing but unknown marijuana stock that's worth getting on your radar is Emerald Health Therapeutics (EMHTF +0.00%). This Canadian-based cannabis grower is hoping to take advantage of legislation working its way through Canada's parliament to legalize recreational weed for sale by this summer. Legalization could add $5 billion, or more, in annual sales.
Whereas bigger growers like Aurora Cannabis have received most of the attention -- Aurora is expected to deliver between 240,000 kilograms and 270,000 kilograms of dried cannabis in 2019 -- it's Emerald Health Therapeutics that offers some of the most robust expansion capacity potential. When all is said and done, it could sport up to 5.8 million square feet of growing capacity.
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To begin with, Emerald Health has worked out a 50-50 partnership with Village Farms International (VFFIF 0.36%) to retrofit an existing 1.1 million-square-foot facility that had been used in tomato growing to cannabis production. This partnership with Village Farms International is known as Pure Sunfarms. Of course, that could be just the beginning. Emerald Health and Village Farms also optioned an additional 3.7 million square feet of greenhouse space in British Columbia to expand their operations. That works out to 4.8 million square feet from this partnership.
The remaining 1 million square feet of capacity will derive from building its own facility from the ground up in Richmond, British Columbia. The 32-acre site, which will also house its headquarters, should have a little bit over 500,000 square feet of capacity completed by the end of this year.
Were this not enough, the company also recently announced the finalizing of a joint venture between it and DMG Blockchain Solutions, to be known as CannaChain Technologies, that'll work on blockchain solutions for the cannabis industry. Blockchain could make supply chains considerably more efficient, and also ensure that businesses are paying their fair share of taxes to federal, state, and/or local governments. As I said, this stock is worth putting on your radar.
