Aurora Cannabis (ACB -2.96%), one of the more high-profile operators in the cannabis sector, announced Tuesday morning that it has tapped Miguel Martin to be its new CEO. The appointment is effective immediately, with Martin replacing interim CEO Michael Singer.
Martin has been Aurora's chief commercial officer since he joined the company in July via its acquisition of privately held U.S. cannabidiol (CBD) products specialist Reliva, where he was CEO. This makes him one of the few top-level cannabis industry executives with prior experience running a company involved in the business.
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Prior to that, he held managerial positions with tobacco giant Altria, among other companies.
Outgoing CEO Singer, who is remaining with the company as executive chairman of its board of directors, was quoted as saying that under Martin "Aurora's strategic direction going forward will be characterized by leading market performance, sustainable growth, profitability and value creation for shareholders."
Aurora also revealed several preliminary numbers for its fiscal Q4 2020, which ended June 30. The company estimates that it will report net revenue of between 70 million Canadian dollars and 72 million Canadian dollars ($53 million to $55 million), down from its fiscal Q3 result of CA$75.5 million ($58 million). The forecast for adjusted gross margin is 46% to 50%. Aurora did not provide guidance for net profit.
The company added that the implementation of its latest business strategy in on track. That involves growing market share in the most profitable market segments in Canada (including medical cannabis), enhancing its medical cannabis business abroad, and leveraging Reliva to "build leading brands" in the U.S. CBD segment.
Investors met these news items with skepticism. Aurora closed Tuesday down by more than 11%, compared to the 2.8% decline of the broad-market S&P 500 index.
