What happened
Cannabis stock investors were clearly fired up on Wednesday, bidding up the shares of Canadian players Canopy Growth (CGC 5.91%), Tilray (TLRY), and Aurora Cannabis (ACB 9.32%). Canopy Growth was the champ of the trio, advancing by 3.2% on the day, while both Tilray and Aurora rose by just under 3%.
So what
On Wednesday. the see-saw that is publicly traded marijuana was on an up cycle. The likely catalyst was the latest official figures from Statistics Canada. These show that cannabis sales climbed by over 5% on a month-over-month basis to hit $244.9 million Canadian ($186 million) in August -- a new monthly record.
Image source: Getty Images.
Better, all of the country's 13 provinces and territories recorded increases, and not only for August -- they have now notched gains for three months in a row. Paving the way was the most populous province, Ontario, which collectively spent just under CA$67 million ($50.9 million) during the month, a 10.9% increase.
Now what
While we can attribute at least some of the continued gains to the isolation of the coronavirus pandemic, a growth rate of 5%-plus is highly encouraging regardless, particularly considering that every part of Canada is contributing.
This is a good sign for Canopy Growth, Tilray, and Aurora, as they are all multi-faceted cannabis businesses active throughout the country. While the marijuana industry faces a host of daunting challenges, it's increasingly obvious that consumer demand for product is not one of them.
