The smoke has cleared from the inaugural earnings season of 2021 for marijuana companies. Overall they didn't do too badly, with some -- Curaleaf (CURLF -5.94%) and Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR -0.82%), to name two -- posting quite encouraging growth figures in an environment where more U.S. states are going the legalization route.
In this brief digest of how Q1 went for weedies and what the future holds, veteran Fool contributor Eric Volkman takes a top-down look with healthcare and cannabis bureau chief Corinne Cardina. This clip from Motley Fool Live was recorded on May 21.
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Corinne Cardina: What are the overall themes in the pot earnings this season so far? How can we characterize where the industry is at?
Eric Volkman: Overall it's growing. You're seeing a lot of, I would say, fairly consistent top-line growth. Some companies have posted pretty good numbers. Curaleaf, which we were talking about before, set an all-time record for their first quarter, which isn't saying a lot given their youth and the fact that they're constantly buying assets, but it was 13% up quarter over quarter that revenue and a 170% on a year over year basis -- and that wasn't unusual for marijuana companies [in Q1].
One company that I always like to see as kind of a bellwether maybe -- even though they are an out performer and because of that, they're set us apart from the rest -- is the real estate investment trust Innovative Industrial Properties because their fortunes mirror those of wider industry. If you look at their revenue, it's a shade under $43 million, again, not unusually, was more than double on a year-over-year basis.
So weed is still very much a growth story.
We're also benefiting even in these early stages from the states flipping the switch to legal weed, be it medical or recreational. Going forward, that's one big thing for investors to keep an eye on -- how the legalization initiatives in various states are developing. Because it seems like there is something happening all the time, and there are doubtless going to be more states liberalizing their markets.
Acquisitions played a big role in this last quarter -- recent acquisitions, acquisitions from a couple of months ago, new assets being consolidated into results. So that's that's going to continue too.
Again, it's a tough industry. It's a money losing industry. Companies are looking to pair up. They're looking to do the dance just to save costs, hopefully, if they can. Consolidate expenses, reach economies of scale, and simply grow bigger and more competitive. So I think if we're looking at trailing trends and trends that are in front of us. I think those are some things to keep an eye on.
