Trulieve Cannabis (OTC:TCNFF) has not the been the most talked-about marijuana company over the past week or so. The big news affecting the sector was the looming vote in the House of Representatives on legalizing the drug at the federal level. And in the days prior to that, watercooler talk about the weed industry centered on Cresco Labs' acquisition of peer Columbia Care.
So even the most astute pot industry observers could be forgiven for missing the fact that Trulieve reported a fresh set of quarterly figures on Wednesday. Here's how it did.
A bountiful Harvest?
Bolstered by its acquisition of Arizona-based peer Harvest Health & Recreation, Trulieve's fourth-quarter revenue shot 81% higher on a year-over-year basis, and 36% quarter-over-quarter, to just over $305 million.
The story was markedly different on the bottom line, as the company's non-GAAP (adjusted) net profit -- which, crucially, excludes charges related to the Harvest deal -- eroded to $1.8 million ($0.01 per share). One year ago that result was nearly $42 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
On the marijuana industry's preferred profitability yardstick of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), Trulieve was in the black at nearly $101 million for the quarter. That was slightly higher than the previous quarter's $98 million, and fourth quarter 2020's $81 million.
At the end of the quarter, Trulieve's dispensary count stood at 162. The company's strength remains its native market of Florida, where it operates 113 stores.
The Harvest acquisition gave it a good counterweight on the opposite side of the country, though, and that's likely where much of its growth is going to come from. Harvest's stronghold of Arizona currently has 17 of Trulieve's dispensaries, but vast and ever-weed-friendly California is home to only five.
Another promising state market is Pennsylvania, which should face increasing pressure to legalize recreational marijuana not long after prominent neighbors New York and New Jersey flipped that legal switch. Trulieve is a top multi-state operator (MSO) in the Keystone State and relatively well-established there, with 19 dispensaries currently online and two on the way.
Good guidance
Trulieve wouldn't have spent so much on Harvest ($2.1 billion, albeit purely in stock) if it didn't feel its peer could juice its growth figures.
With that company now fully baked into its pie, Trulieve is guiding for $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion in revenue for full-year 2022, which would represent annual growth of nearly 40% (although we have to bear in mind that the Harvest integration occurred late in the year, at the beginning of October).
As for profitability, Trulieve only provided an adjusted EBITDA estimate. The company is expecting this line item to land in the $450 million to $500 million range for the year. Although I would argue that the metric doesn't paint the best picture of a company's ability to earn a buck, I'm encouraged that the forecast is at least 73% above the 2021 figure.
All in all, I'd say Trulieve -- one of the rare marijuana companies that consistently posts a bottom-line profit -- had a decent if unspectacular quarter. I do like those growth projections, but Harvest is a big swallow and it's still early days post-integration. We should keep an eye on how the combination of the two continues to develop, and how beneficial it'll be for Trulieve's fundamentals.
