What happened
Canadian marijuana stocks haven't exactly been the belle of the ball with investors in recent months. But the dance was much different on Thursday, as statistics from the industry grabbed investors' attention and didn't let go.
As a result, the leading north-of-the-border pot companies all saw lifts in their share prices to varying degrees. Sundial Growers (SNDL -2.50%) rose by almost 3%, HEXO (HEXO) advanced 4%, Tilray (TLRY -4.89%) wafted more than 5% higher, and Canopy Growth's (CGC -3.01%) increase topped 10% on the day.
So what
None of the four companies had any serious price-shifting news to report. Rather, it was the pot industry figures released by Statistics Canada that lit their shares on fire.
Image source: Getty Images.
The government agency said that recreational marijuana sales in the country hit an all-time monthly high of nearly 360 million Canadian dollars ($281 million) in March. That figure was almost 11% higher than the February tally, which is impressive even given that March had three more days than February.
As ever, the leading province for sales was the most populous one, Ontario, with the nation's capital, Ottawa, and its largest city, Toronto. Mirroring the national rate, the province's residents bought nearly 11% more cannabis in March than they did in February, for a total of just under CA$145 million ($113 million). Meanwhile, the Western province of British Columbia recorded a 21% month-over-month increase, to over CA$56 million ($44 million).
Now what
Given those sorts of growth numbers and the record total, it's no wonder that investors are suddenly getting more excited about Sundial, HEXO, Tilray, and Canopy Growth. All four are active throughout the country, and are thus poised to benefit from further growth spurts in the sale of recreational weed.
