Investing in marijuana stocks can be an exciting opportunity to put your money into the future of innovation. While U.S. federal legalization likely remains a distant event, at the current moment, there are still great opportunities to invest in compelling companies at the forefront of the marijuana industry.
If you have the appropriate time horizon and risk tolerance to invest in this space, here are two intriguing pot stocks to consider buying right now.
1. Green Thumb Industries
Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF -5.60%) is the type of company that most people envision when considering an investment in the marijuana industry. The company has a diverse business model that encompasses multiple cannabis brands, both for recreational and medicinal use, as well as retail stores located in key markets across the U.S.
Green Thumb sells everything from a wide range of edible products to cannabis pre-rolls to vaporizer pens. To put the potential of these products into perspective, the cannabis edibles market alone was valued at $20.5 billion globally last year and is on track to hit a valuation just shy of $198 billion (yes, you read that right) by the year 2030. And this is just one segment of the broader cannabis market at large and a single slice of Green Thumb's business footprint.
Green Thumb's retail locations are distributed across a range of hot cannabis markets, including Massachusetts, Illinois, Nevada, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Take Massachusetts, a state where Green Thumb has six locations and where cannabis is legal for both medical and recreational use. With several marijuana companies operating in Massachusetts the state has seen nearly $1 billion in total cannabis sales since the beginning of 2022.
One of Green Thumb's highest concentrations of dispensaries is in the state of Pennsylvania, where it has 16 locations and where marijuana remains legal solely for medical use. Various industry players seem to be doing well in Pennsylvania as total marijuana sales could hit upwards of $2 billion in the state this year.
The company is also making waves in Florida, the largest medical marijuana market in the U.S. It just announced a partnership that will see it boost its dispensary count in alliance with a global convenience store retailer called Circle K, which could provide additional long-term sources of growth to its top and bottom lines.
In the first six months of 2022, Green Thumb's revenue shot up nearly 20% from the same period in 2021. Meanwhile, the most recent quarter represented the eighth quarter in a row in which the company generated positive income on a GAAP basis. Its total net income came to $24.4 million for the three-month period.
Green Thumb's rapid growth, not to mention its strategic expansion in instrumental markets and an exceptional track record of profitability, certainly make it worth considering if you're planning to invest in marijuana stocks right now.
2. GrowGeneration
GrowGeneration (GRWG -6.38%) is a bit different from most marijuana stocks in that it isn't a company that's actually selling marijuana. If you're a more risk-averse investor, this fact may actually draw you to the company.
GrowGeneration is a hydroponics supplier. This means it sells the products, equipment, and services that cannabis operators rely on to cultivate the plant and eventually get it into the hands of the customer. GrowGeneration happens to be the largest hydroponics supplier in the U.S.
Currently, GrowGeneration has 60 locations and counting. You name it, and GrowGeneration sells it, from commercial grow lights, grow tents, and plant nutrients to climate control equipment and insect repellant.
The company is rapidly expanding its retail store footprint, and this year it's announced openings in emerging markets including Virginia, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
Now, it's no secret that the marijuana industry has faced its fair share of bumps in the road. While the earlier days of the pandemic saw a huge increase in marijuana sales, recent months have seen a decline due to factors like inflation, as well as an issue of oversupply in certain markets.
Naturally, these kinds of factors will affect the volume of equipment that cannabis operators are purchasing, which in turn affects GrowGeneration's top and bottom lines. However, these aren't long-term headwinds in the broader marijuana space. Let's take a step back from the less-than-favorable results of the past few quarters and look at the year prior to gain a fuller backdrop for the company's long-term growth trajectory.
In 2021, GrowGeneration reported revenue growth of 119% compared to 2020. It was also a wildly profitable year, where its net income surged 142% year-over-year.
GrowGeneration's market position as the biggest hydroponics supplier in the U.S. makes it well-situated for a rebound in sales across the marijuana industry. With analysts forecasting a potential upside as high as 400% for the stock over the next year, if the stock's performance follows the forecast, patient investors in the company can benefit from its ample runway for future growth.
