Investing in Aurora Cannabis (ACB -0.15%) generally hasn't paid off for investors. But what if you waited until 2020, when the markets briefly crashed and valuations were incredibly low for many stocks? Would buying Aurora at the time have been a good move for investors? Here's a look at what it was trading at back then, and what an investment in the cannabis producer in March 2020 would be worth today.
How Aurora Cannabis stock has performed since March 2020
In March 2020, news of the coronavirus spreading sent the markets into a panic. Although the market plunge was short-lived, it temporarily sent stocks to lows that would allow opportunistic investors to cash in and and buy on the cheap.
Shares of Aurora Cannabis reached a low of $0.60 on March 18, 2020. If you invested $15,000 in the stock back then, you would have owned 25,000 shares of the cannabis company -- until its reverse split. Due to its low price and the need to maintain a share price of more than $1, Aurora consolidated its shares on a 1-for-12 basis a few months later. On May 11, those 25,000 shares would have been traded in for just 2,083 shares. Aurora's stock price, however, would go up as a result of the reverse split.
Today, the stock trades at around $0.48 per share. That means even though it consolidated shares, the stock price is still worth less than what it was back in March 2020. The value of those 2,083 shares today would be about $1,000, equaling a loss of 93%.
The company has been making progress
Although Aurora's stock has continued to fall in recent years, that doesn't mean the company hasn't been making progress in improving its financials. Next year, for instance, Aurora is expecting to achieve positive free cash flow. That's no small accomplishment for a cannabis business, where cash burn is typically the norm.
And in November, it posted an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) profit for a fourth consecutive quarter. The company has diversified its operations by acquiring plant propagation business Bevo Farms, which now accounts for more than 11% of Aurora's net revenue, which totaled 63.4 million Canadian dollars ($50 million) for the period ended Sept. 30.
A poor industry outlook paired with Aurora's inconsistent revenue growth, particularly from its marijuana operations, are a couple of key reasons investors remain bearish on the stock today.
Data source: YCharts
Plus, poor macroeconomic conditions, including high interest rates, mean that investors have better and safer investment options to choose from (e.g., bonds). All that makes stocks, particularly risky ones like Aurora, less desirable.
If the market conditions were different, Aurora's stock could be performing better given its improved financials.
Is Aurora Cannabis stock a better buy today?
Aurora Cannabis hasn't been a good buy in recent years and it's hard to expect things will be better in the future. The company still faces plenty of competition in the marijuana industry, and while it financial results have improved, the lack of consistent growth is a problem. And without significant opportunities on the horizon, investors are better off pursuing safer growth stocks instead of Aurora.
Ultimately, there isn't a reason to be bullish on the stock right now. Without a compelling reason and a growth catalyst to suggest that it will be able to generate consistent revenue while also posting a strong bottom line, investors are better off steering clear of Aurora because even buying during a market crash hasn't proven to be a good strategy for investors.
