Marijuana stocks glowed green again on Monday due to news of progress on marijuana banking reform in Congress. According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate is on course to pass new cannabis banking rules in the not-too-distant future. And while we've heard this song before, investors are starting to hum along again anyway.
As of 10:35 a.m. ET, shares of Canopy Growth (CGC 1.92%) were up about 0.3%, Cronos Group (CRON +0.40%) shares had gained 1.7%, and Aurora Cannabis (ACB 2.28%) was doing best of all -- up 6.5%.
NASDAQ: ACB
Key Data Points
Senators support marijuana banking reform
In an article on Friday, cannabis-focused news site Marijuana Moment described how the Secure And Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act has bipartisan Congressional support, and could be passed in the coming months. The House of Representatives has passed versions of this law seven times, but all have failed in the Senate. This time around, SAFER has passed a vote before the Senate Banking Committee and is ready for the full Senate. If passed, it would permit marijuana companies to take out loans and use other banking services, lowering their cost of doing business, possibly lowering costs for consumers -- and improving profits for marijuana companies.
That already sounds like good news for investors, but it gets better. On Thursday, at an event sponsored by the National Cannabis Industry Association, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis predicted that SAFER will be part of a series of falling "dominoes" that includes rescheduling marijuana, and that will lead to marijuana legalization at the national level, reported another Marijuana Moment article.
Time to buy marijuana stocks?
Now, Polis may be right about that -- or he may be wrong. The thing investors need to remember is that whether marijuana gets legalized federally this year or 10 years from now isn't as important as how quickly marijuana companies can profit from it. Analysts think Aurora Cannabis is close to profitability, which could happen in 2026. Canopy Growth, however, might not earn a profit till 2028 while Cronos isn't expected to ever turn profitable.
If you're betting on marijuana legalization, Aurora Cannabis stock may be your best bet.
