Best Pot Stocks To Buy 2015

Marijuana stocks have given cannabis investors nothing but false starts over the past few years. Most recently, there were a plethora of issues facing the industry throughout 2022, including inflation, overproduction, lack of capital, job losses and cratering stock prices.

best pot stocks to buy 2015

The long-term prognosis for the cannabis industry is good. Ultimately, the following nine picks look like the best marijuana stocks (and funds) to benefit from this ongoing growth and maturation.

Still, IIPR remains one the best REITs on Wall Street, as well as one of the best marijuana stocks, according to analysts. Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Goldfarb has an Overweight rating (the equivalent of Buy) on IIPR, with a $140 target price, some 55% higher than current levels.

Cresco is one of Wall Street's favorite marijuana stocks. Of the 19 analysts following the stock, 13 give it a Strong Buy, three say it's a Buy, and three have it at Hold. Plus, the average target price of $6.88 implies the stock will more than triple over the next 12 months or so.

Not forgetting that this is an article about the best marijuana stocks, British American Tobacco invested an additional $5.1 million last March in Canadian cannabis producer OrganiGram Holdings (OGI (opens in new tab)), bringing its stake in the company to 19.5%. The two continue to collaborate on new cannabis-related products.

Compared to the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ (opens in new tab)), which dates back to December 2015, the Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX (opens in new tab), $11.73) is a relative newcomer to cannabis funds. That's reflected in its small asset base of $53 million, approximately one-seventh the size of MJ.

By comparison, the MJ ETF follows the performance of the Prime Alternative Harvest Index, which in addition to tracking cannabis stocks, also includes cigarette manufacturers such as Altria (MO (opens in new tab)) and a 20.1% weighting in the ETFMG U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF (MJUS (opens in new tab)). As a result of the ETF weighting, the Canadian content in MJ is slightly less than 42%.

But once you weed (sorry, again) out the large number of speculative penny stocks that don't trade on big exchanges like the NYSE or Nasdaq, you are left with just a handful of companies that seem legit.

The Securities and Exchange Commission cracked down on pot stocks last year, suspending trading in five of them "because of questions regarding the accuracy of publicly available information about these companies' operations."

"My mom is on TD Ameritrade and is constantly asking me, "When should I invest in pot stocks?' My answer is, 'Never.' But she invested in one and it wound up getting investigated by the SEC," Bricken said.

Cannabis stocks have passed through a very difficult year. Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED) is a Toronto-based cannabis producer that is engaged in the production, distribution, and sale of cannabis and hemp-based products for recreational and medical purposes in Canada, the United States, and Germany. Today, I want to discuss why this is my top pot stock to snatch up in December 2022.

Investors flocked to cannabis stocks following the announcement that Canada would pursue recreational legalization back in 2015. At the time, there was supreme confidence in an industry where it looked like the sky was the limit. However, the realities of domestic legalization have somewhat soured investor sentiment.

That said, the cannabis industry is still projected to deliver strong growth in the years ahead. This should keep Canadian investors interested in top pot stocks. Grand View Research recently estimated that the global legal marijuana market was worth US$13.2 billion in 2021. The report projects that this market will deliver a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2022 through to 2030. Indeed, this growth projection could be modest if the United States is able to settle on broad federal legalization of recreational cannabis sometime this decade.

The best thing about these buying opportunities is that you don't need a mountain of cash to begin building wealth on Wall Street. Since most online brokerages have done away with commission fees and minimum deposit requirements, any amount of money -- even $300 -- can be the perfect amount to put to work during a bear market.

For the past two years, pot stocks have performed miserably. A combination of increasing competition and lawmakers failing to pass any meaningful reforms at the federal level has made the industry a buzzkill. However, Green Thumb Industries has been able to rise to the occasion while so many other multi-state operators (MSOs) have struggled.

Similar to pot stocks, China stocks have performed poorly for years. Though concerns about the accounting practices of certain China-based companies have been an on-and-off headwind for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the unquestioned trouble spot for China stocks since early 2020. China's COVID-19 mitigation strategy, which involved unpredictable lockdowns, hurt supply chains and economic activity throughout the country.

One reason to be excited about Baidu (and arguably other China stocks) is the reopening of China's economy. With the country effectively abandoning its rolling lockdown strategy, persistent supply chain disruptions should, hopefully, become a thing of the past within the next couple of quarters.

Even factoring in the added risks that come with investing in China-based stocks, Baidu is cheap. This is a company capable of sustained low-double-digit sales growth that can be purchased for about 14 times Wall Street's consensus earnings estimate for 2023. It wouldn't be surprising in the least if Baidu's full-year earnings increased by 50% (or more) over the next three years.

Despite cannabis stocks having a very challenging year, this quarter has been quite strong. The New Cannabis Ventures Global Cannabis Stock Index is up 31.4% since 9/30, when it posted an all-time closing low:

At 420 Investor, we focus on 31 stocks and hold just 12 currently in our model portfolios. We are careful to avoid heavily promoted stocks, we look for management teams that are strong and we pay attention to the financials and are always checking the story, too.

Amidst a deflation in tech valuations, you might have missed the beat down that has taken place in the cannabis sector. Many cannabis stocks were trading at reasonable valuations at recent highs and have reported significant fundamental growth, but have nonetheless seen their stock prices drop more than 50%. The poor stock price performances are primarily due to the inability of institutional capital to invest in the sector, something not in their control. Individual investors are not restricted by such mandates and can take advantage of this prolonged buying opportunity. I discuss a couple of the top operators and reveal my favorite name.

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People attend the Cannabis World Congress Expo on June 19, 2015, in New York City. The fledgling legal market for marijuana is around $7 billion, industry researchers say. Andrew Burton/Getty Images hide caption

Kennedy says marijuana investors should be careful. Alan Brochstein of 420 Investor goes even further. He says watch out for scams. Brochstein tracks marijuana stocks traded on the lightly regulated over-the-counter market.

He says there were only a handful of publicly traded marijuana stocks when he started following them in 2013. "Now I'm tracking 400 companies in North America ... purported marijuana companies." Many are financial mysteries, says Brochstein, since they are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not required to be. "They just keep popping up. Most of them are not legitimate."

The opportunity to be an early investor in a young and booming industry is sure to appeal to any savvy investor. Of course, picking the best cannabis stocks is crucial to making money in this sector. Just buying any stock or one with a lot of hype could be a recipe for losing money.

Opportunity abounds for shrewd investors to turn a profit when investing in cannabis. For example, the U.S. Marijuana Index measures cannabis stocks in at least 30 companies operating in the United States. The Index ranged between $22.37 and $134.41 from January 2015 to May 2020.

But profitability is the biggest reason Aphria is one of the best cannabis stocks. With its Q3 2020 financial results, Aphria posted positive operating earnings for four consecutive quarters. And the company's revenue keeps growing.

The firm invests in medical marijuana producers, such as Peace Naturals and Whistler Medical Marijuana Co. Its diversification in the field makes Cronos one of the best marijuana stocks to consider buying.

That drug is Epidiolex, made by GW Pharmaceuticals. Doctors use Epidiolex to treat seizures in some epilepsy patients. Epidiolex is made from CBD, the non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis. That makes GW one of the best CBD stocks to buy. 041b061a72