It’s been an even rougher stretch than usual for Aurora Cannabis.
The Canadian cannabis producer’s stock dropped below a dollar on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for the first time this week, putting it in danger of being delisted from the exchange and putting it at risk of becoming a penny stock, according to Market Realist.
Hovering around the $1 mark as of Friday afternoon, the stock has dropped a dismal 60 percent year-to-date. Stocks that remain below $1 per share on the NYSE for a period of 30 days are in violation of exchange requirements and become candidates for removal.
It has been a rough stretch for Canada’s cannabis industry in general, but declining oil prices and coronavirus fears have taken a huge toll on the stock market and pushed Aurora to new lows. But the company has been struggling for a while.
When Canada legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2018, Aurora, like many other producers, spent a lot of money ramping up production facilities and growing product to meet intense consumer demand. A lack of legal outlets in which to sell its supply, however, hurt the company, as did a rising debt burden from acquisitions that likely made more sense in the industry’s rosier days than they do now.
External factors have not helped either. The refusal of the U.S. to end its federal ban on cannabis has complicated Aurora’s plans to expand, while the vaping health scare and rapid spread of the coronavirus are taking an ongoing toll on the industry as a whole.
Last month, Aurora announced sweeping changes to its workforce, laying off 500 full-time employees amid the resignation of longtime CEO and company founder Terry Booth. The company has been in a precarious cash situation for months, due to falling revenues and a high cash burn-rate from having to maintain its sprawling cannabis facilities, including one in Denmark that was recently shut down.
The Edmonton-based licensed producer was forced to write down close to $1 billion in assets and goodwill provisions in the last quarter, related predominantly to its South American and Danish operations.
But Aurora Cannabis Inc.’s interim CEO, Michael Singer, said he believed the company’s decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on international expansion into Europe and South America was “not a mistake” because it “made sense at the time,” given the ease in which capital could be raised in the cannabis industry.
“Look, the decisions we made in the past were the right decisions at the time. Our long-term view has not changed, it’s just that the path to get there is very different,” Singer told the Financial Post.
Andrew Carter, Stifel Financial Corp. pot analyst expressed concerns over the company’s cash situation. “The company burned $260 million in cash during the quarter and this burn will have to slow significantly in order to navigate the current environment with resources in hand,” Carter advised.
The Canadian cannabis producer’s stock dropped below a dollar on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for the first time this week, putting it in danger of being delisted from the exchange and putting it at risk of becoming a penny stock, according to Market Realist.
Hovering around the $1 mark as of Friday afternoon, the stock has dropped a dismal 60 percent year-to-date. Stocks that remain below $1 per share on the NYSE for a period of 30 days are in violation of exchange requirements and become candidates for removal.
It has been a rough stretch for Canada’s cannabis industry in general, but declining oil prices and coronavirus fears have taken a huge toll on the stock market and pushed Aurora to new lows. But the company has been struggling for a while.
When Canada legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2018, Aurora, like many other producers, spent a lot of money ramping up production facilities and growing product to meet intense consumer demand. A lack of legal outlets in which to sell its supply, however, hurt the company, as did a rising debt burden from acquisitions that likely made more sense in the industry’s rosier days than they do now.
External factors have not helped either. The refusal of the U.S. to end its federal ban on cannabis has complicated Aurora’s plans to expand, while the vaping health scare and rapid spread of the coronavirus are taking an ongoing toll on the industry as a whole.
Last month, Aurora announced sweeping changes to its workforce, laying off 500 full-time employees amid the resignation of longtime CEO and company founder Terry Booth. The company has been in a precarious cash situation for months, due to falling revenues and a high cash burn-rate from having to maintain its sprawling cannabis facilities, including one in Denmark that was recently shut down.
The Edmonton-based licensed producer was forced to write down close to $1 billion in assets and goodwill provisions in the last quarter, related predominantly to its South American and Danish operations.
But Aurora Cannabis Inc.’s interim CEO, Michael Singer, said he believed the company’s decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on international expansion into Europe and South America was “not a mistake” because it “made sense at the time,” given the ease in which capital could be raised in the cannabis industry.
“Look, the decisions we made in the past were the right decisions at the time. Our long-term view has not changed, it’s just that the path to get there is very different,” Singer told the Financial Post.
Andrew Carter, Stifel Financial Corp. pot analyst expressed concerns over the company’s cash situation. “The company burned $260 million in cash during the quarter and this burn will have to slow significantly in order to navigate the current environment with resources in hand,” Carter advised.
