Happy Monday and happy MJBizCon week!
It’s always a nice homecoming for our industry.
We’re looking forward to seeing many of our readers in person — if you’ll be around Vegas this week, drop us a line. We’ll be there Tuesday-Friday.
We’ll be hosting This Morning in Cannabis Live on Wednesday and Friday morning with our friends at High Spirits and Cannabis Musings, so be sure to tune in on our LinkedIn, YouTube, or Jeremy’s X page.
And be sure to tune in on Thursday for a very special Cultivated/NYC-related announcement…
-JB, JR, ZH
This newsletter is 944 words or about a 6.5-minute read.
💡What’s the big deal?
TILRAY $TLRY ( ▼ 4.83% )
Tilray’s reverse split has the stock tumbling 📉
Driving the news: Tilray’s stock plunged over Thanksgiving, and it’s not just a cousin-walk induced hangover.
What happened: The Canadian cannabis (and increasingly, beverage and alcohol) firm said on Wednesday after market close it would execute its pre-announced 1-for-10 reverse stock split on Monday, which is always a good time for companies to drop great news. The split-adjusted shares will begin trading on December 2. Tilray’s stock fell nearly 20% mid-morning on Friday.
The company says the reasons for the split are to “make it more attractive to institutions,” and align the number of shares outstanding with companies of similar size, but reverse splits are obviously rarely bullish signals to long term investors.
What goes unsaid in the press release is that the company is probably getting a little bit worried about keeping its Nasdaq listing, hence the reverse split. The Nasdaq requires minimum share prices to be above $1, which Tilray received a warning about violating earlier this year.
Tilray’s share price is around $0.81, down from a high of nearly $150 per share in 2018, right after Canada legalized cannabis federally.
What they’re saying: CEO Irwin Simon said the share price doesn’t reflect the “intrinsic value” of the business and that the move will help the stock’s “trading dynamics.”
“Tilray’s foundation remains strong,” he said.
Why it matters: The cannabis sector has long courted deep-pocketed institutional investors, but has mostly been rebuffed as they wait and see if the regulatory environment in the U.S., where cannabis is legal in nearly half of states but still federally illicit, will become more favorable.
Tilray has scooped up various beer and liquor brands, like Shock Top and SweetWater Brewing, in an effort to diversify and access the American consumer market in some form, even if they’re not allowed to serve cannabis consumers south of the border.
The company operates in the Canadian medical and retail cannabis market, as well as in medical cannabis export markets in Europe.
Like the rest of the cannabis sector, Tilray’s stock has plunged this year. It has fallen nearly 45% since January 1.
-JB
📣 Quotable
Minnesota has one of the strongest and safest and most responsible hemp markets in the whole country,” Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat, said at a press conference at the State Capital with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
The politicians are seeking to reverse the federal hemp ban, or other pathways to preserve Minnesota’s booming hemp-derived THC market. Minnesota was one of the first states to allow sales of hemp-derived THC drinks in breweries and other stores.
⏩ Quick hits
Canada rakes in $5.4 billion in cannabis tax revenue 💰
Canada has pulled in more than $5.4 billion (CAD) in cannabis tax revenue since the country became the first major economy to federally legalize cannabis. The federal government took home $1.2 billion, while the majority went to the provinces with the populous Ontario and Alberta leading the way. Read more in StratCann.
New Brunswick to invest $2 million in Organigram’s facility 💡
New Brunswick’s provincial government will invest $2 million (CAD) into Organigram’s flagship cultivation facility in Moncton, reports CTV News. Organigram is based in New Brunswick, and the investment is expected to increase the Maritime province’s GDP by $3.3 billion and generate $424,000 million in tax revenue. We’re waiting for US states to get the memo…
Lawmakers say SAFER banking on the ‘back burner’ 🏛️
Federal lawmakers asked by Marijuana Moment said the SAFER Banking Act, a cannabis banking bill, is on the “back burner” as they focus on other priorities coming out of the longest shutdown in US history. Read more.
🚀 Deals, launches, partnerships
High Tide opens first Canna Cabana in Berlin 🇩🇪
Canadian cannabis retailer High Tide will open its first storefront in Europe, in Berlin near the central Alexanderplatz. The store will sell cannabis accessories and “consumer lifestyle goods,” per a press release. It’s part of High Tide’s broader strategy to push into European cannabis retail markets, as Germany and other countries ease regulations.
*Note: High Tide is a Cultivated partner
🧳 People moves
$OGI ( ▼ 3.05% ) hires big tobacco exec as new CEO 😮💨
Organigram announced last week that it appointed James Yamanaka as its new CEO, effective January 2026. Yamanaka spent about 20 years working for British American Tobacco. Outgoing CEO Beena Goldberg's last day was Nov. 28. Between then and the new year, Board Chair Peter Amirault will serve as interim CEO. $OGI ( ▼ 3.05% ) stock is down just over one percent since January 1.
🗞️ What we’re reading