Weed stocks: Tilray crashed more than 50% since wild day of trading

REUTERS/Andres Stapff

It has been a swift fall from grace for the high-flying Canadian cannabis producer Tilray. Shares of its stock have crashed 58% since topping out at $300 on Wednesday afternoon. They now trade at $125.54 apiece, still up 638% from their July initial public offering price of $17. 

Investor interest in the space reached a fever pitch this week as Tilray shares soared as much as 93% Wednesday, the day after CEO Brendan Kennedy appeared on Jim Cramer’s “Mad Money” and laid out his company’s future growth prospects. 

Kennedy told Cramer that Canada was just the tip of the iceberg for full legalization when it came to marijuana. “I think you’ll see the third country within 12 months of October, and that’s where the real opportunity is,” he said. “It’s not about Canada — it’s about all the countries that follow.”

He also suggested that both the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries needed to get involved in the marijuana space or risk being left behind. 

His “Mad Money” appearance followed a fast and furious news cycle in the cannabis space that saw his company  receive permission to export legal weed to the US to supply a clinical trial at the University of California at San Diego.

Earlier in the week, Bloomberg reported Coca-Cola was in talks with rival Aurora Cannabis to develop beverages infused with the nonpsychoactive compound CBD.

Of course the whole cannabis craze got started in the middle of August after Constellation Brands, the beverage giant behind Corona beer and Svedka vodka invested $4 billion in producer Canopy Growth.  

Markets Insider