Earnings, Elections and Legalization
Earnings, Elections and Legalization
GW Pharmaceuticals beats Q3 earning expectations, The potential positive impact of a Biden/Harris ticket winning the White House & Five states head to the ballot-box
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GW Pharmaceuticals beats Q3 earning expectations
GW Pharmaceuticals is a British pharmaceutical company known for its multiple sclerosis treatment product nabiximols, also known as Sativex - which was the first natural cannabis plant derivative to gain market approval in any country.
Today they reported $137.1 million in revenue for Q3 compared to $91.0 million for the same quarter last year. This brings their total revenue for the first nine months of 2020 of $378.6 million, compared to $202.3 million for the same period in the prior year.
Although GW Pharmaceuticals are widely known across the world for their initial product called Sativex, it was Epidiolex which is the first ever CBD product with FDA approval that netted $132.6 million of their total revenue this quarter.
In spite of CBD now being legal across the U.S as a result of the passing of the Farm Bill in 2018, Epidiolex remains the only FDA-approved Cannabidiol (CBD) medicine and $121.6 million of their total sales was generated from sales of Epidiolex in the U.S.
The potential positive impact of a Biden/Harris ticket winning the White House
On the eve of what can only best be described as an election that will likely go down in the history books, it only seems right to examine the potential impacts on the cannabis industry should the Biden/Harris ticket win the White House.
Going into this election, I was so convinced that the democrats would be the party that would push for the legalization of medical cannabis on a federal level, however, the decriminalization of cannabis was their preferred policy choice instead.
With this, should the Biden/Harris ticket win then it’s extremely likely that many of the banking issues U.S operators have experienced to date will become a thing of the past with Senator Kamala Harris being the lead Senate sponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act.
Personally I think that regardless of which party finds themselves in the White House - nothing will stand in the way of the cannabis industries continued progression, however, if the Trump/Pence ticket does win it may delay the inevitable.
Five states head to the ballot-box
In spite of the unwillingness of the U.S government to legalize cannabis on a federal level, many U.S states have decided to take matters into their own hands with an additional five states voting on weather to legalize cannabis.
New Jersey has population of just over 8,800,000 people and is expected to pass adult use / recreational cannabis legislation, with the latest polls suggesting that over 66% of the population are in favor of this measure. Adult use sales in the region are expected to reach around $400 million in the first year alone.
Montana has a population of just over 1,000,000 people and is also expected to pass adult use / recreational cannabis legislation, with a recent poll from the Montana State University showing 54% of respondents approve of the measure while only 38% opposed it and the remainder still undecided.
Mississippi has a population of just under 3,000,000 people and is one of the most interesting states currently looking to pass medical cannabis legislation. Although a majority of people are thought to be in favor of this initiative, at least 40% of residents must vote to approve the initiative before it can become law.
South Dakota has a population of just under 900,000 people and it could become the very first state to approve both recreational and medical cannabis in the same ballot, however, support for these measures is mixed and medial cannabis legislation is expected to pass, however, their remains much uncertainty as to weather adult use legislation will pass this time around.
Arizona has a population of over 7,200,000 people and is once again going to the ballot-box to vote on whether or not to approve adult use cannabis. Voters in the state declined the opportunity to do so in 2016 by a margin of less than 3%.
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