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A worker holds a tray with cannabis cuttings at Tilray’s European production site for medical cannabis in Cantanhede, Portugal, in 2018.
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Tilray Inc. saw very little revenue growth from cannabis sales in a Monday earnings report, but narrowed its losses and promised adjusted profitability in the fourth quarter, sending shares higher in late trading after a staggering run-up in pot stocks on the heels of the U.S. election.
Tilray TLRY, +4.88% reported a third-quarter loss of $2.3 million, or 2 cents a share, an improvement from a loss of 36 cents a share in the same period a year ago. The cannabis company’s revenue was $51.4 million, up very slightly from $51.1 million a year ago; after removing excise taxes, as most other cannabis companies do when reporting revenue, sales totaled $47.2 million. Analysts on average expected losses of 21 cents a share on sales of $54.4 million.
Tilray stated that the stagnant revenue total was a result of bulk cannabis sales in last year’s third quarter that did not repeat in 2020. Chief Executive Brendan Kennedy said that the rest of the company’s business was growing while he was cutting costs, leading to the narrower losses.
“We realized solid year-over-year revenue growth in our core businesses and have achieved a significantly more focused, efficient and competitive cost structure, all of which position Tilray for future success,” Kennedy said in Monday’s announcement.
After very nearly breaking even in the third quarter on an adjusted-Ebitda basis — a loss of $1.5 million — Tilray stated that it would break through with adjusted profit in the fourth quarter.
“Given the broad based improvements we have achieved through the third quarter of 2020, we believe we are poised to deliver positive or break even Adjusted Ebitda in the fourth quarter of 2020,” the company said in its outlook, which did not provide specific targets for revenue nor other metrics.
Cannabis stocks have been on a tear in the past week, as four U.S. states approved legalization of recreational cannabis sales in votes last week and it appeared Joe Biden would win the presidency. Biden has been more vocal than incumbent President Donald Trump about taking steps to decriminalize cannabis in the U.S., as it is in Canada.
Tilray followed two other large Canadian cannabis companies in reporting earnings Monday morning. Canopy Growth Corp. CGC, +4.59% WEED, +4.44% showed a big gain in revenue from last year, and Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB, +14.50% ACB, +14.90% sales declined but beat analysts’ expectations.
For more: Cannabis stocks rally anew as Canopy and Aurora post results
Tilray shares initially gained more than 7% in after-hours trading Monday following the earnings announcement, but those increases calmed down to closer to 2% later in the session. The stock has declined 41% this year, as the S&P 500 index SPX, +1.17% has gained 8.6%, but shares have increased more than 68% in the past three regular trading sessions.
