Has Wall Street abandoned cannabis? | Where to order Skittles Moonrock online

Learn how to order CBD online. TOP QUALITY GRADE A++

Cannabyss Inc. is the best place online to buy top quality weed, cannabis, vape, marijuana and CBD products. Get your borderless orders delivered at the pickup spot with ease. Top Grade products for client satisfaction.

👉 Click here to Visit our shop! 🛒

The long and winding path to federal marijuana legalization has tried the patience of many in the cannabis community. Now it seems Wall Street has moved on to other greener pastures and has tapped out of cannabis, despite the potential yet to be fulfilled of the quickly-growing multi-billion-dollar market.

Gone are the heady days of equity deals for cannabis companies. Equity has dried up and new debt deals are hard to come by – it’s mostly refinancing existing deals these days, sources tell Green Market Report. Even the ‘safe’ non-plant-touching ancillary businesses haven’t been immune to the harsh reality of investor disinterest. This contraction has resulted in Wall Street denizens turning to other newer promising places to make money.

As a result, cannabis companies are learning the hard way that they can only lose money for so long before Wall Street bails.

ETFs lose their buzz

Plunging stock valuations has caused cannabis ETFs to lose as much as 90% of their value in some cases. That has resulted in the closure of several cannabis ETFs with the latest announcement that Amplify U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE Arca: MJUS) was going to be liquidated and final distribution to shareholders is expected to occur on or around Jan. 30, 2025. The fund had 19 holdings and $62 million in assets under management. Its top holding was also Green Thumb Industries (CSE: GTII) (OTCQX: GTBIF), which comprises 18% of the portfolio. Since its inception in 2021, the ETF is down a whopping 91%.

Other cannabis ETFs have already closed up shop:

• AdvisorShares Poseidon Dynamic Cannabis ETF (PSDN): Had its final trading day in August 2023.
• Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX): Liquidated in January 2024.
• AXS Cannabis ETF (THCX): Liquidated in February 2024.
• Subversive Cannabis ETF (LGLZ): Quit trading in March 2024.

All that remains now are the the AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (NASDAQ: MSOS), Cambria Cannabis ETF (CBOE: TOKE), Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF (NYSE: CNBS) and the Roundhill Cannabis ETF (CBOE: WEED).

Equity Analysts

If the stocks aren’t making money for brokerage customers and the banking side isn’t either, then investment firms have a hard time justifying the existence of an analyst to cover the sector.

Just last week, Water Tower Research cannabis analyst Jesse Redmond announced he was departing to become head of investor relations at LEEF Brands. Similarly, BTIG cannabis analyst Jon DeCourcey is now head of investor relationships at Ayr Wellness.

After its acquisition by TD Bank, Cowen ceased covering U.S. multistate cannabis operators, and former analyst Vivien Azer is now CFO at Haven Health. Gerald Pascarelli was covering cannabis stocks at Wedbush Securities, but he’s now covering consumer stocks at Needham.

Still active

Canaccord Genuity is still covering the sector with analysts Matt Bottomley and Luke Hannan. Alliance Global Partners is still holding on with analyst Aaron Grey. Russell Stanley at Beacon Securities was initially focused on cannabis but has expanded beyond the sector.

There are still some smaller shops covering cannabis, but hardly any of the big investment firms.

Cantor Fitzgerald dropped cannabis coverage, and its former analyst Pablo Zuanic has set up his shop, Zuanic & Associates. Eric Des Lauriers at Craig-Hallum Capital Group continues to cover cannabis and Andrew Semple at Ventum Financial oversees Special Situations and pops up on some cannabis earnings calls.

Mike Regan at Excelsior Equities also keeps an eye on cannabis companies. Howard Penney at Hedgeye Risk Management has popped up on earnings calls for some of the bigger publicly traded cannabis companies.

Do over?

Of course, Wall Street is always happy to make a buck and if full legalization or at least rescheduling occurs, there is no doubt the investment firms will return. If cannabis companies could be traded on the major exchanges in the U.S., it would be a game changer for the big investment firms. It would not be shocking to see Wall Street come back for a do-over if the legal landscape improved.