The stock market is struggling amid coronavirus mayhem, and many pot stocks, including those for some Canadian companies, are struggling right along with it.

The BI Global Cannabis Competitive Peers Index has sunk 43 percent, bringing its overall 12-month deterioration to roughly 81 percent. Some cash-strapped companies are unlikely to survive the crisis.

“We believe focus among cannabis investors has shifted to minimizing downside; in other words, evaluating cannabis stocks from a liquidation perspective, simply comparing market capitalization to net cash balances,” John Zamparo, an equity research analyst at CIBC Capital Markets, reported in a note last week.

The silver lining? It’s a good time to buy low, if you pick the right stocks. With all the panic-buying, however, it may be only a matter of time before some companies bounce back from the brink.

Below are picks for cheap stocks to score now.

FILE: Organigram is based in Moncton, New Brunswick. / Photo: Organigram Organigram

OrganiGram Holdings Company

Shares in the New Brunswick-based licensed producer have plummeted by a drastic 50 percent since the start of the year. Still, its prospects are good.

OrganiGram reported solid results that vastly exceeded analysts’ expectations for the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year before the coronavirus hit, and its sales are expected to be strong, especially with its second-wave cannabis products hitting the market.

The rapid market sell-off has resulted in shares offered at bargain-basement prices, but the company’s low-cost structure and production of quality products are likely to work in its favour over the coming months, making OrganiGram a good prospect for investors.

FILE: SUMMIT (CNW Group/The Valens Company)

The Valens Company

While the company’s stock has plunged about 50 percent as a result of the market correction, Valens is another stock that is still an overall good prospect.

The company reported excellent results in the fourth quarter of 2019, and was one of the rare Canadian cannabis companies posting a profit in the midst of a very difficult time for the industry when most businesses are struggling to stay afloat.

With a client list comprised of all the Canadian cannabis behemoths, including HEXO, Tilray and Canopy Growth, and the recent emergence of second-wave cannabis products on the Canadian market, experts are projecting that the extraction company is bound to bounce back, making it a good buy.

While turning things around may take some time, Aphria has performed better than most of its contemporaries. / Photo: Postmedia Postmedia

Aphria Inc.

The company’s stock may be at an all-time low (it’s hit its lowest level on the NYSE since 2018), and its share price has tumbled about 75 percent.

While it’s not likely to turn things around very quickly, Aphria has performed better than most of its contemporaries. Unlike those contemporaries, however, the company isn’t running out of money, reporting $500 million in cash and equivalents in late 2019.

Aphria has managed to keep its costs down to just $71 million in daily operations over the past six months, meaning it’s a good contender to weather the remaining financial storms on the horizon and return to profitability when the markets recover from coronavirus panic.