Earlier this week, the rumor mill started to imply that the merger between Aphria, Inc. (APHA.TO) (APHA) and Tilray, Inc. (TLRY) could be in trouble. 

The basis of the opinion is related to how Tilray extended the date of the shareholder meeting and lowered the bar to pass amendments. Previously, Tilray required a majority of shareholders to be present for special shareholder meetings.

Last week, Tilray’s board approved an amendment that only requires there to be one-third of voting shareholders to reach a quorum. Several media outlets and analysts tried to imply that Tilray was having a challenging time in regards to gathering enough votes to pass the mega-merger agreement. 

It’s no surprise that Canada has been killing it when it comes to cannabis spending in their legal, nation-wide market. It’s also common knowledge that, despite the hit the global economy took in 2020, cannabis is one of the only markets that not only survived, but thrived. But it’s still shocking to see just how much money Canadians spent on cannabis in 2020. And yes, we are talking about flower, not the entire cannabis industry.

What happened

Shares of some Canadian cannabis companies jumped Monday morning, before paring those gains. Shares of Aphria (NASDAQ:APHA), OrganiGram Holdings (NASDAQ:OGI), and Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) all rose between 6% and 8% early in today's session. Those gains faded some, and as of 2 p.m. EDT, Aphria traded up about 1%, Organigram was up 3.2%, and Aurora was up 3.4%.

It's been a rough start to earnings season for Canadian companies, with Aphria's stock dropping over 14% after losing significant market share and a total of C$361 million in the quarter.

There was a lot of pointing fingers at the COVID-19 lockdowns, but Wall Street analysts say that while the lockdowns caused some of the sales decline, Aphria's issues extend beyond the coronavirus.

Tilray postponed a shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed merger with Aphria until April 30.

Last year brought triple-digit growth to Canada’s legal cannabis market. According to the Brightfield Group’s latest “Canadian Cannabis Market” report, this was largely driven by:

• Increased brick-and-mortar retail access – especially in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec;
• An expansion in e-commerce and click-and-collect offerings;
• Pricing that was more competitive with the illicit market;
• Retailers adapting to a pandemic context, helping prompt vast growth despite an unprecedented backdrop of lockdowns and store closures.

What is being called the first study to consider specific risk indicators for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in young, healthy cannabis users has found that consuming weed when young may increase the risk of later developing heart disease.

So suggests a new study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, out of the University of Guelph (U of G). Investigators explored the associations of cardiovascular structure and function with cannabis use in ostensibly healthy young participants.

In an attempt to crackdown on the illicit market, Health Canada has published a plan to tighten restrictions on medical cannabis cultivation. The regulator cited a perceived discrepancy in the amount of medical cannabis grown, alongside license infringements and sites used for “large-scale illegal production.”

Canopy Growth Corp. agreed to buy Supreme Cannabis Co., one of Canada’s leading brands of marijuana, in the latest large deal to reshape the rapidly growing industry.

Canopy will acquire all of the company’s shares in a largely stock-based deal valued at C$435 million ($346 million), according to a statement Thursday. The transaction, expected to close by the end of June, represents a 66% premium over Supreme’s Wednesday closing price, the companies said.

Supreme’s shares soared as much as 60% Thursday in Toronto, while Canopy fell as much as 2.3%.

After New York passed legislation to legalize recreational cannabis, we believe the government will prioritize legalization or decriminalization at the Federal level. 

New York is the 15th state to legalize recreational cannabis and we are bullish on the trend that we are seeing at the state level. From Virginia to South Dakota, several conservative markets have jumped on the legal recreational cannabis bandwagon and this is a trend that we find to be significant.