Cannabis stock surge is a 'Reddit re-do': Stephanie Link

Stephanie Link, Hightower chief investment strategist and portfolio manager, joins ‘Closing Bell’ to discuss the surge in cannabis stocks in the market. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi

Several cannabis stocks dropped Thursday, giving up some of the sharp gains from earlier this week as Reddit traders piled into the names.

Shares of Tilray fell 49.7% after rallying 50% on Wednesday. Aphria lost nearly 36% and Aurora Cannabis fell 23.5%. Canopy Growth shares declined by 22%.

These pot stocks were poised to extend their rallies before Thursday’s open, surging in premarket trading. Shortly ahead of the market open, however, the names turned sharply lower.

The group of cannabis companies garnered attention this week from the same WallStreetBets Reddit army that contributed to GameStop’s epic short squeeze last month. The social media members have been posting messages about their profits in pot stocks and encouraging other traders to join in.

“Here we go my! TLRY to the mooon!!!” one post said Thursday.

“Weedstocks, the new WSB darling,” another post said.

However, the trade appeared to unravel on Thursday, with the stocks coming back down to Earth. Several analysts that cover the cannabis companies told CNBC on Wednesday the price action this week has little basis in fundamentals.

Part of the discussion on Reddit has centered around the pending merger between Tilray and Aphria. Other social media users have mentioned the possible decriminalization of the plant at the federal level under the Biden administration as a positive catalyst for the group.

The move in pot stocks could also be related to high short-interest ratios, which measure how many of a company’s traded shares are being used in bets against a company. GameStop and AMC Entertainment were targeted by retail traders in part because their high short interest made the stocks attractive candidates for a so-called short squeeze. Tilray’s short interest is equal to 22.5% of the shares available for trading, according to FactSet.

Some of these retail investors have been holding onto these stocks since 2017 and 2018 and are expressing optimism about the newfound interest from other investors.

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19 Comments

  1. Ryugu Rena on April 28, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    I prefer following the advice of WSB than these boomers



  2. MrTW on April 28, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    Why can’t retail investors sell out their stocks if they become overpriced? Why do SEC regulation "protect" investors by disallowing stocks sales if someone has less than 25k? Automatic bag holders…



  3. Fred A on April 28, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    Reddit has changed the game. GOOD!



  4. mrPmj00 on April 28, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    long-term losers, mark my words: gamestop, hertz, bitcoin, tesla
    long-term winners: buy AMAZON, APPLE, FACEBOOK, NVIDIA

    capitol riot means a covid19 petri dish; we need another lockdown. we have Amazon Prime streaming and don’t need to travel or go to a commercial theater and avoid covid19, mass shooting (gun sales doubled in 2020), police killing like George Floyd, and exploding RVs like in Nashville, capitol rioters bringing pipe bombs



  5. Jaylen Meredith on April 28, 2021 at 6:30 pm

    Most people don’t understand the concept of "buying the dip" buying the dip is all about buying digital assets when their prices are down and selling off when the price rises. Holding is profitable, although trading is far more profitable. I was able to grasp the knowledge of trading crypto assets early enough, but i was still limited due to my lack of technical understanding of how to analyse the digital market, all that changed when i encountered Jayson Brian services., although i have been into numerous services but Ivan wright stands out with experience and expertise playing in his favour. I must confess it wasn’t an easy task to learning the routes on trading but with the assistance of Jayson it was more easier to understand, Here are his details on Tel- gram ( @jayson_trade7) for his assistance on strictly crypto related concerns.



  6. David Cartagena on April 28, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    We like the stock



  7. phillip cout on April 28, 2021 at 6:34 pm

    The major U.S. equity indexes started the middle day of the trading week with new records highs, but following the initial move to the upside they slid back toward the neutral line and then never strayed too far from the breakeven mark. Overall, it was a mixed session, with the Dow Jones Industrials finishing with a nominal gain, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite and the small-cap Russell 2000 ended in the red. The broader S&P 500 Index was relatively unchanged. This morning, the market is looking like it will again start the session to the upside. Famous Stock analyst Dr Rodrick Jonathan said the new strain of Covid 19 virus being discovered is going to put a scare into the economy and the Stock Market in the next 3 months so He warns new stock buyers to be careful as the picture is not clear yet and for now you can only make profit by trading your stock with a strategy instead of panic selling, for me i advice you to multiply the little you have with Rodrick’s strategy, i was able to make $60,000 with $10,000 in 3 weeks with his stock trading strategy, reach him on telegram Rodrickjonathan orWhatsApp+1(66O)474-OO3O,



  8. AUTONOMEN LX on April 28, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    🎶 I was gunna be a rich greedy hedge fund manager… But then I got high… 🎶
    Haha Fukkn hahaha!!



  9. Joshua David on April 28, 2021 at 6:45 pm

    Ok boomer



  10. Klingo Klingon on April 28, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    Halo Collective 😎



  11. linda knight on April 28, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    √ ○ut $GPFT #hourglass pain patch approved patent and a offer to buy out Grapefruit Blvd Inc.



  12. Mike Walters on April 28, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    Pot stocks are not healthy for the market



  13. K R on April 28, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    Is this a news channel or opinion hit piece?



  14. Jay on April 28, 2021 at 6:51 pm

    Wasn’t Tilray the last trade yesterday? Down 50%



  15. Ransom Bailey on April 28, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    This is the new mainstream media excuse for bad investing calls. Blame Reddit lol



  16. Anoop Pillai on April 28, 2021 at 6:59 pm

    Weed stocks this week, silver the week before.
    All to divert from Gamestop so their masters, the short hedge funds can escape.
    The volume throughout this week has shown that retail will not sell.



  17. Dnns Tss on April 28, 2021 at 7:00 pm

    I wanna get high..



  18. Jonatan Lacroix Gosselin on April 28, 2021 at 7:07 pm

    It’s hard to take CNBC seriously now, constant flip-flopping and when it goes sour, BLAME REDDIT, it’s the new scapegoat.



  19. CarjackSheraq on April 28, 2021 at 7:07 pm

    Boomers are panicking