Pot Stocks Made Moves

Warby Parker shared its first-ever earnings report today. The trendy eyewear brand boosted revenue, but also boosted losses. 🤷

$WRBY reported net revenue of $137.4 million, an increase of $33 million (+32% YoY). Gross profit dollars increased to $79.7 million, +24.5%. The company’s active customers increased 23% YoY to 2.15 million.👌

In terms of its losses, Warby Parker’s net loss from the three-month period starting Sept. 30 soared to $91.1 million ($1.45/share.) A year ago, net losses totaled just $41.6 million ($0.78/share.)

The company’s earnings report also included $65 million in stock-based compensation expenses, $23.9 million in costs related to its direct listing, and a $7.8 million charge for its donation to the Warby Parker Impact Foundation. Warby Parker’s co-Founder and co-CEO, Neil Blumenthal, commented on consumer behavior as shoppers return to in-store shopping after the pandemic:

“But we don’t care where that final transaction occurs. And we’ve still found more than 70% of our customers are browsing and shopping and interacting with us on our website and on our app before they transact with us.” 

$WRBY gained 9.03% today and is up 1.11% in AH. 👓

You know it’s time for change when bipartisan governors in the U.S. can come to an agreement. 🤣 

A bipartisan group of two dozen governors are pressing Congress to pass a comprehensive marijuana banking reform as part of broader defense legislation.  According to a letter issued to top leaders in the House and Senate on Tuesday, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act should be included to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.

Piloted by Colorado’s governor Jared Polis, the letter mentioned that the SAFE Banking Act “will allow cannabis businesses to access normal banking services, which will transition fully cash-based cannabis transactions into the financial system where they belong.”

With more bipartisan support than ever before, could this act have what it takes to get passed in the senate?? Place your bets. There’s one thing we do know for sure, though — pot stocks are loving the news. ❤️ 🚬

Aurora Cannabis ascended 12.3% today with a weekly gain of 27.6%. Can someone say high flying? 😅 Here’s $ACB‘s daily chart:

Canopy Growth Corp launched 13% to close the week at highs. $CGC is still down 38% YTD, but is trying to get back on the horse.

Earlier this week, General Electric announced it would break up its business into three separate, publicly-traded companies. The move will see $GE spin off into separate business units dedicated to healthcare, energy, and aviation.

Now, two other conglomerates are now following suit. Johnson & Johnson and Toshiba announced plans to split their companies companies today.

Toshiba took a page right out of GE’s book by announcing it would split into three units: one for infrastructure, another for electronic devices, and the last for everything else. This pivot isn’t particularly surprising, considering that Toshiba has sold off other divisions in recent years.

The company anticipates that its new infrastructure biz will make $17.5 billion in revenue, but Toshiba was mum on the details regarding projected revenue for other companies. You can read The Wall Street Journal’s report here.

Johnson & Johnson, probably most revered for its Covid-19 vaccine fame, will split up into two business units: one for its consumer health biz and another for its medical devices. Consumer health will tend to selling mouthwash, Band-Aids, and Baby Powder to the unwashed masses. 👶 🍼 It’s expected to rack up $15 billion in sales this year.

However, the way-more-exciting portion of J&J’s business will bring in a monstrous $77 billion this year. That’s all of the drugs, medical devices, and “innovation,” according to their CEO. You can read Johnson & Johnson’s press release on the whole here.

Investors seemed to align with both companies and their spinoff visions. 🤑 $JNJ rose 1.2% today and $TOSBF gained 3.6%.

In AstraZeneca’s earnings report today, the company announced it booked a “modest profit” from Covid-19 vaccine sales.

Over $1 billion of the company’s $9.7 billion in product sales came from the sales of it Covid-19 vaccine. It’s one of the cheapest Covid vaccines in the world, fetching a price between $4-$8 dollars, according to BBC.

The low prices are observably lower than Moderna, Pfizer, and even Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines. 💉 That’s because AstraZeneca chose to supply the vaccine at “no profit.” The company’s CEO, Pascal Soriot, indicated he had “no regrets” about choosing not to take profits while others did.

The company indicated its modest profit would be way less than other drugmakers, because AstraZeneca intend to keep it cheap. Most of the company’s Covid vaccine sales are also expected to support the development of a “Covid-19 antibody combination drug,” which is in clinical trials.

The rest of AstraZeneca’s business saw product revenue growth of 33% YoY. However, the company has booked just $1.35 billion in operating profit YTD, which is 63% lower than FY 2020. Almost all of those numbers are because AstraZeneca prioritized public health over profit.

$AZN fell 6.5% after hours, but the company still deserves a round of applause. 👏