The U.S. is proposing to trade a convicted Russian arms dealer for Griner and a Marine that has been in custody since 2018.
Tilray (TLRY) – Get Tilray Brands Inc. Report may have had mixed results in its most recent quarter, but a nice revenue beat was enough to propel the stock a much needed 11% Thursday.
The Canadian cannabis company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $457.8 million, or 90 cents per share, swinging to a loss after reporting net income of $33.6 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago.
The company blamed the loss of a $395 impairment charge that primarily impacted inventory, goodwill and other intangible assets related to “changes in market opportunities causing a shift” in the company’s priorities.
“We are confident that our proactive steps to plan for the evolution of the cannabis business in each of our markets has positioned Tilray Brands to be at the forefront of the industry on a global basis while delivering profitability and driving shareholder value,” CEO Irwin Simon said.
Tilray, one of Canada’s largest adult-use cannabis companies, has been vocal about its desire to increase its industry-leading market position.
“The investments that the company has made in terms of improved genetics look to be paying off as the company advanced adult use sales by 8% sequentially (well better than the ~8% sequential decline that we had been modeling, informed by Hifyre data,” Cowen analyst Vivien Azer wrote in a recent note.
Gross margins improved in the quarter to 53.4% from 37% a year ago. While the improvement is impressive, Cowen says those type of margins are “likely not sustainable at those levels.”
Brittney Griner Closer to Freedom
WNBA all-star Brittney Griner got some of the best news she’s heard all year as the U.S. offered to swap prisoners with Russia in order to secure her freedom from prison.
Earlier this month, Griner plead guilty to illegally bringing cannabis-vape cartridges into the country. Russia’s authorities found the cartridges in her luggage at an airport outside Moscow.
The Biden Administration is offering to exchange Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was sentenced to 25 years in American prison in 2011, for Griner as well as former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan who was accused of espionage and arrested in Russia in December 2018.
Russian officials responded to the proposed trade Thursday, saying that no deal has been finalized.
“It’s hard to predict now exactly the outcome of these negotiations because, on the one hand, the Russians want Viktor Bout back, as he is a former military intelligence officer with likely indirect ties to Putin himself,” Rebekah Koffler, a Russian-born former U.S. intelligence officer, told Fox News.
15 AGs Oppose Nebraska Medical Bill
More than a dozen State Attorneys General from conservative states filed a brief this week in support of a Nebraska constitutional requirement that signatures for ballot measures be gathered from around the state.
The move is in response to a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and ACLU Nebraska against Secretary of State Bob Evnen.
The lawsuit claims that the state’s geographic requirement diluted the “one man, one vote” value by giving rural Nebraskans more voting rights than urban voters.
The attorneys general from 15 states say that federal judges should have a limited role in reviewing “state-created systems,” Marijuana Moment reported.
“The Constitution protects the right to vote for one’s representatives in the republican form of government it guarantees,” the attorneys general wrote. “It does not regulate an entirely state-created right to direct democracy via ballot measures.”
Nebraska requires ballot measure gather signatures from 5% of registered voters in 38 of the state’s 93 counties.
“No matter what county we live in, our signatures on a petition should carry equal weight,” ACLU Nebraska attorney Jane Seu said, according to MM. “Nothing in this new amicus brief offers a compelling argument as to why Nebraskans should continue to be deprived of equal power.”
