Aphria (APHA) Stock Turns Red on Weak Q3 Results

Aphria Inc (NASDAQ:APHA) has been around for nearly 7 years. It was co-founded by Cole Cacciavillani and John Cervini to produce high-quality cannabis. Its shares started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in November 2018. Though last year in June, the company transferred its stock from NYSE to Nasdaq. Today, Aphria is a leading producer and supplier of both medical and recreational cannabis in several markets around the world.

The company on Monday reported disappointing results for the third quarter primarily due to weak demand for cannabis. Aphria reported a loss of C$1.14 per share for the three months ended February 28, as compared to earnings of C$0.02 per share in the comparable quarter of 2020. Excluding certain items, adjusted loss increased to 15 cents per share, wider than the loss of 5 cents per share estimated by analysts.

Revenue for the quarter rose 6.4 percent on a year-over-year basis to $C153.6 million but fell short of analysts’ average estimate of C$161.3 million. The average selling price of medical cannabis slipped 3.9 percent to C$6.69 per gram, while the average selling price of adult-use cannabis decreased about 11 percent to C$3.82 per gram in the quarter.

Commenting on the results, CEO Irwin Simon said in a statement, “The duration and impact of lockdowns across many of the regions we operate in, particularly in Canada, were greater than we initially anticipated for the cannabis industry and our business; however, we believe Aphria remains well-positioned with our leading brands and market share to experience a robust increase in our top-line as the market improves.”

Aphria shares fell nearly 14 percent in the mid-day trading Monday following lower-than-expected results for the third quarter.

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