You’re reading this week’s edition of the New Cannabis Ventures weekly newsletter, which we have been publishing since October 2015. The newsletter includes unique insight to help our readers stay ahead of the curve as well as links to the week’s most important news. We no longer send these by email as we did in the past, but we post this and all of the newsletters on our website here.
Friends,
Each quarter, I update the Global Cannabis Stock Index, which includes actively traded cannabis stocks. The index goes back to the end of 2012 and has evolved as the cannabis industry has evolved. I will share the complete update next week when Q3 ends, but I want to discuss a change in the index here about the upcoming rebalancing, which was based on data as of 09/23.
Last quarter, I updated that the index would again have 23 members, which is kind of a low number of stocks historically. What amazed me about the changes then was that the MSOs in the index shrank from 6 to just 3. Perhaps even more shocking was the removal of Curaleaf due to its low trading volume in June. The 3 MSOs represented only 13% of the index on 6/30.
This coming quarter, the number of stocks that qualified increased to 28, with four of the new or returning members being MSOs. Rejoining the index will be Cresco Labs, Curaleaf, TerrAscend and Verano Holdings. The 7 MSOs will represent 25% of the index on 9/30. While the proportion of MSOs has increased dramatically, this is not such a high percentage. Just ahead of the recent peak in April 2024, the MSOs represented 38% of the index as of 3/31/24, when there were 11 MSOs of 29 names.
I have continually discussed how cannabis traders and investors should extend their focus beyond just one part of the cannabis sector, so being “just 25%” doesn’t stand out to me. It’s the same percentage as Canadian LPs hold, and it is behind ancillaries at 39%. MSOs have a big disadvantage in that they trade on the OTC, but they also face the challenge of 280E taxation combined with debt on the balance sheets.
The rebalanced index will include all 5 of the very largest MSOs plus two others. What is more interesting to me is what it will not include. Of course Ayr Wellness is no longer in the index, but there are several MSOs that are still not in it despite their massive revenue. One that stands out is Vireo Growth, which did not qualify due to its trading volume not being high enough.
Vireo Growth first started trading in early 2019. For a while, it was Goodness Growth after then, but it became Vireo Growth again last summer. It was originally a medical cannabis company based in Minnesota and operating in New York before expanding to Maryland. The company was supposed to merge with Verano, but that deal fell apart and remains in litigation. Josh Rosen of Bengal Capital joined as interim CEO in early 2023 and became CEO in the summer of 2024 before leaving in October. The current CEO of the company, John Mazarakis, joined from Chicago Atlantic in late 2024 as the company announced a big plan to buy 4 single-state operators and to raise $75 million at $0.625 per share. The company actually raised $81 million. This was quite impressive!
There have been some people discussing Vireo Growth, including a very bullish Aaron Edelheit in multiple articles, and also Pablo Zuanic. The company has already closed most of the acquisitions that it announced in December and generated revenue in Q2 of $48 million, ending the quarter with $106 million in cash. Still, there doesn’t appear to be much analyst coverage. The stock over the past month has averaged just 379K shares of trading per day, which is below the $400K minimum required.
Perhaps more disappointing than the lack of investor interest has been the price action. The stock at $0.50 is now down 10.7% since the end of 2024, when the company announced that it had sold $81 million of stock at $0.625. MSOS has rallied 22%, and the Global Cannabis Stock Index has gained 4.9% as of 9/24/25. Since the company announced the transactions, it has doubled in price with MSOS up 22%. While the one-year return for MSOS is down a lot, VREOF has advanced slightly:
Of course, Vireo Growth has seen its stock fall a lot over the past few years. It has bounced hard off of the all-time low set in 2023, but the stock has fallen apart since August. Cannabis investors should consider this: A big capital raise is underwater and the trading volume is tiny compared to the size of its operations now.
Trading volumes have expanded, especially for MSOs, and Vireo Growth has transformed itself. Investors, though, don’t seem to be on board yet. I continue to monitor the company’s evolution but don’t yet include it on my Focus List of 19 stocks. I do wish Vireo Growth the best and hope that the buyers of its stock near year-end, now down 20%, do not stay in the red.
Sincerely,
Alan
New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is what we published this past week:
Exclusives
To get real-time updates, follow Alan on X.com. You can also share and discover industry news with like-minded people on the largest cannabis investor and entrepreneur group on LinkedIn.
Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as founder of online community 420 Investor, the first and still largest due diligence platform focused on the publicly-traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. At New Cannabis Ventures, he is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before shifting his focus to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst following over two decades in research and portfolio management. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 at Seeking Alpha, where he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a frequent source to the media, including the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email
You’re reading this week’s edition of the New Cannabis Ventures weekly newsletter, which we have been publishing since October 2015. The newsletter includes unique insight to help our readers stay ahead of the curve as well as links to the week’s most important news. We no longer send these by email as we did in the past, but we post this and all of the newsletters on our website here.
Friends,
Each quarter, I update the Global Cannabis Stock Index, which includes actively traded cannabis stocks. The index goes back to the end of 2012 and has evolved as the cannabis industry has evolved. I will share the complete update next week when Q3 ends, but I want to discuss a change in the index here about the upcoming rebalancing, which was based on data as of 09/23.
Last quarter, I updated that the index would again have 23 members, which is kind of a low number of stocks historically. What amazed me about the changes then was that the MSOs in the index shrank from 6 to just 3. Perhaps even more shocking was the removal of Curaleaf due to its low trading volume in June. The 3 MSOs represented only 13% of the index on 6/30.
This coming quarter, the number of stocks that qualified increased to 28, with four of the new or returning members being MSOs. Rejoining the index will be Cresco Labs, Curaleaf, TerrAscend and Verano Holdings. The 7 MSOs will represent 25% of the index on 9/30. While the proportion of MSOs has increased dramatically, this is not such a high percentage. Just ahead of the recent peak in April 2024, the MSOs represented 38% of the index as of 3/31/24, when there were 11 MSOs of 29 names.
I have continually discussed how cannabis traders and investors should extend their focus beyond just one part of the cannabis sector, so being “just 25%” doesn’t stand out to me. It’s the same percentage as Canadian LPs hold, and it is behind ancillaries at 39%. MSOs have a big disadvantage in that they trade on the OTC, but they also face the challenge of 280E taxation combined with debt on the balance sheets.
The rebalanced index will include all 5 of the very largest MSOs plus two others. What is more interesting to me is what it will not include. Of course Ayr Wellness is no longer in the index, but there are several MSOs that are still not in it despite their massive revenue. One that stands out is Vireo Growth, which did not qualify due to its trading volume not being high enough.
Vireo Growth first started trading in early 2019. For a while, it was Goodness Growth after then, but it became Vireo Growth again last summer. It was originally a medical cannabis company based in Minnesota and operating in New York before expanding to Maryland. The company was supposed to merge with Verano, but that deal fell apart and remains in litigation. Josh Rosen of Bengal Capital joined as interim CEO in early 2023 and became CEO in the summer of 2024 before leaving in October. The current CEO of the company, John Mazarakis, joined from Chicago Atlantic in late 2024 as the company announced a big plan to buy 4 single-state operators and to raise $75 million at $0.625 per share. The company actually raised $81 million. This was quite impressive!
There have been some people discussing Vireo Growth, including a very bullish Aaron Edelheit in multiple articles, and also Pablo Zuanic. The company has already closed most of the acquisitions that it announced in December and generated revenue in Q2 of $48 million, ending the quarter with $106 million in cash. Still, there doesn’t appear to be much analyst coverage. The stock over the past month has averaged just 379K shares of trading per day, which is below the $400K minimum required.
Perhaps more disappointing than the lack of investor interest has been the price action. The stock at $0.50 is now down 10.7% since the end of 2024, when the company announced that it had sold $81 million of stock at $0.625. MSOS has rallied 22%, and the Global Cannabis Stock Index has gained 4.9% as of 9/24/25. Since the company announced the transactions, it has doubled in price with MSOS up 22%. While the one-year return for MSOS is down a lot, VREOF has advanced slightly:
Of course, Vireo Growth has seen its stock fall a lot over the past few years. It has bounced hard off of the all-time low set in 2023, but the stock has fallen apart since August. Cannabis investors should consider this: A big capital raise is underwater and the trading volume is tiny compared to the size of its operations now.
Trading volumes have expanded, especially for MSOs, and Vireo Growth has transformed itself. Investors, though, don’t seem to be on board yet. I continue to monitor the company’s evolution but don’t yet include it on my Focus List of 19 stocks. I do wish Vireo Growth the best and hope that the buyers of its stock near year-end, now down 20%, do not stay in the red.
Sincerely,
Alan
New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is what we published this past week:
Exclusives
To get real-time updates, follow Alan on X.com. You can also share and discover industry news with like-minded people on the largest cannabis investor and entrepreneur group on LinkedIn.
View the Public Cannabis Company Revenue & Income Tracker, which ranks the top revenue producing cannabis stocks.
Stay on top of some of the most important communications from public companies by viewing upcoming cannabis investor calendar.
Get Our Sunday Newsletter
In This Article:
vireo growth, vreo, vreof
Related News:
Vireo Growth Issues 196.2 Million Shares to Complete Missouri Acquisition
The Other Cannabis REITs Could Face Pressure
Vireo Growth Raises $81 Million at $0.625 per Share
Potential Cannabis Buyouts