Canopy Growth Corp.’s Tweed is the best positioned cannabis brand, GMP says

GMP Securities analyst Martin Landry says he regards more detail Canopy Growth Corp’s (Canopy Growth Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:WEED) as a slight positive because capacity might come online sooner than expected.

This morning, Canopy Growth Corp. announced more detail on its New Brunswick expansion following the June 24 announcement of the acquisition of Spot Therapeutics. The company said it intends to have a large-scale facility running under the Tweed brand in a cost-efficient manner soon.

“”New Brunswick has emerged as an excellent place to do business in the cannabis sector,” said CEO Bruce Linton. “We will leverage our existing operational expertise and supplement what the team at Spot has already started so that we can get this facility up and running quickly, supporting local construction and trades to ensure we’re making a meaningful contribution to the local economy.”

Landry says he regards this update as a slight positive, noting that the purchase price seems quite low, and that the 4000 kilo production capacity falls below his expectation of 10,000 kilos, but says the potential for expansion is good and the expectation of production before the end of 2017 is welcome surprise. Overall, Landry says Canopy is maintaining its leadership position in the Canadian cannabis market.

“Tweed is currently the Canadian brand that is best positioned to transition into the recreational market which is key given potential limitations on advertising,” the analyst says. “Hence, we expect WEED to capture a leading share of the recreational market at the onset. ”

In a research update to clients today, Landry maintained his “Buy” rating and one-year price target of $11.00 on Canopy Growth Corp., implying a return of 23.6 per cent at the time of publication.