Cannabis stock Harborside keeps $2.00 target at ATB Capital

Good-looking preliminary third quarter numbers and a rash of new product offerings are encouraging for Harborside (Harborside Stock Quote, Chart, News CSE:HBOR), says ATB Capital Markets analyst Kenric Tyghe, who delivered to clients an update on the company last Thursday.

Tyghe maintained his “Speculative Buy” rating on the stock and kept his one-year target at C$2.00, which as of publication date represented a projected return of 40.8 per cent.

One of the oldest cannabis retailers in California, Harborside has three dispensaries in the San Francisco Bay Area, a dispensary in Palm Springs, one in Oregon and a cultivation/production facility in Salinas, California. Last week, the company announced preliminary third quarter 2020 sales numbers, expecting gross revenue to exceed $18.5 million for the Q3 along with positive EBITDA. Also last week, Harborside launched new product offerings for the California market, including a Key Mini Pre-Roll and a
seasonal SKU, Limited Skeleton Key Mini Pre-Rolls. (All figures in US dollars except
where noted otherwise.)

“We have come a long way in just 9 months and today more than ever, we are well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us while continuing to provide our customers with the highest quality products and driving strong returns for our shareholders,” said Chairman and Interim CEO Peter Bilodeau in an October 12 press release.

Tyghe said the Q3 revenue expectation is above his previous estimate of $17.2 million.

On the announcements, Tyghe wrote, “The better-than-expected preliminary revenues reflect strong growth in Harborside’s wholesale operations and continued strength at its flagship dispensaries, while the
positive expected adjusted EBITDA reflects a combination of pricing and mix-driven gross margin expansion dovetailing with improved operating leverage driven by recent cost containment initiatives,” Tyghe said.

The analyst has revised his estimates and is now calling for 2020 revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $69.1 million and $5.0 million, respectively, and for fiscal 2021 revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $79.4 million and $9.4 million, respectively.

Harborside announced on Monday reaching a definitive agreement to buy 50.1 per cent of shares in FGW Haight, which has conditional use approval to operate a cannabis dispensary in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco. The terms will see Harborside pay about $2.2 million for the stake, while the company also has agreed to purchase an additional 29.9 per cent (to get to 80 per cent in total) subject to regulatory approvals, along with right of first refusal to purchase the remaining 20 per cent, subject to regulatory approvals. The deal is expected to close on or before the end of October.

“Upon completion of the acquisition, build-out and receipt of all necessary approvals, our latest retail location will seamlessly blend elevated, contemporary-industrial architecture with the best-in-class service and unbeatable product selection that Harborside has become famous for,” said Bilodeau in a press release.

Harbourside, which debuted on the CSE in June 2019, has seen its share price rise in recent months and now sits up 134 per cent for the year.

On HBOR’s valuation, Tyghe is maintaining his 8.0x target multiple of his 2021 EBITDA estimate due to a combination of the broader re-rating higher of valuations for the company’s US MSO peers along with improved underlying performance from Harborside despite the COVID-19-related headwinds.