Aphria’s stock surges after reporting surprise profit, revenue that rose above expectations

The U.S.-listed shares of Aphria Inc.
APHA,
+6.04%
APHA,
+5.92%
surged 3.7% in premarket trading Thursday, toward a 21-month high, after the Canada-based cannabis company reported a surprise fiscal second-quarter adjusted profit and revenue that rose above forecasts, citing strength in its global cannabis and consumer packaged goods businesses. The net loss for the quarter to Nov. 30 widened to C$122.0 million ($96.3 million), or 42 cents a share, from C$8.2 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, the company swung to EPS of 1 cent from a loss of 19 cents, beating the FactSet consensus for a per-share loss of 3 cents. Revenue rose 33% to C$160.5 million ($126.6 million), above the FactSet consensus of C$153.9 million. Adult-use cannabis revenue rose 149% to C$72.1 million. The average selling price of adult-use cannabis rose to C$4.29 per gram from C$4.15 per gram in the previous quarter, while the average retail selling price of medical cannabis fell to C$6.96 per gram from C$7.38 per gram. Aphria agreed in December to a merger with Tilray Inc.
TLRY,
+12.51%.
The stock, which closed Wednesday at the highest price since April 2019, has soared 70.1% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF
MJ,
+3.72%
has climbed 60.0% and the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.23%
has gained 9.2%.