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Marijuana Retail Report

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Marijuana Retail Report



The lawsuit is based on an October 2024 tip filed with the AG’s office

In an antitrust lawsuit, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost accuses nine cannabis operators in various states of engaging in anti-competitive behavior designed to reduce product choices and artificially keep prices high, harming both consumers and smaller Ohio cannabis businesses.

The lawsuit stems from an October 2024 tip submitted to Yost’s office by an Ohio cannabis industry official alleging widespread “shelf sharing” by large vertically integrated cannabis companies operating in Ohio and across the country.

According to information later confirmed by the investigation, cannabis operators in various states entered into reciprocal purchasing agreements — coordinated at the national level — to favor each other’s products at Ohio dispensaries while reducing or eliminating purchases from Ohio’s independent growers and processors.

“Our investigation uncovered allegations of an industry-wide scheme designed to drive Ohio’s small businesses out of business,” Yost said. “Ohio’s antitrust laws protect competition and consumers, not backroom deals that rig the system for a select few.”

According to information, senior representatives of major operators operating in different states met in late 2022 and agreed to reduce purchases from independent companies to save shelf space for each other during a period of increased supply and lower prices. The tip also alleged that some companies have established apparent internal quotas, reserving a significant percentage of pharmacy shelves for products obtained through reciprocal agreements with other multi-state operators.

The defendants in the lawsuit are:

  • Ascend Wellness
  • Air health
  • The Cannabist Company
  • Cresco Laboratories
  • Kuralist
  • Green Thumb Industries
  • Jushi
  • Trulieve
  • summer

The lawsuit alleges that each defendant violated Ohio’s Valentine Act:

  • Conclusion of mutual trade agreements with competitors.
  • Sharing competitive confidential information.
  • Engaged in discriminatory distribution practices that disadvantaged independent cannabis operators in Ohio.

According to the complaint, these actions reduced product choice and quality for Ohio consumers, stifled innovation and allowed the defendants to maintain or increase hypercompetitive prices in the state’s cannabis market.

Attorney General Jost is seeking an injunction to stop the alleged wrongful conduct.

Source: Ohio Attorney General’s Office

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Share Repurchases Are Not Always a Good Idea for Cannabis Companies – New Cannabis Ventures

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Alan Brochstein, CFA

You are reading this week’s edition of New Cannabis Ventures, a weekly magazine we have published since October 2015. The newsletter includes unique insight to help our readers stay ahead of the curve, as well as links to the most important news of the week. We no longer email them like we used to, but post this and all newsletters on our website here.

friends,

Earnings season kicked off this week, and so far it’s been a mixed bag. Green Thumb Industries beat expectations, while Trulieve missed. Cronos Group also missed adjusted EBITDA despite falling revenue.

What’s most interesting to me about these quarterly reports are the updates we get in documents or press releases. A large category is share buybacks that are done.

GTI, which has a strong balance sheet, especially compared to other MSOs, has bought back more inventory. Cronos Group, which is cash- and debt-free, also bought some shares in November and December. These shares were acquired at close to tangible book value.

Trulieve did not report the share buyback, but the 10-K disclosed a 2025 bonus announced on 2/24 for CEO Rivers. The company has net cash, but its tangible book value is very negative and has deteriorated. The company does not buy back shares.

Ascend is set to report Q4 financials on 3/12 and it will be interesting to see if this very cheap stock company continues to buy back shares. The company has negative tangible book value, and the GTI 10-K disclosed that Ascend paid a $17 million penalty to GTI on 2/12, so I don’t expect it to be as aggressive with buybacks.

Stock buybacks seem like a good thing, especially when valuations are so low. However, investors should be wary of hemp companies buying back shares when they have balance sheet challenges.

Sincerely,

Alan:


New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is what we have published in the last 2 weeks.

Exclusives

Canadian cannabis sales hit a new record high in December

Michigan hemp sales began in 2026

Financial statements

Green Thumb Industries’ revenue is rising as profitability improves

Trulieve Q4 revenue down 3%

Capital increase

Curaleaf took out $500M over 3 years at 11.5%

GTI increases borrowings by $50 million

Follow Alan for real-time updates X.com:. Share and discover industry news with like-minded people on the largest group of cannabis investors and entrepreneurs LinkedIn:.

View: Public Hemp Company Revenue and Earnings Trackingwhich ranks the highest-earning hemp stocks.

Stay on top of the most important communications from public companies by watching what’s coming cannabis investor calendar.

Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as an online community founder 420 Investorthe first and still the largest due diligence platform focused on 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. time New Cannabis Ventureshe is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before turning his attention to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst with more than two decades of research and portfolio management experience. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 Looking for Alphawhere he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and frequent source Media including the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan. Twitter: |: Facebook |: LinkedIn: |: El

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Michigan Cannabis Sales Plunged to Begin 2026 – New Cannabis Ventures

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Michigan Cannabis Sales Plunged to Begin 2026 – New Cannabis Ventures

Michigan Cannabis sales in January have sharply decreased compared to a year ago, as they decreased by 15.9% consecutively. At $226.8 million, sales decreased by 8.3 percent compared to last year.

The Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency breaks down sales by medical and adult use, with medical sales down 43.4% year over year to $0.4 million, down 1.6% sequentially, and adult use sales down 8.2% year-over-year to $226.4 million, up 15.9% sequentially.

The state breaks down sales by category and provides pricing details by category for both medical and adult;

For adults
For adults

Medical
Medical

As supply continues to expand, prices for adult flowers have plummeted. The average price of $945 per pound in January is up 1.5% sequentially from a record low and down 11.2% from a year ago.

Michigan hemp sales are expected to grow 82.1% to $1.79 billion in 2021, 27.9% to $2.29 billion in 2022, and 33.3% to $3.06 billion in 2023. billion The program should continue to expand going forward as supply becomes more affordable and distribution expands.

Alan Brochstein, CFA

Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as an online community founder 420 Investorthe first and still the largest due diligence platform focused on 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. time New Cannabis Ventureshe is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before turning his attention to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst with more than two decades of research and portfolio management experience. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 Looking for Alphawhere he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and frequent source Media including the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan. Twitter: |: Facebook |: LinkedIn: |: El

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Illinois Provides Another Cannabis Update – New Cannabis Ventures

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Illinois Cannabis Data Change Suggests Much Lower Sales – New Cannabis Ventures

Illinois released sales figures for two months on Friday. The last time it released the data in November, the state did a major review of historical sales after a long delay, and it was updated to October. The previous report was for Cannabis for adults in May. The November document explained that the lack of data was due to the Metrc transition. “Sales tracking features in Metrc help retailers more accurately and reliably report actual sales, including all discounts and promotions at checkout. A careful review of past data shows that some initial discount prices were collected in previous months.” Here is the updated data until the end of 2025.

Statewide adult cannabis sales rose 5.6% sequentially to $116.6 million in December, up 2.2% on the day. Year-on-year growth was -23.9%, a slight improvement from November’s -26.1% growth. Here is a chart of adult sales over time:

After growing 106% in 2021, 13% in 2022 and 5% in 2023, annual sales for adults are set to grow 5.4% to $1.72 billion in 2024. In 2025, they decreased by 12.5% ​​to $1.51 billion, which was lower than the total in 2022.

There hasn’t been an update from the state on medical cannabis in a while. The state exempts the sale separately from its medical plan, and April issue showed that sales fell 1.6% sequentially to $19.7 million, down 13.2% year over year.

Alan Brochstein, CFA

Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as an online community founder 420 Investorthe first and still the largest due diligence platform focused on 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. time New Cannabis Ventureshe is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before turning his attention to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan, who began his career on Wall Street in 1986, worked as an independent research analyst with more than two decades of research and portfolio management experience. A prolific writer, with over 650 articles published since 2007 Looking for Alphawhere he has 70,000 followers, Alan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and frequent source Media including the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. Contact Alan. Twitter: |: Facebook |: LinkedIn: |: El

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