Here's Why Cannabis Stocks (ACB, CRON) Are Gaining Today

Shares of several notable cannabis stocks, including Aurora Cannabis (TO:ACB) and Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) , were up more than 10% through early afternoon trading hours Monday on the back of continued industry deal making.

Aurora Cannabis saw bullish momentum after one of its partners, Radient Technologies, received a license that will allow it to extract higher-quality CBD. Radient is Aurora’s extraction-technology partner. Aurora said that the company can deliver higher throughputs than is possible with current benchmarks.

“With the upcoming new regulations permitting additional form factors and Radient's recent receipt of its processor license, we are in a strong position to rapidly expand production of a broad portfolio of extract-based products, tying in well with the significant scale-up of our global cannabis and hemp operations,” said Aurora CEO Terry Booth in a press release.

Aurora shares were up roughly 11% to $8.22 by Monday afternoon. The stock has now rallied nearly 70% since December 21. Shares still have some room to run before retesting a 52-week high of $12.52 reached in early October, but ACB certainly seems to have regained its momentum.

Fellow cannabis stock CRON was moving even more rapidly on Monday. With no confirmed news from Cronos emerging so far today, the gains are likely a result of some combination of industry optimism, short squeezing, and continued interest from momentum investors.

Cronos shares were up more than 18% to $24.61 in afternoon trading. The stock has surged more than 108% in the past month alone, making it one of the market’s hottest stocks in any industry.

Realistically, this momentum dates back to early December, when tobacco giant Altria (NYSE:MO) announced to it would take a 45% stake in Cronos for about $1.8 billion. Altria’s investment should help Cronos expand its production capacity and distribution footprint, catapulting the company up the ranks in terms of reach.

Other notable cannabis stocks in the green Monday include Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) (+4%), Aphria (TO:APHA) (+13%), and Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) (+7%).

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