Canopy CEO: We'll 'Disrupt the Heck' Out of Pharma
*By Carlo Versano*
At the end of a week that saw the nascent cannabis sector soar to record valuations (with enough [volatility](https://cheddar.com/videos/making-sense-of-tilrays-stock-chart) to make your head spin), at least one exec isn't getting high off his own supply.
Bruce Linton, CEO of Canopy Growth ($CGC), told Cheddar Friday that he is focused on using a recent $4 billion cash injection from Constellation Brands to accelerate his business operations as new markets open up for legal marijuana use.
The market for legal pot went from a handful of countries like Canada, where Canopy is based, to now over 30 globally, Linton said in an interview, and Constellation's stake "is the kind of rocket fuel we need."
As speculators send the stocks higher ー Canopy is up 100 percent since the August deal, while Tilray ($TLRY) is up 1,000 percent since its July IPO ー Linton is keeping his nose to the grindstone developing new uses for cannabis, illustrated by the 39 patents Canopy filed in the last year just for sleep-related cannabinoid products. He sees other uses as well, from anxiety to sports recovery, which begs the question: is Canopy a pharma company?
"We're going to have enough intellectual property and activity that it would be difficult for pharma companies...not to need to play with us," Linton said. "We're going to disrupt the heck out of them."
Speaking of disruption, Linton said he wasn't bothered by parallels with the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s. He said Canopy had more in common with a Google or Amazon ー established businesses with strong fundamentals ー than any of the internet stocks that were relegated to the tech boneyard after the bubble popped.
But for an industry like cannabis that is entirely dependent on regulation, there will always be a risk, Linton noted. For every country like Canada, which legalized medical marijuana in 2001 and will allow recreational use starting October 17, there's an Italy ー where medical marijuana is legal but heavily restricted ー or a Japan ー where it is strictly outlawed. Put another way, Canopy may have the best legal pot cultivation and distribution in the world, but its long-term success on a global scale may be capped by shifting regulatory and political climates.
Still, Linton sees the writing on the wall in places like South America, Australia, and the EU. As regulatory barriers come down, he said Canopy's strong production operations will lead the market.
"People can fight for who's going to be the second best," Linton said. "We're going to be the best and the largest and the most dominant on the planet over the next decade."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/canopy-growth-blazing-a-trail).
Jason Chinnock, CEO of Ducati North America, discusses ways demand has changed over the last year and what supplying race bikes for the MotoE World Cup series means for Ducati's future.
The value of most cryptocurrencies have plummeted in recent months since reaching all-time highs in November, wiping out more than $1 trillion in value globally. The steep crash has some talking about the possibility of a crypto winter, a term referring to a prolonged bearish period where asset prices persistently fall over many months. This all comes as the Fed is expected to raise interest rates, and the Biden administration is working on an executive order to regulate Bitcoin and other assets. Josh Goodbody, COO of Qredo, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the crypto crash, and how the industry might recover from it.
Logitech posted better-than-expected earnings in its third quarter, reporting sales of $1.63 billion dollars, down 2% from the year ago quarter, but well ahead of the Wall Street consensus of $1.48 billion dollars. The PC and gaming peripherals company also raised its annual guidance for both sales and profitability. Bracken Darrell, Logitech CEO, joined Cheddar to break down his reaction to the results, how the pandemic played a role in its growth, and where he wants to take the company next.
Starbucks is scheduled to report its fiscal first quarter 2022 earnings Tuesday, February 1 after the bell. The coffee giant is expected to report revenue of nearly $8 billion and earnings per share of 79 cents. Starbucks has seen a solid recovery in demand since the beginning of pandemic lockdowns, but is now facing a unionization push, labor shortage, and the Omicron variant. Thomas Hayes, chairman of Great Hill Capital, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to give a preview of Starbucks earnings.
GM is scheduled to report its Q4 earnings after the bell on Tuesday February 1. Wall Street expects a miss as the automaker navigates the global chip shortage, which has hit car sales hard. Investors are looking for an update on production, as well as outlook for the electric vehicles that GM is investing billions to bring to market. Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iseecars.com, joined Cheddar to give a preview of the automaker's report.
Recent data reveals that streaming giants are struggling to retain subscribers in the months following a major release.
According to data from Antenna, subscriber trends show that users will subscribe to a given streaming service just to watch a particular show, and then cancel those subscriptions shortly after. This comes as the streaming space continues to heat up as new entrants crowd the space. Jon Christian, Founding Partner + Digital Supply Chain Leader at OnPrem joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
As airlines continues to face massive pilot shortages, United Airlines is opening a training academy for future pilots. United projects that the academy will train around 5,000 new pilots by 2030. David Slotnick, Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Stocks opening mostly higher to close out a wild week on Wall Street. It comes as investors continue to digest comments from the Federal Reserve, as well as the latest slew of earnings. Gene Goldman, Chief Investment Officer at Cetera, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Jim Lacamp, Senior VP of Investments at Morgan Stanley, recaps the headwinds markets faced over the last four weeks and what to expect from this month's Jobs report.
Stephanie Akin, Politics Reporter for CQ Roll Call, breaks down
Senator Manchin's donation pool, and highlights what this support means for the conservative Democrat as well as the Republican party.
