Aurora Cannabis May See a Pop When It Opens for Trading on NYSE
*By Conor White*
The Canadian marijuana company Aurora Cannabis is preparing to make its New York Stock Exchange debut on Tuesday, but the public offering will be far from traditional.
"This isn't \[a typical\] IPO," Debra Borchardt, co-founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Green Market Report, said Monday in an interview on Cheddar. "It's not like what we saw with Tilray, it's just a movement from one exchange to another."
This past July, Tilray ($TLRY), another Canadian cannabis company, became the first pure-play in the industry to go public in the U.S. and raised roughly $153 million in the process. That stock has more than quintupled since.
Since Aurora's shares were already trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and available over-the-counter, Borchardt pointed out this listing isn't technically an IPO. Still, she expects plenty of demand from investors.
"You've got so many people that want to be in this industry and want a piece of it that they'll take anything that they can get," she said. "If they have a chance to buy it, then they will."
Aurora, which grows cannabis for both recreational and medicinal use, has seen its market cap double since August to almost $10 billion, as both major corporations like Coca-Cola ($KO) ー which has said it's "closely watching" growth in the CBD market ー and individual investors look to cash in on marijuana stocks.
There could also be opportunity from institutional investors that didn't have a way to play the market before.
"ETFs and mutual funds that might not have been able to pick up shares of this company because they were on the OTC can now take them and put them in their portfolios," she said.
Borchardt is optimistic about Aurora, but she also has concerns.
"They've made a big play for Europe and the European market," she said. "We don't quite know where that's going, they haven't shown the interest in adult use cannabis like we have and our Canadian neighbors have."
Shares of Aurora have fallen a bit since hitting all-time highs last week, just before Canada legalized marijuana at the federal level.
The stock will begin trading at the NYSE on Oct. 23 under the ticker "$ACB." They will continue to trade in Toronto with the same ticker.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/aurora-cannabis-prepares-to-light-up-the-nyse).
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
