SPY - GW Pharmaceuticals Is Picking Up Steam in 2020
If you had given up on marijuana stocks, let me tell you why you should reconsider this year. The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on most other sectors -- but it might actually be helping the cannabis sector recover. Cambridge, U.K.-based GW Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ: GWPH) stock suffered with its peers in the past year's sell-off, but the recent surge in pot sales drove impressive first-quarter results.
GW Pharmaceuticals is the maker of Epidiolex, a prescription drug containing cannabidiol, or CBD, for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome. The company's revenue was up threefold in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, to $120.6 million from $39.2 million in the year-ago period; this was also up from $109.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. The results were thanks to rising Epidiolex global sales, which came in at $116.1 million for the quarter. U.S. sales alone were $106.1 million, demonstrating the brand's large customer base.
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