Thursday was a blockbuster day for the stock market at large, with major benchmarks soaring to new records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average set its first all-time high since January, rising about 250 points as investors felt more confident about a potential positive resolution to the trade tensions between the U.S. and several key trading partners. Looking more closely at certain sectors of the market, the cannabis industry continued to see a lot of interest, and stocks that have even the appearance of some connection to marijuana generally did well. Canopy Growth (CGC 1.28%), Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings (CRBP 7.42%), and New Age Beverages (NBEV) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.
Canopy keeps climbing
Shares of Canopy Growth rose 6%, adding to big gains over the past several weeks as investors piled into one of the highest-profile Canadian marijuana producers available to traders on major U.S. exchanges. One key item of news for Canopy today was that shares of its Canopy Rivers venture-capital arm began trading publicly on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada. CEO Bruce Linton hopes that Canopy Rivers can invest in attractive up-and-coming companies in the marijuana market, unlocking opportunities and working collaboratively with Canopy Growth to facilitate growth. If marijuana stocks keep doing well, then it'll put Canopy in a strong position to find new players in the space to work with.
Image source: Getty Images.
Corbus makes a deal
Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings stock soared nearly 53% after the biotech company entered into an agreement with privately held Pennsylvania-based Jenrin Discovery. Under the terms of the deal, Corbus will pay an undisclosed amount of up-front cash and potential milestone payments in exchange for exclusive licensing rights to more than 600 compounds that target what's known as the endocannabinoid system, including CRB-4001, a treatment aimed at helping patients with liver, lung, heart, or kidney fibrotic diseases. Corbus CEO Yuval Cohen said that the deal "strongly complements our existing Phase 3 lead drug lenabasum," which showed promising results in earlier studies. Although not directly related to marijuana, the endocannabinoid system is also involved in how the body responds to cannabis, and some of the interest in Corbus might well stem from a misunderstanding about the nature of endocannabinoid-targeting compounds generally.
Thirsty? New Age has a new drink for you
Finally, shares of New Age Beverages skyrocketed 78%. The maker of tea, coffee, energy drinks, and other beverages announced that it expects to produce new drinks that have added cannabidiol (CBD), one of the natural constituents of cannabis. With the North American Convenience Store convention slated to occur in Las Vegas in early October, New Age will debut a portfolio of CBD-containing drinks to attendees, with hopes to take orders there as well. After testing in Colorado, New Age is optimistic that consumers will be excited about the reputed positive health impacts of CBD, and investors certainly hope that the new take on a popular niche will show the commercial potential of cannabis in all its forms.
