Aurora Cannabis was hit with a damning bear note
Pot producer Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB) is down 9% at $13.17 in pre-market trading, after receiving a downgrade from MKM Partners to "sell" in the wake of a disappointing fiscal second-quarter earnings report. The firm's reasoning was also attributed to two key concerns: Aurora's consumer cannabis revenue was down 17% from the first quarter -- its lowest level since the second quarter of 2019. In addition, there was no guidance for positive adjusted EBITDA, instead showing a fall from the first quarter.
Yesterday the shares traded as high as $18.93, before once again being rejected by the $19 level and settling at $14.47. Still, cannabis stocks have been some of the biggest movers of 2021, and ACB is no exception, having already posted a 51.6% lead, year-to-date. Now, the equity is testing support at its 20-day moving average, which captured a pullback in late January.
Circling back to analyst sentiment, not all reactions to the company's earnings report were negative. In fact, at least three bull notes poured in for the equity, the biggest of which was a price-target hike to C$14 from Canaccord Genuity. Still, coming into today, all 11 covering firms recommended a "hold" or worse rating. And what's more, the stock's average 12-month price target of $8.24 is a 37.1% discount to current levels.
Lastly, short interest on Aurora Cannabis stock has shed 24.7% during the past two reporting periods, though it still accounts for a healthy 14.2% of the stock's total available float. At ACB's average pace of daily trading, it would take short sellers under a day to buy back their bearish bets.