An employee examines cannabis plants on a farm in Tilray.
Source: Tilray
A group of cannabis stocks are jumping again on Thursday as the Reddit trading crowd continues to pile up in the high-flying names.
Shares of Tilray are up 13% in premarket trading Thursday, after up about 150% this week. Aphria is up more than 11% in extended trading, after gaining 57% this week. Aurora Cannabis is up nearly 14% in premarket trading after rallying nearly 50% since Monday. Canopy Growth is up 1% in early trading, bringing weekly gains to over 20%. Sundial Growers is up 50% in premarket trading after a weekly gain of 160%.
Cannabis stocks rise again on Thursday
The cannabis company group is drawing the attention of the same WallStreetBets Reddit army that contributed to GameStop’s epic brief press last month. The social media members have posted about their pot stock gains encouraging other traders to join in on the way up.
“Here we go my! TLRY to the mooon !!!”, said a message Thursday.
“Weedstocks, the new WSB darling,” said another post Thursday.
The movement in pot stocks can also be related to high short interest rates, which measure how many traded shares of a company are used in betting against the company. GameStop and AMC Entertainment were targeted in part by retailers because their high short-interest rates made the stocks attractive candidates for a so-called short squeeze. Tilray’s short-term stake is equal to 22.5% of the shares available for trading, according to FactSet.
Certainly some of these retail investors have been holding these stocks since their price action in 2017 and 2018 and are optimistic about the renewed interest from other investors.
Part of the discussion about Reddit has been about the upcoming merger between Tilray and Aphria. Other social media users mention the decriminalization of the factory at the federal level under the new administration.
Several analysts reporting on the cannabis companies told CNBC that the price action this week is little fundamentally fundamental.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live programming of working days from around the world.