Wakefield, Massachusetts-based Curaleaf reported record earnings for Q1 this week at US$260 million, up 170% year over year.
“These impressive results reflect the leverage of the strategic investments we have made across the organization in cultivation, product innovation as well as expanding our branded retail and wholesale distribution channels,” said CEO Joe Bayern.
Recipe for success
Bayern attributed the company’s eight straight record-breaking quarters to changing attitudes toward medical cannabis and a growing acceptance of it as a “safer” alternative to prescription drugs on Cheddar.com.
He also said some bricks-and-mortar operations experienced a lift in sales after stimulus cheques went out and due to increased levels of anxiety through the pandemic, but that ultimately there’s a long-term trend that will continue to grow.
On the up-and-up
Curaleaf projects revenues to increase to US$315 million in Q2, but Barron’s notes that profitability “lags” behind other chains like Trulieve.
That’s because the company chose to expand its footprint rapidly — twice the size of other MSOs, founder and chairman Boris Jordan told Barron’s. According to him, margins are catching up in markets where they’ve operated for two years or more.
Legalization limbo
Jordan also said he’d like to see legislators take smaller steps toward federal legalization, rather than Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s ambitious plan.
“I would think baby steps are the right way to go,” Jordan says. “If we don’t start at a basic level, we could get nothing.”
