Cannabis stocks see more broad gains, as sector tracker heads for best week since the election

Cannabis stocks were mostly Friday, putting the sector on track for a fifth straight gain and the best weekly performance since before the presidential election, amid signs of improved valuations given a more favorable regulatory climate. The Cannabis ETF THCX, +7.78% rose 0.4% in afternoon trading, and has surged 26.5% this week. Helping give the sector a boost this week are expectations that a Democratic majority in Congress and the Biden administration will pursue an agenda to federally legalize recreational marijuana, and Thursday’s merger deal that valued GW Pharmaceuticals Ltd. GWPH, -0.26% , the first company to win approval for a cannabis-based drug, at about $7 billion. The Cannabis ETF’s weekly gain is on track to be the biggest since it rallied 30.3% during the week ended Nov. 6, the week of the presidential election. Among the more actively traded cannabis companies, the U.S.-listed shares of Tilray Inc. TLRY, +17.15% have soared 45.6% this week, and have rocketed 219.1% year to date; Canopy Growth Corp. CGC, +3.24% WEED, +3.21% have surged 8.3%, to put them on track for a fifth straight weekly gain, in which they have soared 76.2%; Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB, +10.70% ACB, +8.20% have rallied 16.2% this week, and more than doubled (up 108%) year to date; and Aphria Inc. APHA, +13.98% APHA, +13.98% have jumped 39.3% this week, and 211.2% over the past three months.