Weed Week: COVID-19 drags on sentiment as ASX-listed pot stocks go 0/33

The Australian sharemarket officially entered a bear market yesterday — defined as a cumulative fall of more than 20 per cent.

Aside from some gold miners, almost no sector has been spared from the virus-related carnage. And cannabis stocks were not immune.

This week Stockhead ran the numbers for 33 ASX companies that run either cannabis or cannabis-adjacent business models.

And for the first time we can remember, not a single company finished in positive territory over the seven days of trade.

The latest selldown comes after the sector was treading water to start the year, following the 2019 cannabis bear market which spread out globally from North America.

The main catalysts for those falls was a lack of execution by Canadian companies following the legalisation of THC products, which led to a withdrawal of institutional capital and a re-rating of the earnings outlook.

The selloff weighed on Australian companies, even though the regulatory framework around the local market drives most of the capital towards cannabis biotechs working on CBD products, rather than THC.

READ: Australia is a leader in cannabis biotechs – here are three stocks that could be poised for growth

But while teething issues around commercialisation models in an emerging market are one thing, a global health crisis giving rise to unprecedented moves in both bonds and equities is another challenge entirely.

While market volatility spikes and investors run for cover, it seems likely that risk assets such as pot stocks will see more turbulence in the weeks ahead.

Below is a summary of weekly and annual price performance for ASX-listed cannabis stocks.

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Ticker	Name	Price (I)	1 Year % Return	1 Week % Return	Market Cap
RNO	RHINOMED LTD	0.11	-25.0%	0.0%	25,380,902
BOT	BOTANIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD	0.077	-30.4%	-2.4%	77,815,840
IHL	IMPRESSION HEALTHCARE LTD	0.051	121.7%	-3.8%	36,588,212
CP1	CANNPAL ANIMAL THERAPEUTICS	0.125	0.0%	-4.0%	11,175,000
CAU	CRONOS AUSTRALIA LTD	0.12	NA	-4.0%	15,450,000
EOF	ECOFIBRE LTD	2.1	NA	-5.4%	661,420,736
CAN	CANN GROUP LTD	0.805	-49.7%	-6.3%	116,073,984
MDC	MEDLAB CLINICAL LTD	0.225	-45.5%	-6.7%	48,976,580
PAL	PALLA PHARMA LTD	0.75	-23.4%	-7.4%	94,460,984
SUD	SUDA PHARMACEUTICALS LTD	0.058	-50.4%	-8.6%	7,539,483
AC8	AUSCANN GROUP HOLDINGS LTD	0.205	-44.7%	-8.7%	66,579,944
EVE	EVE INVESTMENTS LTD	0.0045	-10.0%	-10.0%	16,768,013
THC	THC GLOBAL GROUP LTD	0.31	-48.3%	-10.4%	42,230,864
RGI	ROTO-GRO INTERNATIONAL LTD	0.08	-69.2%	-11.1%	11,917,239
MMJ	MMJ GROUP HOLDINGS LTD	0.093	-61.7%	-12.4%	20,644,706
AGH	ALTHEA GROUP HOLDINGS LTD	0.24	-31.0%	-12.5%	57,160,952
ECS	ECS BOTANICS HOLDINGS LTD	0.027	-72.0%	-13.8%	14,212,550
SCU	STEMCELL UNITED LTD	0.012	-40.0%	-14.3%	7,699,301
WOA	WIDE OPEN AGRICULTURE LTD	0.12	-33.3%	-14.3%	8,469,510
CPH	CRESO PHARMA LTD	0.077	-79.4%	-14.6%	14,546,656
IDT	IDT AUSTRALIA LTD	0.11	-25.8%	-14.8%	27,249,612
EN1	ENGAGE:BDR LTD	0.018	-15.0%	-15.0%	13,086,450
MXC	MGC PHARMACEUTICALS LTD	0.021	-43.6%	-15.4%	30,852,200
EXL	ELIXINOL GLOBAL LTD	0.34	-89.2%	-17.3%	46,194,528
ZLD	ZELIRA THERAPEUTICS LTD	0.042	-35.1%	-17.8%	35,983,552
LSH	LIFESPOT HEALTH LTD	0.031	-47.5%	-18.4%	2,718,617
CGB	CANN GLOBAL LTD	0.01	-78.4%	-20.0%	26,091,810
BDA	BOD AUSTRALIA LTD	0.185	-58.9%	-21.3%	16,903,352
ROO	ROOTS SUSTAINABLE AGRICU-CDI	0.024	-74.4%	-22.2%	2,988,633
ESE	ESENSE-LAB LTD-CDI	0.007	-71.4%	-25.0%	1,140,462
APH	AUSTRALIAN PRIMARY HEMP LTD	0.091	-46.9%	-32.0%	5,910,062
YPB	YPB GROUP LTD	0.002	-75.0%	-33.3%	3,388,739
MRG	MURRAY RIVER ORGANICS GROUP	0.012	-81.2%	-60.5%	22,057,408

Medical tech company Rhinomed (ASX:RNO) held the line to remain unchanged for the week. But the other 32 companies suffered falls of between 2.4 and 60.5 per cent.

Holding up the group was Murray River Organics (MRO), the dried fruit producer which also has a licence to grow low-THC cannabis. Murray River returned to the ASX boards after being in suspension since November, and promptly slumped by 76 per cent.