Nasdaq Marijuana Becomes a Reality

In what is a significant milestone for the marijuana industry, the first ever cannabis ticker to grace the Nasdaq listing will arrive this week. Cronos Group Inc (CVE:MJN) will have an official Nasdaq marijuana ticker as early as today. The Nasdaq ticker symbol for Cronos stock will be “CRON.”

“It’s very significant for the company and the whole industry. It’s a huge moment — just shows the stigma is continuing to erode on cannabis,” said Mike Gorenstein, Cronos founder and chief executive officer, in an interview with the Financial Post. (Source: “Move over Apple, Amazon, marijuana is coming to the Nasdaq,” Financial Post, February 26, 2018.)

He’s right. This is about more than Cronos stock—although the company did see gains of nearly 11% following the announcement. The entire industry has long been waging a war for legitimacy, vying to be seen as a serious industry in the eyes of investors.

While headway has been made, the fact that marijuana is still an illicit drug in so many countries around the world has long been an obstacle on that path. But with the first marijuana ticker being added to the Nasdaq stock market, that is a huge step in the right direction for marijuana companies.




Cronos will now find itself listed beside some of the most prominent businesses in the world, from tech giants to pharmaceutical companies. With that kind of clout behind it, this will help better the image of the industry in the eyes of investors who may have been on the fence concerning marijuana.

And, to be frank, people have a right to have concerns about the marijuana industry. Take, for example, the fact that in the U.S., the drug is still federally prohibited, and yet certain states allow their residents to purchase both medical and recreational marijuana in contradiction to federal law.

In Canada, the Toronto Stock Exchange forced Canadian marijuana companies to divest from ownership of American marijuana companies or else face delisting, a move that came about as a result of the harsher rhetoric surrounding marijuana coming from the White House administration.

The situation is overall very complicated, combining political, social, and economic pressures into a perfect storm of confusion and uncertainty.

But all that belies the fact that marijuana forms the basis of a booming emerging industry.

With companies hitting billions of dollars in valuation and market cap, the marijuana industry is a serious business. While the stigma surrounding the drug and preconceived notions about weed have, at times, reared their ugly heads, Cronos stock landing on the Nasdaq will go a long way toward legitimizing marijuana in the eyes of many.

Cronos Stock

Cronos stock got a large boost following the Nasdaq news and, as such, it’s worth taking a look at the company and all it has to offer investors.

The Canadian marijuana company is internationally focused, shipping cannabis products to Germany and working on a growing facility in Israel.

Cronos also netted a license in Australia, putting it in a strong position globally to take advantage of rolling legalization across the world.

All in all, landing its ticker on the Nasdaq will be a huge boon to Cronos stock in the short term.

For investors that were skittish about investing on Canadian stock markets or didn’t like purchasing over-the-counter stocks, Cronos now provides millions of potential American investors with an outlet to play the marijuana stock market on a familiar listing.

Having a Nasdaq ticker will likely do wonders for Cronos stock moving forward, especially the longer it remains the only marijuana company operating on the Nasdaq.

Analyst Take

This is a big win for both Cronos stock and the marijuana market more broadly.

Legitimacy conferred by a Nasdaq listing is going to validate a stock in the eyes of many conservative investors, meaning that as more marijuana stocks can land tickers on these types of listings, the better it will be for the marijuana stock market overall.