THESE ARE THE BIGGIES. These are the companies that made the most bucks selling or supporting legal weed over 12 months spanning 2021 to 2022.

The Global Cannabis 50 are the largest public cannabis companies in the world ranked by annual revenue. Companies around the world were eligible for this inaugural ranking if, per their publicly reported financial statements, they generated at least 51 percent of their revenue either from the sale of cannabinoid-containing products or by providing business-to-business products and services to such plant-touching cannabis companies.

Some large companies with sizable cannabis-related operations that didn’t generate more than half of their revenue in the time period tracked—for example, Scotts Miracle-Gro and Jazz Pharmaceuticals—don’t appear in the Global Cannabis 50.

For those who met the criteria, detailed revenue histories were compiled from a variety of sources including New Cannabis Venture’s “Public Cannabis Company Revenue & Income Tracker” and the EDGAR (U.S.) and SEDAR (Canada) databases. Each company’s most recent four quarters of reported revenue (through their respective quarters ending closest to June 30, 2022) were summed to find their trailing twelve-month (TTM) revenue. They were then ranked by that annual revenue figure to determine the 50 largest companies.

Given those criteria, the ranking is dominated by multi-state operators (MSOs) in the United States and licensed producers (LPs) in Canada. The listed MSOs and LPs are typically—but not always—vertically integrated, meaning they are licensed for and conduct cultivation, manufacturing and retail operations. The two groups accounted for 35 of the companies listed in the Global Cannabis 50—which contains 25 MSOs and 10 LPs. The other 15 ranked companies pursue an interesting mix of business ventures ranging from pure-play manufacturing and retailing to media and technology. They include non-plant touching entities (NPTEs) with no direct handling of cannabis biomass or extracted material, as well as single-state operators (SSOs) doing business in just one U.S. state market.

A Broad Sector

The range of TTM revenue in the Global Cannabis 50 is quite broad. The No. 1 company, Curaleaf, reported sales of $1.28 billion in the period tracked. The No. 50 company, Entourage Health, reported just $43 million. Bearishness on cannabis stocks in recent quarters has taken its toll. Forty-one of the 50 have seen their share prices dip since going public—many precipitously, even into penny-stock territory.

Global Go’s Tom Adams and Phil Valvardi analyze what these market vicissitudes mean for the present and the future of cannabis on p38.
The legal cannabis industry is, of course, much larger than just the Global Cannabis 50. Thousands of companies operate in a sector that has expanded exponentially since adult-use cannabis sales were legalized in Colorado and Washington more than a decade ago. The historic November 2012 elections in those states created the first state recreational markets, bringing the industry out of the largely non-profit, medical-only era and creating new opportunities for cannabis for-profit ventures.

Private Party

Not included in this ranking are prominent cannabis companies that appear to be very successful from the outside but which can’t be quantified in terms of financials because they are privately held. There are the aforementioned large enterprises with cannabis operations that only represent a fraction of their sales. There are global cannabis companies with revenue that fell short of the threshold for this ranking.

But these are the industry leaders. They include the first cannabis company to go public (MariMed), the first to list on the New York Stock Exchange (Innovative Industrial Properties), the first to break $1 billion in calendar-year revenue (Curaleaf), and the first multi-billion-dollar market cap company (Canopy Growth). Driven by the most lucrative markets in the U.S. and Canada, we expect that many more such milestones lay ahead for the industry.

01 CURALEAF

TTM REVENUE: $1.28 billion
Ticker: OTC: CURLF
HQ: Wakefield, MA
IPO Date: 10/29/18
IPO Price: $8.43
Recent Price: $5.54
Market Cap: $3.87 billion

Curaleaf is a vertically integrated MSO with a presence in 21 U.S. states. The company owns and operates 144 dispensaries and other retail outlets and 29 cultivation sites and sells such brands as Curaleaf and Select.

02 TRULIEVE

TTM REVENUE: $1.17 billion
Ticker: OTC: TCNNF
HQ: Tallahassee, FL
IPO Date: 9/24/18
IPO Price: $11.68
Recent Price: $11.01
Market Cap: $2.01 billion

Trulieve is a vertically integrated MSO operating in 11 U.S. states with more than 170 retail locations. Trulieve’s brands include Momenta and the Cultivar Collection.

03 GREEN THUMB INDUSTRIES

TTM REVENUE: $964 million
Ticker: OTC: GTBIF
HQ: Chicago, IL
IPO Date: 6/11/18
IPO Price: $7.97
Recent Price: $12.25
Market Cap: $2.85 billion

Green Thumb Industries is a vertically integrated MSO operating in 15 U.S. states with 17 manufacturing facilities and 77 open retail locations. Top Green Thumb brands include Beboe and Dogwalkers.

04 VERANO HOLDINGS

TTM REVENUE: $844 million
Ticker: OTC: VRNOF
HQ: Chicago, IL
IPO Date: 2/19/21
IPO Price: $25.35
Recent Price: $5.50
Market Cap: $1.76 billion

Verano Holdings is a vertically integrated MSO with 14 production facilities operating in 14 U.S. states. Verano’s brands include Avexia and MÜV.

05 CRESCO LABS

TTM REVENUE: $672 million
Ticker: OTC: CRLBF
HQ: Chicago, IL
IPO Date: 12/3/18
IPO Price: $5.00
Recent Price: $3.21
Market Cap: $939 million

Cresco Labs is a vertically integrated MSO operating in 10 U.S. states. Cresco’s house of brands includes Cresco, Remedi and Mindy’s and its retail stores operating as Sunnyside. Cresco is currently finalizing its acquisition of No. 6 Global Cannabis 50 entry Columbia Care.

06 COLUMBIA CARE

TTM REVENUE: $524 million
Ticker: OTC: CCHWF
HQ: NYC, NY
IPO Date: 5/16/19
IPO Price: $6.74
Recent Price: $1.63
Market Cap: $833 million

Columbia Care is a vertically integrated MSO operating nearly 100 retail outlets in multiple U.S. states. The company’s brands include Triple Seven and Amber. Columbia Care is currently finalizing its merger with No. 5 Global Cannabis 50 entry Cresco Labs.

07 AYR WELLNESS

TTM REVENUE: $429 million
Ticker: OTC: AYRWF
HQ: Miami, FL
IPO Date: 12/07/20
IPO Price: $21.30
Recent Price: $3.87
Market Cap: $298 million

Ayr Wellness is a vertically integrated, U.S.-based MSO with operations in eight states. Top Ayr Wellness brands include Kynd and Road Tripper.

08 CANOPY GROWTH

TTM REVENUE: $366 million
TICKER: NASDAQ: CGC
HQ: Smith Falls, ON, Canada
IPO Date: 4/14/14
IPO Price: $3.09
Recent Price: $3.30
Market Cap: $1.55 billion

Canopy Growth is a Canadian LP with brands such as Tweed and Doja. Planned expansion into the U.S. via Canopy USA is expected to give the company a presence in 21 states and product distribution through more than 2,000 third-party retailers. Canopy Growth is the highest-ranking LP and highest-ranking non-U.S. company in the Global Cannabis 50.

09 ASCEND WELLNESS

TTM REVENUE: $366 million
Ticker: OTC: AAWH
HQ: NYC, NY
IPO Date: 5/27/21
IPO Price: $9.50
Recent Price: $2.00
Market Cap: $375 million

Ascend Wellness is a vertically integrated MSO with operations and/or licenses in six U.S. states. The company’s flagship brands are Simply Herb and Ozone.

10 JUSHI HOLDINGS

TTM REVENUE: $255 million
Ticker: OTC: JUSHF
HQ: Boca Raton, FL
IPO Date: 6/17/19
IPO Price: $2.34
Recent Price: $1.82
Market Cap: $354 million

Jushi Holdings is a vertically integrated MSO with operations in eight U.S. states. Jushi brands include The Bank and Nira+.