Jefferies upgraded shares of the new Tilray Inc. to buy from underperform on Friday, and said the recent merger of the company with rival Aphria Inc. was “the perfect match.” Analyst Owen Bennett raised his price target to $23 from $4.77. “In Canada, a leading portfolio of brands, supported (by) an efficient cost structure,” the analyst wrote in a note to clients. “In Europe, the market is now picking up, while Tilray’s scale and Aphria’s unique German positioning make it perfectly suited to succeed. And in the US, the combined company’s broader consumer goods portfolio and strong balance sheet supports excellent optionality around both US THC and CBD.” Bennett is expected pro-forma fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2024 combined sales growing 33% to leave fiscal 2024 sales at $1.7 billion, compared with average major Canadian licensed producers of $482 million and major U.S. multi-state operators of $1.6 billion. Tilray shares were up 10% premarket and have gained 71% in the year to date, while the Cannabis ETF has gained 36% and the S&P 500 has gained 11.9%.
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