Cronos Group Inc. shares CRON, -5.43% CRON, -4.77% slid 3% in premarket trade Friday, after the Canadian cannabis company posted a wider-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter, but revenue that beat estimates. The Toronto-based company swung to a net loss of $111.7 million, or 31 cents a share, in the quarter, after income of $61.6 million, or 17 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue net of excise taxes came to $17.0 million, up from $7.3 million a year ago. The FactSet consensus was for a loss per share of 8 cents and revenue of $13.3 million. Revenue gains were driven by continued growth in the Canadian recreational cannabis market, sales in the Israeli medical market and growth in the U.S. segment, the company said in a statement. That was partly offset by non-recurring wholesale revenue in the Canadian market in the year-earlier quarter and price cuts on various adult-use products in Canada in the recent quarter. The company wrote down $15 million of dried cannabis inventory and cannabis extracts, mostly due to price pressure in Canada. “The company may incur further inventory write-downs due to pricing pressures in the marketplace,” said the statement. Cronos said its Happy Dance brand, a line of vegan, U.S. hemp-derived CBD bath and body products co-founded by actress Kristen Bell, has secured a first U.S. retailer in Ulta Beauty ULTA, -1.92% and expects to launch online and in-store in the coming weeks. Shares have gained 77% in the last 12 months, while the Cannabis ETF THCX, -6.88% has gained 91% and the S&P 500 SPX, -2.45% has gained 23%.
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