Why Has First Citizens Bank Entered The Cannabis Space?

Welcome back to TDR’s Trade To Black Podcast. We bring you the latest cannabis and psychedelics headlines from over the weekend. On the table today is First Citizens Bank making a surprising leap into cannabis, the upcoming Q4 earnings report from several companies in the space, and more on Germany’s adult use legalization. We’ll cap this episode with a feature from $MSOS legend, Dan S. Ahrens.

It’s a big week coming up and we have Shadd, Anthony and GUAP tackle the recent news as we get Into The Wire.

First Citizens Bank’s unexpected entry into the cannabis industry is another big step in the right direction. They’re currently the 19th largest bank in the US with assets of $225 billion dollars, and this announcement makes now them the largest known bank to service the cannabis industry period. Why now? Do they know something we don’t, and is this a sign of things to come? This possibly signals the potential for more banking engagement in Q1 and Q2 of this year, and we’ll share some of our speculations.

Reports from these cannabis companies are expected shortly: Verano Holdings, Trulieve, and GTI are set to announce their Q4 earnings. These companies have expressed some focus areas of improvement including revenue stabilization and gross margin trends for Trulieve, state-by-state market insights and financial health for Verano, and unspecified key metrics for GTI.

Last week, Germany voted to legalize adult-use cannabis effective April 1, allowing those over 18 to possess and consume in public spaces. There has been a muted market reaction from companies like Tilray and Aurora to this news. It could suggest a predominant industry focus on the U.S. market over international developments.

All the headlines you need to start the week, plus $MSOS Monday from Dan S. Ahrens. Dan is the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of AdvisorShares ETFs, and he joins us every Monday to talk about the industry. Right here, on The Dales Report!