Green Thumb Industries’ plans to be the first multistate operator to sell marijuana at convenience stores is still in the works, company officials said while reporting annual revenue of $1.05 billion.
The Chicago-headquartered company remains profitable “regardless of federal reform,” such as marijuana being moved from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act, President Anthony Georgiadis said during a Wednesday earnings call.
Green Thumb shares (GTBIF) reached a peak of $13.50 on over-the-counter markets on Thursday morning, up slightly from $12.74 at the end of trading Wednesday.
That’s a significant gain from most of 2023 but still well below the company’s peak share price of $36.77 in early 2021.
The company’s shares also increased on the Canadian Securities Exchange (GTII), from a Wednesday close of $17.12 to a Thursday morning opening of $17.65.
Green Thumb reported $36.2 million in net income after expenses and taxes, according to U.S. Security and Exchange Commission filings.
The company reported total revenue of $1.054 billion and a gross profit of $528.05 million.
Punitive federal income taxes ate up much of Green Thumb’s would-be profits, with the company paying more than “$100 million in cash taxes in 2023,” Georgiadis said.
If the U.S government rescheduled marijuana and the onerous Section 280E of the IRS code no longer applied, Green Thumb’s tax bill could be cut in half, company officials said.
“We continue to focus on building a successful business regardless of federal change,” CEO Ben Kovler said.
“We remain skeptical on the timing of any federal reform,” Georgiadis added.
“We were left at the altar” in the recent past as Congress still has not passed a cannabis banking bill.
At the end of 2023, Green Thumb operated 91 marijuana retail stores across the country under its Rise brand.
That included locations in New York, where the adult-use market has yet to fully open, as well as medical-only markets in Florida, Ohio and Virginia, Georgiadis said.
“We are ahead of the curve when those markets open for adult-use retail sales,” he added.
The company still is carrying $308.5 million in debt that’s due in April 2025.
As for GTI’s plans to co-locate marijuana sales with Circle K convenience stores and gas stations, there’s “no real tangible update there,” Georgiadis said.
“We continue to work with state regulators to get the necessary permits,” he said.
“At some point, we believe we’ll open up a Rise dispensary adjacent to a Circle K.”
Chris Roberts can be reached at chris.roberts@mjbizdaily.com.
