At Davos, Canopy Growth execs say business is booming — and expect the cannabis bubble to burst soon

Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED) (NYSE:CGC) CEO Bruce Linton believes the cannabis market is about to pop, according to an interview he gave to CNBC on Tuesday. Linton was mixing it up with the global elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, part of the Canada Cannabis House panel of speakers that included Kevin Murphy of Acreage Holdings, Richard Carleton of the Canadian Securities Exchange, and Saul Kaye of CannaTech Global.

Linton told CNBC there is a "massive inflationary bubble" on the horizon for the cannabis industry.

"Many, many people are entering the cannabis space, which is terrific, but they actually have to have a purpose — they should be able to generate a business,” he said. “Everybody wants to be in the cannabis space, and I think investors have to be selective because … there will be a new name every week.”

Of course, Linton can feel comfortable as he mixes it up with the men and women behind the curtain. Canadian analyst CIBC recently launched coverage of the cannabis sector, placing an ‘Outperform’ rating on Canopy while calling them one of the titans of the space that should dominate the industry for the long-term.

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“Investors rarely get to witness the birth of an industry,” wrote CIBC analyst John Zamparo. “Dozens of small/medium-sized firms will likely earn moderate revenues and earnings, but only a handful will come to dominate the global market.”

Zamparo put a price target of CA$65 ($49.09) on Canopy.

Cannabis panel takes over Davos

Along with the industry names at Davos, Canada Cannabis House along with the Canadian Securities Exchange, KAPOOR KAPITAL, and the OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX:OTCM) hosted big names such as Ehud Barak, the 10th Prime Minister of Israel and short-lived Communications Director for President Trump Anthony Scaramucci.

The group hosted a series of panels throughout the week, with topics such as “Cannabis in the Capital Markets - What's Getting Funded Next?” and “How to Capitalize on the U.S. Cannabis Opportunity - Navigating Regulatory Uncertainty.”

Linton wasn’t the only one to make bold predictions at the gathering of global titans. According to Richard Carleton, cannabis legalization should come to the U.S. —sooner or later.

“[In] two and half or six and half years, it depends on the presidential cycle," he said, according to a report in CNBC, insinuating that it would take a Democratic president to legalize cannabis.

But according to Canaccord Genuity CEO Daniel Daviau, no one knows for sure what’s in store for the U.S. cannabis industry — and continued uncertainty means more volatility for marijuana stocks.

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"The U.S. — who knows what's going to happen? Tons of good things could happen, tons of bad news could happen. Therefore you will continue to see a lot of volatility," Daniel Daviau told CNBC.

"Here you're measuring earnings two years out, and you're putting a relatively large multiple on that. You don't need much of a change in attitude to shift the stock price, so you will see a lot of volatility," he continued.

The future of cannabis is in global markets — and medical cannabis

Daviau and Linton both looked to the global cannabis market, with the former telling CNBC, "Europe is gonna go nice and slow."

Canopy Growth has already begun to make moves overseas. Earlier this week the company made headlines when they announced moves into the U.K. and Poland with their Spectrum Cannabis subsidiary. Through a deal with U.K. cannabis researcher and Oxford-based research-company Beckley Canopy Therapeutics. Canopy formed Spectrum Biomedical UK. The new company will supply the continent with standardized medical cannabis therapies.

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All of the interviewees told CNBC that medical cannabis is where the real money is, going so far as to say that there will be a decline in smoking cannabis in the next five years.

As Linton told CNBC, it’s because medical marijuana will create a better product.

*Header Image: World Economic Forum