Few if any industries have been as unstoppable of late as legal marijuana. Since the beginning of 2016, most pot stocks have seen their valuations rise by a triple-digit or quadruple-digit percentage, with global growth estimates for the industry soaring following the legalization of adult-use weed in Canada and multiple medical cannabis legalizations in countries around the globe.
How big could the marijuana industry become? That’s really a matter of interpretation, with a variety of Wall Street investment firms projecting anywhere from $50 billion to $75 billion in sales by the end of the next decade, and the duo of Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics calling for a compound annual growth rate of nearly 27% between 2019 and 2022.
However, there’s an even hotter industry that’s budding from within the marijuana movement: cannabidiol (CBD)…
BD offers a compound annual growth rate of 147% through 2022
CBD is the nonpsychoactive cannabinoid best known for its perceived medical benefits, and since it won’t get a user high, it’s become an intriguing means of luring in new consumers who’ve never tried a cannabis-related product before.
According to a report from the Brightfield Group, worldwide CBD sales are expected to soar from $591 million in 2018 to as high as $22 billion by 2022, which works out to a compound annual growth rate of 147%, for those of you keeping score at home.
CBD itself can be extracted from two sources: the cannabis plant and the hemp plant. Generally speaking, hemp is a CBD-rich plant with minimal tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. THC is the cannabinoid that gets a user high. Meanwhile, CBD content in cannabis plants can be hit or miss, depending on the strain. CBD derived from hemp plants is legal in all 50 states following the December passage of the Farm Bill, whereas CBD derived from the cannabis plant is still considered illicit at the federal level. However, adding CBD of any form to food, beverages, or dietary supplements is a no-no since it still falls under the guidance of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Four direct players in the CBD space
With this in mind, here are a handful of stocks that’ll provide investors with direct exposure to the burgeoning CBD market…
Continue reading at THE MOTLEY FOOL
