These 3 Stocks Could Be the First $100 Billion Pot Companies

Marijuana stocks have been taking off, and investors have never been more excited about the prospects for the cannabis industry. Now that recreational marijuana is legal in Canada, Canadian cannabis companies have come to the forefront, with companies like Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) and Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) seeing especially high interest among marijuana investors.

Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy recently said that he expects the marijuana industry to produce stocks with market capitalizations in excess of $100 billion in the future. Kennedy clearly wants Tilray to be one of those companies, and many shareholders in Tilray and other Canadian cannabis companies have high hopes about their ability to command the Canadian market and then build up international businesses elsewhere…

If you really want to identify the companies that are most likely to be the megacap players in the cannabis space in the near future, though, you don’t need to look north of the border. In all likelihood, well-established stocks like the three below will be the first to hit the $100 billion threshold, tapping the marijuana craze to add to their already extensive and profitable businesses.

1. Constellation Brands

Among companies that have already taken major positions in the marijuana industry, Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) leads the field. With a market capitalization of more than $40 billion, the maker of Corona and Modelo beers has bought its way into the cannabis space with successive investments in Canopy Growth. The beer maker’s most recent investment of roughly $4 billion took its stake in Canopy up to 38%, and Constellation also received warrants that give it the option to take a controlling interest in the cannabis specialist.

Some speculate that Constellation will eventually take Canopy over outright, bringing the cannabis company fully onto its consolidated financial reports. So far, Constellation’s measured approach reflects a healthy skepticism about whether marijuana will overcome challenges like an extensive black market and ongoing regulatory challenges in key jurisdictions to grow even more quickly. If pot takes off, though, Constellation will be…

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