Top 10 Cannabis Stocks in a Growing Market (February 2026)

Sin Stocks Outperformance

Sin stocks are a category of stocks from companies involved in what is considered “immoral” activities, like gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or weapons manufacturing. Many investment funds and individuals will refuse to invest in these sectors, causing an artificially low price for these stocks.

But these are also highly profitable activities, leading to these companies generating massive cash flows that can be used for acquisitions, share repurchases, or dividends.

As a result, sin stocks significantly and consistently outperform the overall markets.

Cannabis As An Emergent Sin Stock Class

Cannabis is still considered at the US federal level as a fully illegal drug. Meanwhile, most of the US states have fully or partially legalized the production, sale, and consumption of cannabis. This should be a very profitable business line, like most other “sin stock” activities.

Source: Green Thumb

The contrast between state and federal laws created a strange situation for cannabis companies. While legal, cannabis companies encounter a lot of problems with anything related to national-level regulation and laws. They are, for example, often forced to operate only with cash and have no access to the banking system, which carries significant costs.

This is now (partially) finally changing, thanks to a decision of the Trump administration.

Cannabis is now poised to move from a Schedule I narcotic to a Schedule III narcotic. This would move cannabis from a completely illegal product at the federal level to the same legal category as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, and anabolic steroids. 

Source: Mortiz College Of Law

In addition, an executive order titled “Increasing Medical Marijuana And Cannabidiol Research” will open a much wider usage of cannabis-derived molecules for medical treatment: 

“More than 30,000 licensed healthcare practitioners across 43 United States jurisdictions are authorized to recommend the medical use of marijuana for more than 6 million registered patients to treat at least 15 medical conditions. 

It was also based on a finding by the FDA of credible scientific support to substantiate the use of marijuana in the treatment of pain, anorexia related to certain medical conditions, and nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy.”

Schedule III is not what proponents of cannabis legalization had hoped for, a move supported by 64% of Americans, as the executive order clearly specifies that it “doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form, and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug.”

But it will still have a major impact on cannabis stocks.

For example, investing in cannabis-related stock will be a lot more acceptable for financial institutions. Banking access will also improve, which should make the cost of capital much better and reduce the risk of shareholder dilution that has plagued many cannabis stocks. Medicare reimbursement for full-spectrum CBD is also a possibility, as well as exporting production out of the USA. 

Top 10 Cannabis Stocks in a Growing Market

1. Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc.

Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. (IIPR -3.55%)

IIPR is an industrial REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) specializing in building facilities for cannabis companies, like greenhouses, oil extraction plants, etc.

The first reason why cannabis companies chose to work with IIPR is that they suffer from a very high cost of capital. IIPR, as an industrial REIT, can finance the greenhouses at a much lower rate, de facto providing capital to an industry that desperately needs it.

Another reason is that by building a massive amount of greenhouses, IIPR achieves a scale able to reduce costs on materials, construction, designs, etc.  It can also provide expertise in multiple fields, like plant strain selection, oil extraction, humidity management, chemical refining, etc.

So the company has a durable advantage in providing cost-saving growing facilities to cannabis companies.

IIPR has massively grown its real estate portfolio since its inception in 2016, reaching 108 in 2023 and 112 in 2025.

In total, it has invested $2.47B in capital in 19 states, for a total of 9,043,000 square feet of growing facilities.

It has paid more than $1B in dividends since inception in 2016, and has grown dividends by 12% CAGR between 2020 and 2025, with the industry still projected to grow 7% CAGR even before the rescheduling of the drug in category III.

The tenant base is diversified with no tenant above 11% of the whole, and 36 total tenants.

Source: IIPR

The company’s stock price is highly correlated to the overall cannabis market, meaning that it can, at times, trade way above NAV (Net Asset Value) and at times below that.

Considering the still despondent mood in the cannabis space, this can make IIPR a good entry point while providing a solid dividend until things turn around for the cannabis industry.

As an industrial REIT, IIPR can potentially be easier to buy than a cannabis stock. It also offers a double-digit dividend yield, providing an interesting option for investors who have no direct access to cannabis stocks.

2. Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CURLF)

Curaleaf is one of the world’s largest cannabis companies, with a presence in 17 states, operating 153 dispensaries, with a total cultivation capacity of 1.5M square feet.

The company has expanded in Europe, with a presence in the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. It is also present in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

It is offering a full range of cannabis products along multiple brands, including drinks, edibles, and vaping, on top of more “classic” cannabis products like dried flowers.

Source: Curaleaf

Curaleaf is a typical growth stock aiming to become the industry’s dominant player, focusing on expansion over immediate profitability.

The presence in the European and international markets is also a relatively unique feature of Curaleaf, making it potentially a future global player in cannabis instead of a solely US company.

3. Tilray Brands, Inc.

Tilray Brands, Inc. (TLRY -1.44%)

Tilray’s strategy is to build solid brands, first in the cannabis segment but also in beverages.

Source: Tilray

A lot of this expansion has been driven by acquisitions throughout the past 6 years.

It notably acquired Breckenridge Distillery for $103 million in 2021, followed by several craft beer brands, 8 beer & beverage brands from Anheuser-Busch.

Source: Tilray

It is very strong in Canada, ranking first in adult market share across all major Canadian markets, and is the largest cannabis company in the country by revenue. It is present in a total of 20+ countries.

It is also the #4 largest craft beer brewer in the USA and has a ~60% market share in North America’s branded hemp foods and snacks category.

Source: Tilray

This strategy can be good, with strong brands, a known method to generate higher margins in commodified sectors like food and drink.

So, investors in Tilray should see the stock as a potential consumer brand conglomerate similar to Coca-Cola, Mars, or Hershey.

The craft beer market also gives the company a bit more stability in its revenues compared to a volatile cannabis market, and can give it an entry point for future sales of cannabis-based beverages.

4. Green Thumb Industries Inc. (GTBIF)

Green Thumb has a range of cannabis brands focused on wellness, including medical cannabis, which could be the exact right positioning if cannabis legislation is relaxing first on the medical side over recreational.

It operates in 14 US markets, with 108 retail locations and 20 manufacturing facilities. Green Thumb operates mostly in states with limited licenses, allowing for a higher sale price of cannabis products.

It produces all types of cannabis products, including pre-rolls (pre-made cannabis “cigarettes”), edibles, candies, vape, balms, etc. Still, flower (“raw cannabis”) and vape represent the bulk of the company’s sales.

Source: Green Thumb

Contrary to many of its competitors, Green Thumb has managed to grow revenues and turn profitable with positive operating cash flow since 2020.

Source: Green Thumb

The focus of Green Thumb on higher margin markets and positive operating cash flow will be reassuring to some investors. It gives it the breathing space to wait for regulation to change, and cannabis to become a mainstream consumer product, ultimately legalized at the federal level.

5. Verano Holdings Corp. (VRNO.NE)

Verano is another of the largest cannabis companies in 13 markets with 158 retail locations and 15 cultivation and production facilities.

Its brands are together ranked #3 in national market share in the USA.

Source: Verano

While most of the company’s revenues come from retail sales, it also makes 32% of its income from wholesale, leveraging its massive production facilities to sell cannabis plants to other brands.

Verano focuses on quality, with special attention brought to plant genetics, with 160+ proprietary strains and strict quality control on dosage and concentration.

This allows the company to display exemplary EBITDA margins, above all of its peers, standing at 26% in Q3 2025, for $53M of adjusted EBITDA.

There is still an open question of what a mature cannabis market will look like. Will it be a fully commoditized sector, where only the price/gram matters? Or will it be one when premium quality and/or brand will be important?

Verano is a bet on the cannabis market becoming a market segregated by product quality, where a higher concentration of active chemicals and better production pay off over mass production.

6. Cronos Group Inc.

Cronos Group Inc. (CRON -0.19%)

This Israeli company is also active in Canada and the USA through partnership and partial ownership of local companies (respectively, Cronos GrowCo & Pharma Cann).

Cronos is backed by the tobacco giant Altria, which bought a 50% stake in 2019 for $1.8B.

The relation with Altria is overall a plus, but also implies the risk of the company looking to fully acquire Cronos to reinforce its entry into the cannabis market, potentially at a low price compared to its future potential.

Initially, the company’s focus was on medical cannabis, a sector where it is still very active. Since then, it has diversified in consumer product selection, including edible vape cartridges, smoking, and candies.

Cronos is also acquiring CanAdelaar, the Netherlands’ largest legal cannabis operator, which will give it the #1 market share in the largest adult-use cannabis market in Europe.

Another sector of activity is rare cannabinoids, molecules present in low concentration in cannabis plants, besides the more well-known THC and CBD.

The company has developed a program since 2022 to mass-produce these rare chemical compounds through fermentation in partnership with the synthetic biology company Gingko Bioworks.

Source: Cronos

Investors interested in Cronos will be looking at a very original portfolio with a focus on medical cannabis, including rare cannabinoids that might be useful for a wide array of new therapies, from mental health to glaucoma and cancer.

The strong presence in Europe and Canada also makes it less sensitive to the legislative decisions taken in the USA.

7. Cresco Labs Inc.

Founded in 2013, Cresco is the #1 wholesaler of cannabis products, using 900,000 square feet of cultivation to supply its clients, an activity that makes 36% of the company’s revenues.

The company’s cannabis is sold at Cresco Labs’ 71 retail locations and third-party resellers (1,600+ dispensaries).

Source: Cresco Labs

It sells a wide array of products, including vaping liquid, smoking products, gummies, edibles, marshmallows, resin, popcorn, etc.  Cresco is present in 8 US states, all in the top 10 by market size, representing a more than $1B worth of market.

This focus on wholesale places Cresco in the cannabis landscape in a position similar to a company like Kraft in the food industry. It produces its own brands and counts on resellers to assume the distribution. This can be a lower margin strategy, but also one that is less reliant on acquiring limited dispensary licenses, and less capex intensive.

The company has been focusing on improving its margin by closing low-margin cultivation sites.

With a focus on cultivation and production instead of selling directly, Cresco has been developing 400 unique plant strains and has become the #1 seller in flowers and concentrates. This focus on profitability also created a steady growth in operating cash flow.

Source: Cresco Labs

Cresco Labs’ focus on production is a bet that the more cannabis is normalized, the more sales points will be authorized and opened. It is possible that, in the long run, cannabis will be as accessible as tobacco.

In that context, a preexisting infrastructure for wholesaling might become an asset, and investors in Cresco will be well-positioned to benefit from it.

If inter-state transport and sale of cannabis is one day legalized, Cresco Labs could also become a beneficiary, as it could sell its production to other brands all over the USA.

8. Glass House Brands Inc.

Glass House is a cannabis-growing company looking for the maximum economies of scale and the lowest production costs.

The company manages a massive 6M square feet of greenhouses. The rest of the greenhouse area is expected to be retrofitted by the end of 2024.

Source: Glass House

These facilities are located in California, which is considered to have an almost ideal climate for cannabis cultivation. The advanced greenhouse design and climate advantage allow Glass House to claim a 95% lower CO2 emission than the average indoor growth.

The SoCal Greenhouse Farm was designed for tomatoes and cucumbers – a single-digit gross margin business.

Solar, cogeneration, well water, H2O recycling, etc, result in minimal utility costs and a reduced environmental footprint.

While California is by far the largest cannabis market in the US and in the world, it is also the one where bulk cannabis prices are the lowest due to the massive number of 5,600 cultivators.

The company has managed to consistently decrease its production costs when compared year-to-year (to take into account seasonality and weather). This allowed Glass House to consistently produce Californian cannabis below its selling price, something very few in the state have managed, with a lot of Glass House’s competitors going out of business.

Thanks to its razor focus on cost control and efficiency, Glass House is one of the rare companies able to successfully compete in California, the largest but toughest cannabis market.

This makes Glass House one of the most efficient cannabis producers not only in the USA, but in the world.

A long-term potential upside for Glass House is in interstate trade. If or when this happens, California-grown cannabis is likely to out-compete local producers dealing with a smaller scale, poorer weather, and generally less favorable growing conditions.

Considering California’s cannabis prices can often be 5-10x lower than in other US states, this would represent a large opportunity for Glass House to export its production to the rest of the country, and deploy its process battle-hardened in the tough Californian market to take over the rest of the country’s cannabis markets.

9. Village Farms International, Inc.

Village Farms International, Inc. (VFF +0.52%)

Village Farms is a 30-year-old vertical cultivator that reconverted partially into cannabis cultivation. One of Village Farms’ subsidiaries, Pure Sunfarms, is one of Canada’s largest cannabis producers.

The company operates 1.6M square feet for cannabis production, while it still produces vegetables (berries, tomatoes, lettuces, etc.) in other facilities, and works with 13.2M square feet of production capacity through various partners for more vegetable production.

Source: Village Farms

It entered the cannabis market early in 2017 in Canada and in the USA in 2018. Its installations are estimated to be able to supply 1/3rd of the total forecasted Canadian market, and with an even larger capacity by surface in Texas.

It also owns 12% of Altum, a platform for large-scale import of cannabidiol products to the Asia Pacific Region, and has launched its cannabis products in Germany. It also acquired Leli Holland, a facility expected to increase its production five fold in 2026, and export cannabis from Canada to Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the UK.

Village Farms is able to convert a lot of its vegetable greenhouses into cannabis cultivation, allowing it to scale up quickly with expanding legalization, higher demand, or higher prices, while also keeping 3.1 million square feet of greenhouse facilities running profitably in the meantime.

Thanks to its experience as a vegetable grower, Village Farms is also experienced in reducing its ecological footprint; for example, it creates renewable natural gas from landfill gas through its department Village Farms Clean Energy (VFCE).

At Village Farms Fresh, we grow 20-30 times more per acre compared to growing outdoors, without depleting the soil.

In fact, a 50-acre greenhouse can produce the same amount as a 1,500-acre farm – a 97% reduction in land use.

The diversified growth of Village Farms between cannabis and produce gives it a lot more flexibility than most cannabis companies, and puts it in a good position to benefit quickly from growing cannabis consumption globally and in the USA without needing extra capital.

10. Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc.

Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. (HYFM -2.16%)

From a sector dominated by craft and illegal cultivation, cannabis is now a very industrialized and optimized indoor farming sector. A key supplier to the whole industry is Hydrofarm.

It is the leading manufacturer of hydroponic cultivation systems. The company owns outright 70 brands and also distributes 80 others. It sells through many retailers and distribution channels, including online and offline, B2B and B2C.

Source: HydroFarm

Two-thirds of sales are consumable products, and one-third is durable equipment.

The company is counting on cannabis to keep growing in the long term and for Hydrofarm to be a successful supplier to the industry, riding out the speculators and volatility:

“Like the Gold Rush, the path to stabilization is wiping out some speculators. But the surviving picks and shovels suppliers should thrive“.

So Hydrofarm is indeed a stock for investors looking for a “pick and shovel” stock in the indoor growth market, with a lot of the industry now driven by cannabis cultivation.

The sector is highly cyclical, which can play both in favor of and to the detriment of Hydrofarm shareholders. The company has now put behind a slump due to the crash of many vertical farming companies, and the cannabis rescheduling should boost capital expenditure for new growing facilities.