Can New Strategic Efforts Aid Apharia's (APHA) Q2 Earnings?

Aphria Inc.’s (TSX:APHA) cannabis business has been gaining momentum on the back of its continued focus on growth priorities promising highest returns.

We expect this strength to get reflected in the company’s second-quarter fiscal 2020 results, scheduled for release on Jan 14, after market close.

Click here to know how this industry player is likely to perform in the quarter to be reported.

Strategic Initiatives: Key Drivers in Q2

At Aphria, the company is successfully making efforts to acquire greenhouse space, cultivation expertise, extraction capacity, automation technology, differentiated brands, product innovation and raw materials. As the company gains in scale, it is likely to add capabilities to its portfolio in Canada. These operating efficiencies will in turn, help the company build international distribution channels for medical and adult-use cannabis.

Of late, Aphria is focusing on creating a strong team with experience of dealing in cannabis, consumer packaged goods, beverage plus broader operational and supply chains. In this regard, we should note that the company appointed Bernard Yeung as vice president, sales, with significant understanding of the cannabis and the alcohol industry. Further, Denise Faltischek joined the company with her in-depth knowledge on consumer-packaged goods, particularly in the natural organic industry. Overall,Apharia is successfully running itsglobal cannabis business with more than 1,200 team members globally.

The aforementioned development is expected to have enhanced the company’s top line in the to-be-reported quarter as well as strengthened its competitive edge in both the adult-use and medical cannabis industry.

This apart, realizing the continuous evolvement of the cannabis industry globally at Aphria, the company is also strengthening its core capabilities. In line with this, recently in Leamington, Apharia expanded its operational team to enhance its quality of service and generate higher yields at lower costs.

At the Aphria One facility, the company is currently fully licensed and planted with nearly 600,000 plants. Further, the 100-acre Aphria Diamond premier greenhouse features 1.3 million square feet of production. These are also envisioned to have contributed to the company’s top line in the fiscal second quarter.

Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few medical stocks worth considering as these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in the to-be-reported quarter.

Intersect ENT (NASDAQ:XENT) has an Earnings ESP of +8.54% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) has an Earnings ESP of +3.20% and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

NuVasive (NASDAQ:NUVA) has an Earnings ESP of +0.88% and a Zacks Rank of 3.

Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?

Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.

Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.

See the pot trades we're targeting>>