Better Marijuana Stock to Buy: Cresco Labs or Trulieve?

Cresco Labs (OTC: CRLBF) and Trulieve Cannabis (OTC: TCNNF) are two of the biggest and most well-known cannabis companies in the U.S. However, their share prices have been faring very differently in 2020, with Trulieve down a modest 5% while Cresco's stock has crashed by 45% -- well below even the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (OTC: HMLSF), which has declined 33%. Let's take a closer look at whether Trulieve is still likely to outperform over the remainder of the year, or whether Cresco's larger loss makes it the more likely stock to achieve better gains from here on out.

Chicago-based Cresco Labs released its audited annual results on April 28, and the numbers weren't pretty. Although revenue of $128.5 million over the past year was triple the $43.3 million that the vertically integrated cannabis company generated in the previous year, Cresco actually ended up posting a significant net loss of $65.3 million in 2019, compared with a $3.1 million profit in 2018. Rising operating expenses and a smaller boost from changes in fair value were behind the results. Its net loss of $45.2 million in the fourth quarter was the largest the company has incurred since its founding in 2013.

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