Global equity markets continued to rally due to a decline in new cases of COVID-19 in almost all of the hardest hit nations and continued vaccine rollout.
The U.S. is currently administering over 1.8M doses per day, up from 1.4M in the prior week. We estimate that 50% of the population will be vaccinated by August 2021 vs our previous estimate of October.
Gold prices typically fall when there is a decline in global economic uncertainties. We expect prices to strengthen in H2-2021 as inflation kicks in from a global economic recovery.
HEXO Corp. (TSX: XESO) announced that it will acquire Zenabis (TSX: ZENA) for $235M, to gain exposure to Europe’s cannabis market. This acquisition reflected an EV/R multiple of 2.6x, much lower than the industry median of 13x for large players. This acquisition is in line with our previously stated outlook of 2021 being a year of consolidation in the cannabis sector.
