Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:NEPT) has been one of the top cannabis stocks in 2019, climbing 65% year-to-date. It was also one of the top marijuana stocks in April, advancing more than 26%.

Neptune stock has been bullish for a number of great reasons.

Along with a strong balance sheet, the company recently announced that it had received licensing from Health Canada to process cannabis and that it had begun commercial production and delivery of cannabis extracts.

On top of that, Neptune has expanded its offerings of turnkey solutions in the U.S. to include hemp ingredients.

One of the nation’s largest marijuana investment firms is looking to make money in Rhode Island’s medical marijuana program.

Acreage Holdings — which has marijuana interests in nearly a dozen states and counts among its directors former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld — is in talks to buy Greenleaf Compassion Center, in Portsmouth, one of only three medical marijuana dispensaries in Rhode Island.

Greenleaf CEO Seth Bock said Wednesday he had signed a letter of intent to sell the business but could not disclose the potential buyer because of a nondisclosure agreement.

As of March, the value of Canada’s six largest cannabis companies totalled almost $43 billion—that’s a lot of cash (or kush).

But not all the buzz is reserved for the biggest firms.

Take these four B.C.-based companies, all of which have the potential to play in the pot space for the foreseeable future.

BURB

CATEGORY: Cannabis products, accessories and clothing

LOCATION: Its first, flagship store just opened in Port Coquitlam…on 4/20

ACTIVE SINCE: 2019

Cannabis stocks were flat as a pancake on Wednesday on the back of a lacklustre week for cannabis stocks across North American markets.

The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, inched down 0.1% to close at 282.4 points. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF was up 0.2% at C$20.59. 

Buds

ICC International Cannabis Corp (CSE:WRLD.U) (OTCMKTS:WLDCF) shares soared earlier on Wednesday after it announced that it has entered into an agreement with Organic Flower Investment Groups Inc to access distribution in the European market.

U.S. hemp product company Kannaway believes that single-use coffee pods are the next cannabis market opportunity.

“Kannaway’s single-serving, CBD-infused coffee and tea cups provide a fast and pre-measured way to ingest your daily dose of CBD without disturbing your daily routine,” Kannaway CEO Blake Schroeder says in a press release. Kannaway is a subsidiary of Medical Marijuana Inc.

Cannabis-infused beverages are not yet legal in Canada, but the federal government has set a deadline to legalize them along with other edibles, extracts and concentrates by Oct. 17, 2019.

Just when you think it couldn't get any better for marijuana stock investors, the industry just keeps proving skeptics wrong. Following an abysmal fourth quarter that saw some pot stocks lose half of their value, the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, the first tradable cannabis exchange-traded fund, is up more than 50% year to date, with many well-known marijuana stocks at or near all-time highs.

Canadian cannabis firm Aphria’s (TSX:APHA)(NYSE:APHA) stock has taken a severe beating to trade 32% lower after the company released its fiscal Q3 2019 results on April 15, and the share price has never recovered since, even after the overly positive news of a key tender win in budding Germany. Should investors consider buying the current valuation lows?

The company is an intriguing marijuana play right now, not only as a result of negative publicity recently but on an operating efficiency and worrying growth trend basis, too.

Health Canada is changing its process for issuing cannabis licences, in a bid to reduce wait times, after a review found a "significant amount" of its resources was used to approve numerous applications for facilities that have yet to materialize years later.

Effective immediately, new applicants for licences to cultivate, process or sell cannabis — for either medical or recreational purposes — must now have a fully built site that meets the regulations when they submit their application, the government agency said.

Prior to this, cannabis licence applicants could submit an application with their plans and get approval before building.

Believe it or not, marijuana stocks proved fallible in April, with the first tradable cannabis exchange-traded fund, the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, falling by 1.6% during the month. Of course, there's no need to cry a river, with the ETF tripling the performance of the S&P 500 on a year-to-date basis.

However, a budding cannabis market doesn't mean you can simply throw a dart and select a winner.

If anything, investors should be more critical of pot stocks now, with the industry still nascent and contending with numerous supply chain-based growing pains. As I look at the more than 50 marijuana stocks I regularly follow, I see three that should be avoided like the plague in May.

U.S.-China trade worries are back in a big way this week, with TSX futures down on the possibility of increased tariffs that threaten to inflame the Sino-American trade war.

Risky assets have been taking a battering as a result, with Canadian marijuana taking a hit. Indeed, the wobble in the markets couldn’t have come at a worse time for the burgeoning cannabis sector, with Statistics Canada reporting that Canadian marijuana retail sales fell by a whopping 7% in February compared to the data for January.