The intoxicating-hemp crackdown has added another layer of uncertainty for some publicly traded cannabis companies – most of which are still struggling to find a sustainable economic footing.
Curaleaf Holdings appears especially vulnerable as the federal ban on intoxicating hemp-derived THC products looms. The company had leaned on hemp-THC vapes, edibles and low-dose drinks as a diversification strategy, and the loss of that channel compounds existing pressure from oversupply and soft consumer demand.
New York-based Curaleaf started in hemp-derived THC by launching a product line in mid-2024 through its direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform and “Hemp Company” brand, and in a June 2024 press release the company explicitly pitched this move as a strategic expansion into a “rapidly growing” market.
Growth path is blocked
The messaging made clear that Curaleaf viewed hemp-THC products as a meaningful growth avenue, not a sideline. Yet the company has never disclosed how much revenue these products actually generate. It only says its hemp business reduces the company’s overall profitability, but provides no sales details — leaving its exposure to the federal ban unclear.
Curaleaf’s recent financials show the company’s general strain: through the first three quarters of 2025, the company generated more than US$900 million in revenue but still posted substantial net losses. It produced positive operating cash flow but remained unprofitable, underlining how even the largest multistate operators have struggled to turn scale into earnings.
Tilray’s problems
Tilray Brands, also based in New York, has sounded the alarm that tightening federal regulation of hemp-derived THC products — combined with its own reverse stock split — threatens to further destabilize a stock already under intense pressure.
In a statement earlier this month, Tilray called the ban, embedded in the recently passed U.S. government funding bill, “misguided” and “prohibitionist.”
Tilray, which has positioned itself as “a leading global lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company” blending cannabis, beverages, wellness and hemp-wellness, said the regulatory changes will likely derail a key avenue of the company’s future U.S. growth – noting, however, that hemp-derived THC products nonetheless “are not a material part of our revenue” at present. Nonetheless, the mere potential of lost markets and regulatory stigma may deter investors and complicate future plans.
Reverse stock split: Ouch!
Adding to investor unease at Tilray, the company announced late November that it plans out one-for-ten reverse stock split, effective Dec. 1, 2025. That means roughly every 10 existing shares will be consolidated into one. Trading in the company’s shares dropped more than 20% immediately after the announcement, pushing the stock below $1 per share.
Tilray says the split aims to make the company more attractive to institutional investors and reduce annual costs. But reverse splits are often viewed as a red flag — many see them as defensive actions when a company is struggling.
‘Wellness’ focused companies
By contrast, pure-CBD “wellness” companies such as Louisville, Colorado-based Charlotte’s Web or cbdMD, Charlotte, North Carolina, face far less direct risk from the hemp-THC ban because their product lines do not depend on delta-8, THCA flower or other intoxicating cannabinoids.
But these firms are hardly in stronger financial shape. Their most recent 2025 quarterly filings show continued net losses, shrinking revenues and tight margins. None has reported sustained profitability, and cost-cutting efforts have yet to deliver meaningful improvement.