Arcadia Biosciences (RKDA) stock decreased by nearly 2% in the extended hours of trading despite the fourth quarter results surpassed analysts’ estimates. The company’s stock has soared above 100% this year after the firm announced decided to foray into the cannabis industry, which is touted to grow at a faster clip in the near future. In 2019, the company’s stock recovered from the losses recorded last year. In the last 12 months, it has lost 73%.

The Agri firm reported revenues of $444,000, down 69% over last year. The fourth quarter loss reduced drastically to $0.14 per share, an improvement of 78% compared to the prior year. The drop in revenues was mainly due to a reduction in government grants. However, the headline numbers topped analyst estimates. Analysts were expecting Arcadia to narrow its loss to $0.76 per share compared to $1.8 loss per share reported last year, and revenue to plunge 80% to $280,000 over last year.

Arcadia is undergoing a major transformation shifting its strategy from license and research-based model towards selling health and nutrition products. The company expects the reduction of revenues from licensing, grants, and research contracts to come down in the next 1.5 years, which would be offset by increased product revenues on the consumer products side.

Cannabis Foray

Arcadia announced in February that it’s making its entry into the promising weed industry. It has set up a new division called Arcadia Specialty Genomics, which would focus on improving the quality, yield, and resiliency of cannabis. Post the announcement, investors were quite about its prospects with the stock surging 68%. The company plans to get the necessary approvals for kick-starting pilot programs in early 2019.

In March first week, it received the go-ahead from the regulator in Hawaii to cultivate hemp for research purposes. The license would help Arcadia to conduct pilot programs for planting cannabis. It’s worth noting that Hawaii allows the sale of marijuana for commercial use. Shares of the firm increased 28% after the news announcement.

Investors would be expecting more insights from the management on the entry into the budding marijuana industry and future plans to monetize from the entry.

FDA approves SONOVA GLA Oil

The share price of Arcadia jumped 23% on March 15 as the firm has got the approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use of its gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) oil in cat foods. The oil which is extracted from safflower is already used in cat and dog foods for more than three years in Canada. With the foray into the US cat food market, revenues are expected to increase in the next fiscal, which would be a great tailwind for the firm.

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