Martha Stewart teams up with Canopy Growth and investors applaud A-B InBev – The Fool Motley

Stocks traded in a tight range on Thursday, but drifted lower in the afternoon after a report showed that economic growth had slowed in the fourth quarter but was better than expected. the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^ DJI) and the S & P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^ GSPC) finished in February with gains of more than 3% for the month.

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Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

The stocks of defensive utilities were strong, with Select SPDR ETF Utilities (NYSEMKT: XLU) up 0.6%. The materials sector has collapsed and the SPDR S & P Metals and Mining ETF (NYSEMKT: XME) decreased by 1.7%.

With respect to individual stocks, the marijuana growers Cover growth (NYSE: CGC) announced that Martha Stewart would help her sell products in the United States, and Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) released its fourth quarter results.

Martha Stewart gets behind the cannabidiol

Cannabis went one step closer to the general public today when the largest publicly traded marijuana company, Canopy Growth, announced that Martha Stewart, a lifestyle expert and television personality, would join to the company to play an advisory role in the promotion of products based on cannabidiol (CBD) and others. Canopy shares rose 3.6% on news and shares of Sequential brand group (NASDAQ: SQBG), which owns a portfolio of consumer brands, including Martha Stewart, has grown by 40%.

"I am excited to establish this partnership with Canopy Growth and share with them the knowledge I've gained from years of experience in the field of life," Stewart said in a statement. Press. Their first collaboration will be on CBD-based pet health and wellness products.

Canopy Growth announced in January its massive entry into the US market for hemp and cannabinoid extracts, creating a hub in New York capable of producing tons of hemp extract each year. Stewart could be an essential element to gain credibility for Canopy products in a thriving industry of $ 2.6 billion.

A-B InBev growing

The Anheuser-Busch InBev mega-fritter announced mixed results for the fourth quarter, but growth in sales of its main beer brands, an optimistic outlook for 2019 and debt reduction projects have welcomed investors, and equities rose by 4.6%. Revenues rose 4.8% to $ 14.6 billion, exceeding expectations of $ 14.2 billion. Earnings per share of $ 0.80 missed analysts' consensus of $ 0.94.

In the fourth quarter, volumes increased 0.3%, with our own beer volumes up 1.2% and non-beer volumes down 4.9%. The company's "premiumization" strategy has contributed to growth, with revenues from the three global brands of AB InBev – Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona – posting overall growth of 9.8% and 12.6% outside their home markets.

In the future, AB InBev said it expects strong revenue growth and EBITDA growth in 2019, despite the loss of market share in a falling beer market free in the United States. the end of 2020. Investor optimism about improvements in AB InBev's balance sheet helped the stock in 2019.