Auxly Cannabis Group heads into its May 13 earnings report with two striking stories running in opposite directions — a dramatic collapse in short positioning and a pair of open-market buys from the CEO and CFO at exactly the same price the stock trades today.
The most striking development this month is the short interest implosion. Estimated shares short dropped roughly 94% over the past week, falling from around 7.7 million shares on April 20 to just 434,000 by April 28. That is not a gradual unwind — it reads as a single large position being closed almost overnight. The ORTEX short score has followed, dropping from above 37 to just 27.6 over the same period, a level that now ranks in the 91st percentile for short score across the sector but reflects a much less aggressive positioning setup than was present earlier in the month. With availability near fully loose and borrowing costs at just 1.14% — roughly half of where they were two weeks ago — there is little indication the lending market is under any pressure. The borrow is cheap and abundant.
The insider story sharpens the picture. CEO Hugo Alves bought 191,816 shares on March 31 at C$0.13, and CFO Travis Wong made two separate open-market purchases — 185,185 shares on March 27 and 192,307 shares on March 30, both at C$0.135. Combined, the three transactions total just under C$55,000, modest in absolute dollar terms but notable because both the chief executive and chief financial officer were buying in the open market at prices that match exactly where the stock closed this week. The stock has not moved: it printed C$0.135 on April 29, flat on the week and flat on the day. These are not paper awards — they are cash purchases at current market levels.
The corporate calendar adds context. On April 14, Auxly received TSX approval for a Normal Course Issuer Bid, clearing the company to repurchase its own shares in the open market. The same week, news emerged that the company is still pursuing assets from Ayurcann, a cannabis peer in CCAA proceedings, through a stalking horse bid. Neither development has moved the stock materially, but they collectively describe a management team that is actively deploying capital — buying back shares, chasing a distressed acquisition, and purchasing personally in the open market — while trading at less than 14 cents. The largest reported holder, 1213509 B.C. Ltd., holds 17.3% of shares and has not changed its position since June 2025, providing a stable anchor in the register.
Analyst coverage is effectively absent. The only rating on record is a stale hold from 2023 with a mean price target of C$0.02 — a figure that bears no relationship to the current price and should be disregarded entirely. Valuation multiples reflect a money-losing operation: PE and EV/EBITDA are both deeply negative, consistent with a cannabis sector that has yet to reach sustained profitability in Canada. The factor score picture is similarly mixed — the short score rank of 91 and DTC rank of 80 are artefacts of the elevated positioning that was in place earlier this month, and may normalise over coming weeks as the data catches up to the new, much lower short interest level.
The next earnings print arrives May 13. The two most recent results produced day-one moves of -3.4% and -6.1%, with five-day drifts of -10.3% and -9.1% respectively — a consistent pattern of selling pressure following results. Whether the insider buying and the NCIB programme represent a different setup this time around is the question the print will answer.
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