By Sheeba M. | April 27, 2026
Why Cannabis Operators Are Quietly Buying Back Stock
Quietly, without fanfare, cannabis operators are putting money back into their own stock. Green Thumb (GTBIF) and Cresco Labs (CRLBF) have authorized multimillion-dollar buyback programs. Verano (VRNO) is considering one.
This looks bullish on the surface. Boards buying stock signals they think the stock is undervalued. But dig deeper, and it’s actually an admission of a problem: these companies diluted shareholders to hell to fund expansion, and now they’re using cash flow to undo some of that damage.
The math is brutal. Curaleaf (CURLF) had 442 million shares outstanding in Q1 2023. Today it’s closer to 480 million. That’s an 8.6% dilution in three years. For a company doing $1.3B in quarterly revenue, that share count increase is eating into per-share profitability metrics.
Buybacks are a Band-Aid. They reduce share count (which mechanically improves EPS even if net income stays flat), but they don’t solve the underlying issue: cannabis operators raised capital at terrible valuations and spent it on buildouts that took longer to monetize than expected.
The silver lining for investors? If cannabis operators are confident enough in near-term cash flow to deploy capital on buybacks instead of debt reduction, that’s a positive signal. It means they expect margin improvement and steady revenue in the next 12-18 months.
Watch Q2 earnings closely. If buyback programs accelerate while leverage stays stable, that’s your green light that operators have finally turned the corner on profitability.
Sources
- Green Thumb Investor Relations — Earnings and shareholder updates
- Cresco Labs Investor Relations — Q1 2026 earnings and guidance
- SEC EDGAR — Official shareholder updates and Form 8-Ks
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