This morning, Piper Jaffray -- which already had an overweight rating on the stock, as confirmed by financial news site TheFly.com -- raised its price target on those shares by a whopping 50%. Instead of $40, the price target at which Piper had previously pegged Canopy stock, the analyst now thinks the shares are worth $60.
So what - Why is Piper raising its target? The analyst explained that, in its view, the global market for marijuana has a potential for $250 billion to $500 billion in annual sales -- and could hit $15 billion to $50 billion in just the near term. (For comparison, Canopy Growth's own annual sales are just a hair over $70 million.)
So basically, Piper is saying there's a pretty huge market opportunity here for Canopy to grow into, and the company is well positioned to exploit it.
Now what - At least part of that growth now looks likely to happen in the U.S. as well. On Jan. 14, Canopy Growth secured a license to process hemp from the State of New York. It's a small entryway into the U.S. marijuana market, but as Piper Jaffray argues, it's a "tangible first step forward" and one that may pave the way to a long trajectory for U.S. growth.