Cronos Group shares rose more than 15 per cent on 5 June after the Canadian cannabis company announced plans to launch cannabidiol (CBD) in the US within the next 6 to 12 months, Business Insider reported.

Following the announcement, Bank of America Merrill Lynch gave the stock a double upgrade – from "underperform" to "buy", with analyst Christopher Carey raising his target price to USD 20 per share – almost 40 per cent above the shares set the day before. The announcement comes less than a week after a public hearing of the Food and Drug Administration to gather information about CBD products, the report said.
In March, Cronos closed a deal with Altria Group that gives Cronos access to Altria's domestic farmer network, enabling the company to source hemp locally. Cronos will also be able to use Altria's distribution arm, which includes 230,000 retail locations.
According to the report, Wall Street has postulated that the CBD market, which is currently worth USD 1 billion, could rise to as much as USD 16 billion by 2025.