CBD giant Charlotte’s Web cites pandemic sales slump in quarterly loss

Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc. lost $6.6 million last quarter as expenses outstripped rising revenue and the pandemic continued to cool sales.

The CBD giant based in Boulder, Colorado, reported revenue of $25.2 million for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, up 0.4% from the same period a year ago.

The company said in its third-quarter earnings report Thursday that the company’s revenue also increased 17% from this year’s second quarter, marking a return to consecutive growth.

Gross profit for the third quarter was $14.7 million, down from $17.9 million in the same period last year. The company’s operating expenses for the quarter, meanwhile, were $28.3 million, up from $19.6 million during the same period last year. The company told investors that it has “taken actions to better align operating expenses” and plans to cut expenses 10% by the end of 2020; Charlotte’s Web did not elaborate on how the cuts would be achieved.

The company blamed cooling business-to-business sales as the pandemic continues to curb retail activity. Last quarter Charlotte’s Web saw B2B sales of $8.5 million, with direct-to-consumer sales accounting for $16.7 million of revenue.

Charlotte’s Web says that direct-to-consumer sales grew by 27.5% year-over-year as online traffic increased.

Charlotte’s Web trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as CWEB.