Aurora Cannabis Stock Burned By Revenue Miss, Profit Outlook

ACB is near the bottom of the NYSE

One of the worst stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) this morning is Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB), down 9.4% to trade at $5.88. The cannabis company's fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell short of estimates due to lower-than-expected retail sales of recreational marijuana.Perhaps even more damaging, Aurora also pushed back its profitability timeline to fiscal 2020.

This is pacing to be ACB's worst single-session drop since Jan. 17. Since breaking into double-digit territory in mid-March, Aurora Cannabis stock has since carved out a channel of lower highs, shedding roughly half its value by the end of August. And despite slight bounce this month, the rally has now been neatly contained by the shares' 50-day moving average.

There's potential for downgrades to pressure the security lower, as most brokerage firms are positive on ACB. The stock boasts five "buy" or better ratings, compared to four "holds" and not a single "sell" rating. Plus, the consensus 12-month price target sits all the way up at $8.50, territory not traded at since late May.

Over in the options pits, calls were the options of choice in recent weeks. During the past 10 sessions, traders have bought to open 3.77 calls for every put on ACB, according to data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX).

However, short interest increased by 33.6% in the last two reporting periods and accounts for almost 12% of the equity's total available float. This means its possible some of this call buying could be shorts hedging against any potential upside.