Stevia Corp. (OTCMKTS:STEV) Calls Buyers with Cannabis Promises

Remember when stevia was in fashion and small cap companies lined up to claim future revenues with the natural plant sweetener? Now, a stevia company has turned to a new crop, cannabis, and is starting to reap the benefits. Stevia Corp. (OTCMKTS:STEV) saw a day of near record volumes at the end of a year-long slide. STEV added just 11.49% on the day to $0.099 on dollar volumes of $1.35 million.

STEV was mentioned in a couple of emails already a year old, promising great returns as the ticker struck gold around $2.75, and the email underlines purely the upside potential of STEV. Unfortunately, the drop since those times has been relentless, and trading was very slim until now. At the start of 2013, STEV also made a noticeable run, from 20 to 40 cents, but the rest of the year was uneventful. Now at around 10 cents, there is the question of how long a rising trend could be preserved.

Yet the key PR event was the announcement that STEV would enter the cannabis industry, by entering as a direct grower and supplier of hemp oil and seeds, and possibly creating products also using the natural sweetener. This will be done in partnership with Ebbu, LLC, a private company that will supply growing know-how. The merger will be compensated in stocks and warrants, but details are still expected.

However, the plants in question do not mean that STEV would only be a medical or recreational cannabis vendor or grower, and would be using different varieties. Still, for the purposes of publicity, STEV looks very much like a regular pot stock.

But let’s see how well equipped is STEV for this kind of crop rotation:

• $85,366 cash

• $2.13 million total current assets

• $2.5 million total current liabilities

• $388,746 annual revenues

• $857,342 net loss

While the net loss has narrowed for STEV and the company is on top of its game for now, the earnings are still relatively low. Still, currently STEV is worth a bit above $8 million and its share structure is tight in comparison to other newly arrived cannabis companies, with 79 million shares outstanding.

If you are looking for a similar price range, currently Creative Edge Nutrition, Inc. (OTCMKTS:FITX) hovers around the 10-cent levels, though its rising trend seems exhausted. FITX also easily switched to medical cannabis by promising it would produce a pill form of medical cannabis among its other food supplements.

Easton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCMKTS:EAPH) also entered the marijuana madness, but did not quite manage to top the 10-cent levels, instead retreating back toward 10 cents. EAPH made a strong drive from sub-penny positions, so it looks shakier than STEV and its less volatile graph.

Still, for STEV things are yet to become clearer, and show if the ticker can make another period of gains. We are expecting publicity to continue, so keep in mind that the positions of STEV may be artificially inflated, and avoid over-investing.