Aurora Cannabis Inc. ($ACB)

Welcome to the Aurora Cannabis fiscal year and fourth quarter 2026 results conference call. [Operator Instructions] This conference call is being recorded today, Thursday, June 11, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Kevin Nylund, Senior Director of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Hello, and thank you for joining us. With me is Miguel Martin, Chief Executive Officer, and Simona King, Chief Financial Officer. Earlier this morning, we filed our fiscal year and fourth quarter 2026 financials for the period ended March 31, 2026, and issued a news release containing both our annual and quarterly results. Our financial statements, MD&A, and news release are available on our IR website. They can also be accessed via SEDAR+ and EDGAR. In addition, you will find a supplemental information deck on our IR website. Our discussion today serves as a reminder that certain matters could constitute forward-looking statements or are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to our future financial or business performance. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Risk factors that may affect actual results are detailed in our annual information form and other periodic filings and registration statements. These documents may similarly be accessed via SEDAR+ and EDGAR. Following our prepared remarks, we'll conduct a question-and-answer session. With that, I'll turn the call over to Miguel. Please go ahead.

Thanks, Kevin. Fiscal 2026 was a strong year for Aurora. Net revenue meaningfully exceeded our outlook. Adjusted EBITDA was above the midpoint of our guided range, and we improved adjusted net income by more than $12 million. I'll walk through the key financial metrics in a moment, but it's important to underscore that our performance is driven by two strategic pillars. First, we are anchored by our leadership in medical cannabis across nationally legal markets. Over a decade ago, we anticipated that medical cannabis was poised to be the most attractive and durable segment of this industry, and we invested accordingly, building the science, infrastructure, and regulatory capabilities that allow us to serve patients with consistency, quality, and scale. Today, Aurora is one of Canada's largest global medical cannabis companies, a leading exporter of medical cannabis, and a trusted supplier to international markets through our world-class GMP-certified facilities. We are a market leader in Canada, Germany, Australia, and Poland, the four largest nationally legal medical cannabis markets. The majority of our manufacturing capacity is produced within our EU GMP and TGA GMP-certified facilities, operating under strict international standards, and only a small group of producers, Aurora among them, hold the certifications required to ship directly into European and Australian medical markets. Our integrated model of manufacturing and distribution also drives lower production costs through higher yields, potency improvements, and ongoing operational efficiencies. Second, we remain highly disciplined in our financial management. Cost efficiencies enabled us to expand our annualized adjusted gross margin and increase adjusted EBITDA while maintaining a strong balance sheet. This discipline positions Aurora well for the future as we continue to navigate evolving industry dynamics that we will discuss in greater detail shortly. Here are some highlights from fiscal year 2026. First, net revenue rose 11% to $321 million, driven by double-digit growth in global medical cannabis. This exceeded the top end of our guided range by $8 million. Notably, about 55% of our net revenue was generated outside of Canada. Second, adjusted gross margin rose to 64%. This reflects the benefits of our investments in the value chain, science, and plant genetics, as well as operational efficiencies and capacity improvements. Third, adjusted EBITDA grew 32% year over year, reaching $54 million. And finally, we ended the year with one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry, with $165 million of cash and cash equivalents with no debt. As the industry evolves, maintaining our leadership in global medical cannabis requires even greater focus, especially as competition and pricing intensify. In the fiscal fourth quarter, we took deliberate steps to sharpen that focus by initiating our exit from certain markets within the lower-margin Canadian consumer segment, which we expect to complete by the end of September. While this transition carried one-time cash impacts during the quarter itself, it positions us to reprioritize resources, allowing us to maximize the opportunities in the more profitable global medical cannabis space. We also divested our lower-margin plant propagation business by selling our controlling stake in Bevo. Together, these actions allow us to deploy capital more effectively and enhance profitability over time. In April, we acquired Safari Flower Co., an established Canadian-based EU GMP-certified cannabis cultivator and manufacturer, for approximately $26.5 million. This acquisition marks an important milestone as we continue to purposefully invest in expanding our EU GMP capacity to help grow by supplying flower in the expanding international markets. In our view, Canada remains the best place to grow high-quality premium GMP flower in the world. Safari Flower's 59,000 square foot indoor cultivation and manufacturing facility in Ontario is closely aligned with our existing cultivation and manufacturing sites, strengthening our position as one of the largest Canadian exporters. We intend to leverage our extensive plant science and operational expertise to increase the supply of high-quality EU GMP manufactured flower, which further enhances our leadership in these expanding, high-margin, and highly regulated markets. Our investments in plant science will provide us with new disease-resistant cultivars that deliver higher yields per square foot and consistently achieve high potency results, driving a 40% increase in EU GMP capacity over the last five years. This enhanced supply chain that we control and manage will be a key part of our future. It will enable us to capture greater international market share while delivering superior value to our most respected patients worldwide. We expect Safari to deliver positive adjusted EBITDA contributions in fiscal year 2027 with incremental benefits in fiscal year 2028 and beyond. Last month, we announced the expansion of our medical cannabis portfolio across Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, reinforcing our medical-first strategy and our leadership in regulated international markets. These launches span dried flower, pre-rolls, and edibles and are all designed to meet clear patient and prescriber demand for high-quality, consistent, and reliable products. What's important here is that these innovation launches are not one-off events. They reflect the strength of our global GMP supply network and our ability to deliver at scale. From the broadened offerings in Canada, Germany, and Poland to expanded formats in Australia and New Zealand, we're deepening our presence in the markets that matter most. Now let's discuss the dynamics of our individual medical cannabis markets. Germany was the biggest contributor to our double-digit international revenue growth in fiscal 2026 as we benefited from strong commercial execution and a well-established reputation with wholesalers, distributors, and pharmacists. While we continue to offer a broad mix of core and premium products, we've also expanded our lineup to include more value-focused options without compromising on quality. As new competitors enter the market, we are seeing increased price pressure, though so far it is largely concentrated in the value segment. Because the core and premium categories represent most of our volume, we have held our leading market share, but we continue to monitor conditions closely and have adjusted pricing where appropriate. Our diversified product portfolio, strong brand equity, and disciplined pricing strategy position us well to maintain leadership even as competition evolves. This is best evidenced by two of our proprietary cultivars ranking #1 and #3 by sales this quarter. We are one of three active in-country producers of medical cannabis, carrying a production and R&D license under the German cannabis law. Because of this, we are in a strong position to serve all medical markets in Europe. To drive more EU GMP production and gain incremental share in this rapidly growing market, we undertook a major expansion at our facility in Leuna, which will increase capacity, improve product quality, and drive cost efficiency. Our intention is for this site to mirror the performance of our Canadian sites based on the same industry-leading genetics and product standards. Leuna's expansion will be completed in the first half of fiscal year 2027, and combined with the introduction of our proprietary cultivars, is expected to double its annual flower output. In Australia, we continue to hold a key leadership position. We are actively working to shift our sales mix towards core and premium products in response to the growing interest by both prescribing physicians and patients for a variety of premium products. Australia already offers one of the broadest product format ranges outside of North America, providing us with the ability to fully leverage our diverse portfolio beyond flower and oils. In Poland, we hold the #1 market share position, supported by strong commercial execution and our ability to have successfully navigated the shift from telehealth-driven prescribing to clinic-based prescribing. After Germany, Poland was the second largest contributor to our growth in international markets in fiscal year 2026. We've maintained strong relationships with regulators throughout this transition, and recent increases in the annual import limits further strengthen our growth outlook. We are confident in our ability to sustain this leadership position. Our highly skilled local team continues to engage effectively with key stakeholders, and our expanding portfolio of high-quality medical cannabis products ensures we can meet evolving patient and prescriber needs. Across other parts of Europe, we are encouraged by the potential developments in markets such as France, Ukraine, Switzerland, Spain, and Austria. Our success in entering new jurisdictions stems from the stringent and ever-increasing regulatory standards woven into our operations, coupled with the strength of our GMP-certified product portfolio, which positions us to move quickly and compliantly as new markets come online. I do want to briefly address the recent cannabis rescheduling developments in the United States. If enacted, this would represent a meaningful step towards modernizing U.S. cannabis policy and aligning it more closely with international regulatory frameworks. We are encouraged by the direction of the process and are considering reevaluating our U.S. strategy. As one of Canada's largest exporters of GMP-manufactured medical cannabis, we believe that with our operational, commercial, and regulatory expertise, we are uniquely positioned to react and benefit from the opportunities of further medical cannabis market expansion at the federal level in the United States. That said, due to the current regulatory uncertainty that remains, we have nothing definitive to announce at this time, and look forward to further updates from the U.S. administration in the coming months. Finally, turning to Canada, medical cannabis net revenue grew annually due to higher sales from insured patients who benefited from a broader portfolio assortment. For many years, our medical platform in Canada has been characterized by dependable market share, high barriers to entry, regulatory expertise, investment in technology and distribution, and an unwavering commitment to science, testing, and compliance. Historically, our direct-to-patient model, which does not rely on provincial wholesalers or private retailers, has allowed Aurora to achieve sustainable gross profit margins. However, with changes to the federal reimbursement program effective April 1st, we expect that this external regulatory change will both impact our top line and adjusted gross margins beginning in fiscal year 2027. We recognize the near-term impact of the shift in pricing and believe that we have the capabilities, financial resources, and resilience to successfully navigate this change while continuing to invest in growing international opportunities. Let me now turn the call over to Simona.

Thank you, Miguel. Let's review our fiscal fourth quarter 2026 compared to the prior year quarter, and then discuss our fiscal year 2027 outlook. First, net revenue increased 10% to $84.8 million, driven by 14% growth in global medical cannabis revenue, including a 90% increase internationally. 58% of our total net revenue was generated outside of Canada during the quarter, reflecting the continued shift in our business as we extend our presence internationally. Second, we delivered industry-leading adjusted gross margins of 60% thanks to our continued focus on global medical cannabis and our operational improvements that are supporting lower manufacturing costs. Third, adjusted EBITDA was $9.2 million in line with our implied quarterly range, and adjusted net income was $5.6 million. In medical cannabis, net revenue rose 14% to $77.5 million, inclusive of 19% growth internationally, setting a new record for Canadian and international. We benefited from increased distribution in Germany and growth in Poland, which combined with continued strong contributions from Canadian medical related to a broader product assortment. Medical cannabis comprised 91% of net revenue compared to 88% in the prior year and the majority of our adjusted gross profit. Adjusted gross margin for medical cannabis held strong at 66%, and we did see a decrease from the prior year due to the sale of lower-margin products and strategic price reductions in certain markets. Our investments in the value chain, operations, science, and genetics provide us with an important advantage, allowing us to maintain strong margins in these competitive and dynamic markets. Consumer cannabis net revenue was $3.6 million, down from $8.2 million. The year-over-year decrease is the result of our intention to wind down this segment as we allocate cannabis flower to the higher-margin medical cannabis segment. Adjusted SG&A increased to $40.3 million, up from $35.4 million. The year-over-year change primarily reflects a $1.9 million expected credit loss related to the insolvency of two customers, with the remaining increase driven by inflation-related labor costs to support international revenue, and additional professional fees associated with public company requirements. Adjusted net income was $5.6 million compared to $15.3 million in the prior year. The $9.7 million decrease primarily relates to an increase in adjusted SG&A of $4.9 million, a decrease in foreign exchange gains and interest income of $10.3 million, and $4.5 million... Our balance sheet remains one of the strongest in the global cannabis industry. We held approximately $165 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, and no debt. We also have access to a shelf prospectus filed on February 14th of this year through which we can issue a variety of securities during the 25-month period that remains effective. We also have an at-the-market program that allows us to issue up to $100 million of common shares. We have ample liquidity and can be opportunistic with respect to investing in ourselves if needed, while also pursuing additional acquisitions. Free cash flow was $0.3 million compared to $5.2 million in the prior year, decreasing $4.9 million primarily due to a decrease in gross profit before fair value adjustments of $5.3 million. Let me now provide our outlook for fiscal year 2027, which ends on March 31, 2027. Our expectations reflect the strategic actions we've taken to strengthen the business, specifically our exit from the low-margin Canadian consumer and plant propagation businesses. These decisions allow us to allocate resources towards evolving and more profitable global medical cannabis markets. We believe this is our highest return opportunity to create value. While we remain optimistic in our long-term trajectory, fiscal 2027 will be a reset year, shaped by changes to reimbursement pricing in Canadian medical that can only be partially offset by international growth. Over the next few quarters, we are purposely investing in our international business to drive sales initiatives and EU GMP capacity expansion to support growth in our most profitable markets. Total net revenue is expected to decline and be more in line with our cannabis net revenue results in fiscal year 2025, following the changes in Canadian medical, partially offset by international growth driven by Germany and Poland. Adjusted gross margins are expected to be in the mid to high 50s, driven by higher revenue contributions from Europe and exiting from the lower-margin businesses. These benefits will partially offset lower margins in Canadian medical following the reduction to the reimbursement rate. Adjusted SG&A is expected to remain broadly in line with the prior fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to vary quarter over quarter, leading to lower annual adjusted EBITDA compared to the prior fiscal year. This change in expectations is due to the revision in reimbursement pricing that drives lower net revenue and adjusted gross profit contributions. Thank you for your time. I'll now turn the call back to Miguel.

Thanks, Simona. We have built one of the most attractive global medical cannabis growth platforms in the world, anchored by a sizable footprint in Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Our performance in fiscal year 2026 demonstrated the strength, durability, and scalability of our operating model developed and executed by a talented global team. While the operating and competitive environment is evolving, we are taking decisive action now to lay the foundation for our next phase of growth. To do so, we plan to leverage the same capabilities that built our leadership position so that we can ultimately generate new records for revenue and adjusted EBITDA. The targeted investments we are making today in market share, GMP capacity, product innovation, and international expansion are designed to position Aurora among the few companies equipped to navigate increasing GMP standards and deliver sustained long-term growth. Throughout the year, we look forward to providing updates in converting the growing $9 billion global medical cannabis opportunity into sustained shareholder returns. Operator, we're now ready to take questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Derek Lessard with TD Cowen. Please proceed with your question.

I just maybe wondering if we can touch on the annual guide to begin with. Clearly, there's no real operational challenges expected. So the lower expectations seem to be tied to the lower reimbursement in Canada. Just wondering if you're able to isolate sort of that impact specifically on your revenue and your gross profit or even the lines, perhaps margins as well?

Yes, listen, it's a great question. I think, you know, let me start and let Simona sort of finish up on it. Specifically, the VAC change, which was effective April 1, is about a 30% reduction in the reimbursed rate for those products. And so, you know, right off the top, you sort of face that, you know, those products are sort of evolving, and that benefit is sort of evolving. But that's a big chunk. I mean, that isolated on that piece of the revenue is about a 30% hit to the top line reimbursement, which blows through. Obviously, you know, getting out of consumer, while, you know, really doesn't have a profitability impact, has a revenue impact and somewhat similar with Bevo. So I think, you know, all of those are there. But, you know, and the offset is the continued growth in international. But Simona, anything else on the modeling?

Yes, I mean, it's just to elaborate a little bit and reinforce Miguel's statement is that we do not break out adjusted gross margins in our medical businesses between Canada and international. But the change in the reimbursed pricing in Canada is a driver of our margin expectations that lead to high 50s, and why we still believe that international markets continue to be strong. And so we're purposely investing in our international business as well to drive that growth in what we see in Europe and the other regions outside of the continent.

And I guess the only other point on the Canadian medical part and the margin guidance, I think, is a big part of the modeling is we still expect to be able to grow share. So, you know, the overall, you know, pool and that benefit and the patients coming into it, you know, continue to be solid and steady. It's just the reimburse rate. So the historical ability to grow share of that business should still remain.

Okay, that's fair. And maybe just spending a little bit of time on the recent Safari Flower acquisition and more specifically, how should we be thinking about it in terms of... I guess the accretion in fiscal '27, some potential synergies, and I guess more broadly around the current integration progress.

Well, I think the most important point is the importance of Germany. So Germany is the largest and fastest, you know, sort of growing by, you know, tonnage market in the international market. And obviously us and everybody else is talking about Germany. Germany is incredibly strict when it comes to the GMP standards and your ability to get qualified medical products into it. Safari fits directly in that. They were GMP. They adopt some of the same standards we do. They operate in Germany today, both as a cultivator and as an operator in that market. And so I think the way to look at it for Safari is as we just sort of gotten into it and you know it is absolutely accretive from the get-go and we think there's a lot of upside. So in terms of synergies, you know, if you think about their cultivation and their overall operations, it allows you to produce a significant amount of GMP flower for that market which has been steady and growing, and we think the standards there continue to sort of get tougher, so we like it a lot. And I think we'll know more, we've just only been in there a couple months, but there's a lot to like there. Introducing our genetics, introducing some of our proven cultivation practices, and the operations that we have in Germany all make that sort of a multiplier for what they were already doing at a pretty high level.

Thanks for that, Miguel.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Frederico Gomes with ATB Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.

I have a question on the U.S. and obviously I heard your comments, Miguel. But we've already got medical cannabis rescheduling there and I guess your focus is medical. So I'm thinking if you wanted to, you could probably already enter medical-only markets and you would have no issues with your listing. So how should we think about that in terms of big picture here? What would be your strategy if you were to actually enter the U.S. market?

Good morning, Fred. It's a great question. I think we're about two months away from seeing the promulgation of some of these regs. Obviously, the announcement that we saw the U.S. entity up-listing is encouraging, particularly with the New York Stock Exchange. And we've heard conversations of U.S. entities exporting out of the U.S. into international that we service. So we're looking at it. There is sort of the potential opening that if the U.S. is exporting medical products in the cannabis space from the U.S. to say Europe, it potentially could go the other way. Clearly there's sort of three buckets I would describe. First is the opening to research, which hasn't been talked a lot about, but we think is a significant component to the federal, you know, de-schedule to Schedule III. And we're excited about that and potentially working with some U.S. entities on that. And with a decade plus of medical experience, you can imagine that a lot of those entities, whether, you know, at the university level or in the private sector, would be deeply interested in a company like Aurora as a partner on the research. Secondly, you know, would be the potential partnership. Again, applying the GMP and medical sort of grade standards of production and delivery to patients, and there's been some early announcements, you know, in the U.S. around CBD and potential, you know, pathways there for the Medicare and Medicaid system. And then lastly, like I said, is the potential import and export of that. Now, the specific point of acquiring medical-only assets in the U.S. for a NASDAQ-listed entity we'll sort of see. But in the interim, there's a lot. But I think in the short term, in the next two months, as we see the promulgation of some of the... and the regulations were there, and importantly, the 280E conversation doesn't affect us. I know that's a big part of what's going to happen there and SAFER Banking and other aspects. But companies like Aurora have sort of a clean run at it as we see the regs come out.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'll jump back in the queue.

Thank you, Fred.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Bill Kirk with Roth Capital Partners. Please proceed with your question.

I was hoping to keep the reimbursement conversation going. I guess, what change in consumer behavior have you seen so far? I think we're a couple months in. So what change have you seen so far? Are patients trading down to lower-priced products or have they been trading down to lower-priced products? Have the producers effectively just lowered price to offset the lower reimbursement and therefore keep out-of-pocket costs unchanged? I'm just trying to figure out the mechanism of the lower reimbursement and why things need to change when there still is a substantial reimbursement.

Well, Bill, and good morning. You know, it's early days in this. The effective change was only in April 1st, but as of right now, the patient patterns don't, you know, seem to be changing. So the way it, you know, historically works, and as you know, the vast majority of this system is in the veterans' benefit. The veterans have a prescription, they have an allocation, and pre-April 1st, that reimbursement rate was at about a 30% higher. That's the reimbursement rate to the licensed producer. I can only speak to what we've done, which is continue to offer the same service. So in terms of choice of medications, which is really driven by the conversation, not between us and them, but between them and, you know, their physician, we haven't seen a lot of changes. Whether that's been in format, whether that's been in, you know, price point, and we'll have to sort of, you know, keep seeing where it goes, but it's predominantly the reimbursement rate, you know, that, you know, has changed.

Okay. And then going back to the U.S. portion of the conversation, you touched on it, Miguel, but would you expect a market to emerge for exporting product into the U.S.? In that context, why would it be different than Canada? Why would the U.S. consider importing products when Canada doesn't really import products?

Well, I think we have to see the regs. I think my point was more that, you know, as we've heard conversation that a U.S. entity might ship, say, GMP flower or compliant medical products into Europe, there are, you know, opportunities potentially for it to come back. But, yes, you're correct. Right now in Canada, there is a prohibition on products coming into the market. So maybe that ends up being the case that it's only a one-way stream. I think given the economics and the price per gram that you see in a medical market, say in Poland, Germany, U.K., and Australia, they're plenty compelling, and the pricing that we see in the U.S. probably doesn't make it as compelling a financial opportunity. I think the research is a huge one and really opens up a lot of things for the industry. I think the genetics and manufacturing practices, and this is no disrespect that in the U.S. companies, the Canadian companies on the medical side producing in a GMP facility for over a decade, there's disadvantages to that. The advantages of the genetics, the cultivation practices, all of that, and I think that is clearly applicable in a federal medical construct in the U.S. And so the potential import of flower from, I don't know, Germany or some European entity in the U.S. is the least of the sort of economic opportunities, I think, for the Canadian LPs.

If I can keep going, I think I know the answer, but are there any U.S. GMP growers or GACP growers?

Yes. Yes. Now the standards, so I mean, I think everyone is aware, GACP varies a bit. GMP has some nuances, particularly in cannabis. Now in pharmaceutical GMP it's very prescriptive, but due to the evolving nature of this agricultural product, we do see some differences. But yes, there are certified GMP facilities. And yet it's not as prevalent and it's not as consistent in the application in say Germany or Poland, and just to be specific, those countries audit our facilities. So those are German auditors coming to Canada to audit a Canadian facility. So it is their standard, not our standard, or say an American standard in the question that you're posing. So it does require a bit of navigation.

Perfect. That's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

You're very welcome, Bill.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Pablo Zuanic with Zuanic & Associates. Please proceed with your question.

Miguel, can you just give a general outlook for the German medical market? I mean, imports in the first quarter were down sequentially. Your thoughts there would help. And the second question, it's a bit of a two-part question. I guess I'll let you answer the first question first. Let's start with that.

Okay, so in Germany, you know, it is a very healthy market. It's a very large market, right? We like it for a lot of reasons. First, there is not as much pricing pressure at the top. So there is a recognition of premium and core medical products, not just, say, discount products that you see in certain markets. So that's one. Secondly, the ecosystem between the direct-to-patient delivery through the mail, a very well-developed telehealth system, proper manufacturing, GMP standards, strong regulators, all speak to a very solid, well-thought-out, integrated medical cannabis system. And like we said, pricing at the bottom is a bit compressed. But overall, Pablo, where we sit in it, we see growth. We also, as you know, have a production facility in Germany, so have a lot of investment in that market. There is potential legislation that we'll know more about in the fall. It really falls in sort of two potential areas. We'll have to see where it lands in terms of one is the potential reduction in aspects of the telehealth requiring some version of a face-to-face interaction. We've seen that in Poland. We've been able to navigate it well and come out the other side in a strong way. The other aspect we think is a bit less likely, but we'll have to see, is a potential prohibition on the delivery of medical cannabis products through the mail like it is today. So more to follow on that, but I think it's a great market. It's a very highly regulated market, what we like. And I will say, we do think the GMP standards are going to continue to tighten which will make it... But overall, we've seen growth in that market and we see that continuing.

Thank you. And then look, this is a two-part question. One, you know, if you want to do a post-mortem or lessons learned from your acquisition in Australia of MedReleaf, I see the numbers are down, although now you're breaking Australia and New Zealand. So I don't know if the numbers are comparable. Not sure what happened exactly in the fourth quarter there, but any postmortem you can give. And then as you think of acquiring downstream assets in Europe, if you were to, right, that's an assumption, where would that make sense and where would it be allowed? Because the rules vary in terms of how much you can control downstream. Thank you.

Yes, I mean, I think in Australia, it's early days. I mean, you know, we like that acquisition. It's a big market. It's a different part of the world. As you mentioned, New Zealand's also quite strong. It is a value market. And so I think you have to have a bit of eyes wide open in the overall, you know, economics of a value market. The entity we bought and to this day has one of the key leadership positions in that market. And so with global medical cannabis, you know, there are going to be sometimes when certain markets are down and certain markets are up. But overall, if you have a big enough network and you have common sort of development, genetics, and a variety of other aspects, you can benefit from it. Now, lately our product launches and the investments that we've made in that market are encouraging patients and physicians starting to see value in more sort of premium products. So I think that would be there. I'm sorry, was the second question, Pablo, was besides Australia and New Zealand?

Yes, the second question, in terms of how, as you see some of your peers acquire downstream assets in the market.

Oh, downstream.

Yes, how do you think about that and where is that allowed because the rules vary by market, right? But speaking about Europe specifically, thanks.

Yes, I mean, listen, I think in this industry you have to be agile. However, Aurora's significant advantage and what we are best at is having this unique genetics facility on the west coast of Canada, which is one of the largest in the world, which has developed world-class, in many cases, patented genetics that not only provide disease resistance, but significant yield and unique product attributes. That's a key advantage for us. Secondly, cultivation. GMP, premium, low-cost cultivation in Canada, which we still consider to be the best place in the world to cultivate these products. And then situationally determine where in the value chain we'll partner. Now, typically we end at the wholesale level, but in some cases we go beyond. I think downstream as defined as, say, telehealth, retail, and those aspects, those are not our core competencies, and we also don't like to compete against our customers. And so we're focused on the top side of it, which is where, to be honest, we think most of the margin lies and what we're best at. So never say never, but that's really what we've been successful at and what we're focused on going forward.

Miguel, I want to add one more if I may here. My apologies. As the global medical market continues to grow, is there room for more partnerships with some of the strategic, some of the pharmaceutical companies? That was something that was talked about five, 10 years ago. We haven't heard much about that now, but given the way the markets are developing globally, including the U.S., maybe that would start to make sense again. How would you think about that? what I'm saying, does it make any sense? In the end, there's more potential.

Absolutely, I mean, it is easy to forget. These are medical products that are prescribed by a physician that are received by a pharmacy. And the pharmaceutical companies have lived in that world for a long period of time. We have added a lot of pharmaceutical executive knowledge to our company. Simona, who's sitting next to me, came from a pharmaceutical company. Many of our operational people came from a pharmaceutical manufacturing entity. So the development, registration, placement, and interaction with physicians, nurse practitioners, and patients, all are core competencies of a pharmaceutical industry. And as you well know, the largest deal that's ever been done with cannabinoids was between two pharmaceutical entities, between Jazz and GW Pharma. And so, listen, we have been on that path for a long time and that's now our sole focus in terms of conservative, regulatory-forward medical cannabis regime. And things like research openings in the U.S., the FDA, of these medications for a variety of different indications and conditions all lead it there. So we're excited about it. You know, we know there'll be competition from a lot of different areas. It is a bit nuanced and a bit different for pharmaceutical companies because of the cultivation of a, you know, of a plant in many cases for this organic material, but not dissimilar to other things that they've seen. So we'll see. We've seen a lot of industries be interested in cannabis. We're always, you know... you know, interested in that. But right now we're very focused on the medical cannabis path and we'll see where it takes us.

Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Kenric Tyghe with ATB Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.

Miguel, I hear you on the advantages of genetics and legacy in the international market, specifically Germany, but could you please tease out just how compelling your value proposition and product offering is just in the context of the strategic actions that you're taking, and which could be relevant as a shoring up of defenses for potential U.S. export into the German market. Just want to get a read through there as to the drivers of your strategic actions and how well-motored you think that business is.

Yes, I mean, so first let me talk about the genetics. You know, the genetics are absolutely critical. So with a, you know, sort of a very modern advanced genetic system that we have, and we're one of the only few companies that have been invested in this, you sort of are focused on four key areas. First are the commercial aspects, you know, yield, potency, unique attributes, and that is a significant advantage. We've seen situations where the yield per square meter, which is the same input cost in almost every case, between genetics could be as much as 40%. So if you think about a facility that's producing 20 tons, with almost the same cost structure, you can get it to 28. Secondly, key attributes beyond potency, whether that's unique terpenes or other forms of that, is uniquely interesting to patients and physicians that are now learning more about a specific indication and a product. And in markets like Germany, we do see a deep interest in those sort of core aspects that you can tease out in a genetics piece. Consistency is a huge part of having a genetic system. And these markets have testing and there are requirements that the product have a high level of consistency as you register it in order to get it into the market. So you think about Germany, if you had variability in your delivery of say potency or CBD or core attributes, you can't get the product into the market. That's another aspect. Disease resistance is another core component. We've seen that cannabis has a couple of core pathogens that really plague most production facilities. Powdery mildew and HLVd, probably the most common. We've recently announced patented genetics with disease resistance, particularly on powdery mildew that we're excited about. And so I think that is a core advantage. Now, getting into Germany and places like Poland is not easy and in many cases takes a significant amount of expertise and cost. Every single one of these items have to be registered. You have to provide stability and dossiers in order for the German government to approve by item each of these. And then every single inbound shipment requires a permit and requires those specs to be within a certain range that they test in order to, you know, continue to have access to that market. So, you know, it's not easy. It's the reason why, you know, if you think about Canadian REC, takes about 30 companies to get you to about a 50 share. In Germany, it's about four companies can get you a 50 share. So it's a consolidated piece of business. It takes a lot of expertise. And it is portable, which is an advantage for companies like us. If you can do it in Germany, you have gone a long way to, say, doing it in Poland. And as some of the new countries are coming online, France, you know, and others say Ukraine and Turkey and whatnot, they're adopting many of these standards in the same way. So there's a lot of advantages, but it is not easy, even if you produce high-quality products, to get these products consistently into these highly regulated markets.

Thank you, appreciate the insight there and just a quick follow-up with respect to pricing dynamics. You called out taking some strategic pricing action but also just more broadly how are you thinking about the pricing outlook for Germany given the compression we've seen in the last let's call it 18 months which certainly accelerated over the last 12. Are we getting there? Do you think there's still a lot of room with respect to pricing? How should we think about pricing dynamics in Germany over the next year?

Yes, I mean, I think, you know, from where we sit, which most of our businesses in the core and premium pricing, it's solid. You know, it's we haven't seen a lot of, you know, compression. Clearly, there is a lot of compression at the value segment. But unlike other parts of the world, the premium and core segment is a pretty significant part of the overall business. So I think you have that. Also you don't, there's really only flower and oil in Germany, so you're not seeing other formats come in that typically have lower margins, I don't know, say vapes and other aspects of it. So it's flower and oil. Most of the compression we see is at the lower value segment. There's still quite a bit of the premium core. And all three segments, in our opinion, for what we do, are growing. And, you know, there's not a lot of syndicated data, import and export, but it's a big market. And so there's growth opportunities in core and premium. And in those places, you know, there's an opportunity to have, you know, strong margins.

Thanks, Miguel. I'll leave it there.

You're very welcome.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Martin for final comments.

Well, thanks, everyone. You know, we were incredibly excited about the year we had, but more excited about, you know, the year that's in front of us. And we appreciate all the questions and the interest in Aurora, and we'll go from there. All the best. Thank you.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.