Canopy Growth Corp. shares were under pressure for a second day as analysts questioned whether the Canadian cannabis grower could reduce it cash burn and turnaround operations. Benchmark slashed its price target on the firm to zero.

The stock has dropped 78 per cent this year amid a broader selloff in the increasingly competitive marijuana market and little progress on federal legislation in the U.S., closing unchanged at $0.68 Monday. Its market capitalization has slumped from $25 billion (US$19 billion) in 2021 to less than $400 million, leading to its expulsion from the S&P/TSX Composite Index earlier this month.

In a note Monday cutting his price target to zero, Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey said Canopy Growth’s management was unlikely to be able to turnaround performance. The firm, which acknowledged a going concern risk in its most recent annual report, “may not be able to continue operations and meet its financial obligations,” he wrote. 

The company’s aggressive expansion into the U.S. “could be a signal of desperation, given that the U.S. market remains federally illegal,” he said.

The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon. 

Even if the U.S. were to legalize marijuana, it would be “no saviour” for Canopy, which is burning cash despite multiple cost cutting programs,” CIBC Capital Markets analyst John Zamparo wrote in a separate note Sunday. 

Zamparo trimmed his price target on the stock to $0.45 from $0.50, writing that its “debt worries are no paranoia.”