New Age Beverages Surges Most Since November After Deal With Walmart

(Bloomberg) -- New Age Beverages Corp. jumped the most since late November after the company said its Marley brand drinks will be sold by Walmart Inc.

The natural beverage company is already shipping to Walmart distribution centers and each of the three flavors of Marley Mate will be available at stores this month. The company describes the beverage as “a natural energy drink that has the taste of tea with the uplift of coffee without the crash.”

The pact marks New Age’s first national distribution. The deal comes two years after New Age Beverages agreed to buy the assets of Marley Beverage Co.

New Age Beverages is developing a line of drinks infused with CBD, the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that is said by is proponents to help with everything from arthritis to insomnia. The Food and Drug Administration plans to hold a public hearing on May 31 to discuss safety and marketing for cannabis and cannabis-derived products.

The company said it intends to launch the Marley Mellow Mood + CBD globally in 2019, though it didn’t specify whether that product will also be available at Walmart stores. So far, only Walmart’s Canadian division has said it’s doing “some preliminary fact-finding” on potentially carrying CBD products. Walmart didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment today.

New Age Beverages shares rallied as much as 23 percent as of 11:55 a.m. in New York on more than 3.6 times the daily average trading volume of the past three months. The stock is still down 23 percent from this year’s high in February.

Short interest in New Age Beverage is equal to 25 percent of free float according to data analytics firm IHS Markit.

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