Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the MariMed Q3 Conference Call. I would now like to turn the conference over to Steve West, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. West.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the MariMed Q3 Conference Call. Joining me today are Bob Fireman, our Chief Executive Officer, and Jon Levine, our Chief Financial Officer. This call is being recorded and will be archived on our investor relations website at ir.marimedinc.com. Today's call contains forward-looking statements subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Any such information and statements should be taken in conjunction with cautionary statements in our press releases and risk factor discussions in our public filings found on EDGAR, as well as our investor website. Any forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations as of today's date, and we assume no obligation to update them other than as may be required by applicable securities laws.
Now, for your future scheduling purposes, our Q4 2021 Earnings release is tentatively scheduled to be issued after the market close on March 31, 2022, and subsequent analyst call will be held the morning of April 1, 2022. I will now turn the call over to Bob.
Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. I am delighted to report on another quarter of positive financial results at MariMed. We are extremely pleased with our continuing improving financial performance during Q3 , despite an industry-wide slowdown. We continue to report some of the strongest revenue and EBITDA growth in the industry. This is a result of our financial discipline and our operational excellence at cultivation, production, and retail. With an already strong balance sheet, another quarter of robust operating cash flow, and a significantly increased cash position, we are poised for continued success. Our strategic growth plan is working, and I am confident we will continue to generate long-term value for our shareholders.
Our third quarter revenue was $33.2 million, up 147% year-over-year, and our adjusted EBITDA was $12.9 million, a 213% increase year-over-year. Revenue from company-owned retail dispensary operations in Illinois and Massachusetts grew 207% year-over-year. In Massachusetts, our retail sales increased 584% year-over-year, driven by the addition of adult-use sales in our Panacea Wellness Dispensary. In Illinois, our Thrive Dispensary sales increased 169% year-over-year, which was driven by higher traffic count. Our Metropolis store continues to exceed our expectations and has become a strong destination store for both Illinois residents and out-of-state customers from Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Revenue from the company wholesale sales of cannabis flower concentrates and infused products grew 91% year-over-year. This was a result of both the increased production from MariMed's manufacturing facility and the increased number of licensed dispensaries in Massachusetts, which now has 176 stores and open dispensaries. In addition to our distribution gains, we added new SKUs to our product lines and automated equipment that significantly increases our capacity and efficiency. On the branding front, our award-winning Nature's Heritage flower and Betty's Eddies edibles are among the top-selling brands in every state in which they are offered. We attribute this to our commitment to manufacturing quality products that meet the specific consumer needs. In fact, during the quarter, these two brands won even more awards and accolades.
Nature's Heritage Flower won second place in the Massachusetts Cultivators Cup and third place for the best flower by High Times. Betty's Eddies was named the number one hottest ingestible brand in Massachusetts by Respect My Region, a top cannabis culture platform. The accolades keep coming. Just yesterday, LeafLink announced Nature's Heritage Colorado Chem Wax is one of the fastest-selling concentrates in the country, and Bedtime Betty's among the best medical products in the U.S. Our brands have also achieved several sales milestones. In Massachusetts, Bedtime Betty's has sold over 1.8 million chews year- to- date, making it the number one edible SKU by volume. Our infused chocolate chip cookie is the number one ranked product within the culinary infused foods category in Massachusetts. I will now turn the call over to John to further highlight our Q3 financials.
Thank you, Bob, and good morning, everyone. Last night, we reported Q3 2021 results. Our reported revenue was $33.2 million, which was an increase of 147% compared to Q3 of 2020. This is primarily driven by 207% growth in our retail business, which reflected overall transaction growth of 285% on the year-over-year basis. This transaction growth was primarily the result of the introduction of adult use cannabis programs in Illinois and Massachusetts. Our total revenue growth was also driven by a 91% year-over-year increase in our wholesale business. We also achieved 33% year-over-year increase in other revenue, mainly from licensing fees, managed services, and our real estate income.
Gross profit was $18.2 million, which increased 109% compared to Q3 of 2020. G&A was $9.5 million, a 223% increase from Q3 of 2020. This was a result of non-cash increases to the stock-based compensation of $5.1 million. Excluding this non-cash expense, our G&A would have grown significantly slower than our revenue. Net income, after deducting net income attributable to non-controlling interest, was $2 million, a 20% increase from Q3 of 2020. EBITDA was $7.1 million, a 71% increase compared to Q3 of 2020. Our adjusted EBITDA was $12.9 million, a 213% increase compared to Q3 of 2020.
I am happy to report the continued strengthening of our balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $25.6 million in cash on hand compared to our year-end cash balances of $3 million. This was a 47% increase versus our Q2 ending cash balance of $17.4 million. Our cash position continues to strengthen for the company. In fact, year- to- date, we have generated $28.2 million in operating cash flow. At the end of Q3 , MariMed reported $27.3 million in net working capital, a significant improvement from our deficit of $2.2 million at the end of 2020. Before turning the call over to Bob to conclude our remarks, I'd like to discuss our financial guidance.
We are maintaining our full- year 2021 guidance of $118 million in revenue and $42 million in adjusted EBITDA. With our continued growth, we are comfortable that we will meet or exceed our guidance for the year. That concludes my prepared remarks. Now I'll turn the call back over to Bob. Bob?
Thank you, Jon. In the span of just a few years, MariMed has delivered some of the strongest financial metrics in the industry. Our disciplined approach to spending and our deep operational experience has resulted in a consistent track record of delivering revenues and profits for our shareholders. We've also worked very hard to achieve a clean balance sheet that has put us in a great position to support the strategic growth plan that I've shared in the past, which is focused on consolidation and expansion. We have found our rhythm at MariMed, and we're looking forward to a very bright future for the company. There is still much to do. Our experienced leadership team has been together for nearly a decade. We have strengthened our senior management team and bench over the past few months, and we continue to round out our C-suite.
In terms of our assets, we continue to work towards consolidating our managed businesses and grow our footprint deeper in states where we operate. In Massachusetts, we plan to open two new dispensaries and expand our production capabilities. In Illinois, we intend to become fully vertical by adding additional licenses. We intend to apply for new licenses in states where the application processes are open and to acquire strategically aligned SSOs and single state operators who share our commitment to quality. I have said many times before, the ultimate winners in cannabis will be the companies that focus on branding and distribution. MariMed has created a portfolio of proprietary award-winning brands and products. These products continue to be the top sellers in all the markets in which they are available.
We intend to expand the depth of our product line that meet the needs and improve the health and wellness of our patients and consumers. We intend to introduce these brands and products into additional legal cannabis states through licensing to qualified partners or by acquiring licenses to produce and distribute ourselves. I'm excited about several new and innovative products you'll be hearing about over the coming months. Our new cannabis-infused ice cream line that we're creating in partnership with legendary ice cream company Emack & Bolio's. Bubby's Baked, a new line of soft, chewy cannabis-infused baked goods. Vibations, our new line of cannabis-infused energy drink mixes that can be added to water or your favorite beverage. I've never been more optimistic about MariMed's future than I am today.
We have a validated management team, award-winning brands, and a clean balance sheet with cash on hand to execute our strategic growth plan. We are poised for success and to deliver shareholder value. In closing, I would like to thank all our amazing employees who work so hard to make MariMed the best cannabis company in the industry and improve people's lives every day through our products, our actions, and our values. Operator, may you now open the line for questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll now begin the question-answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touch tone phone. You will then hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request, and your questions will be pulled in the order that they are received. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speaker phone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for your first question. Your first question comes from Kyle Bauser from Colliers Securities. Please go ahead.
Great. Good morning, and thanks for all the updates and congrats on the phenomenal results here. Maybe first off, as you continue to execute on your strategic growth plan and with the growing cash balance, have any of the four kind of goals become more or less important to you? How are you prioritizing these? I guess I'm thinking in terms of new license applications and M&A. Has this bucket become more front and center, or is completing the consolidation of the operations that you currently manage still kind of front and center? Thanks so much.
Thank you, Kyle. They're all four very important. I mean, obviously, we attack them all every day. We work hard to finish the consolidation of our managed business units. I mean, the focus seems more today on potential M&A with new applications being opened in states like Ohio, New Jersey, and New York. We're focused on new applications, and we're in constant talks with SSOs, single-state operators in other states that we're not in that understand the competition is coming. They wanna be part of our umbrella of best brands, best practices, and capital to expand. I think, strategically, as I said, our long-term plan is in branding and distribution. We continue to upgrade our marketing department and look forward to taking our brands into multiple states.
Got it. All makes sense. Regarding the maintained sales guidance of $118 million for the year, I think it implies about $28 million for Q4, about 36% growth. Still nice growth, and it sounds like you feel comfortable on meeting or exceeding that. Can you talk maybe a little bit more about what you're seeing in the industry and kind of reasons for the slowdown and kind of expectations going forward?
Yes, Kyle, thank you for the question. This is Jon Levine. Yeah, we only need $28 million to achieve our $118 million guidance. As you've likely heard from other MSOs, the industry is still going through a slowdown of consumers as they don't have the government stimulus and unemployment support as they did last year. In the slowing of the industry, when so many MSOs lowered their guidance, we are comfortable that we're still going to meet and exceed our guidance.
Oh, that's great. Appreciate that. Then just lastly, if I may, maybe perhaps most importantly, can you talk a little bit more about how your plans have evolved around rolling out new products and in particular, your ice cream?
Thank you, Kyle. This is Bob. Yeah, I mean, we believe that brands and distribution is the ultimate winners as the company gets more mainstream and as we get closer to legalization. We continue to go deeper into the SKUs and brands that we have with Betty's, Kalm Fusion, and bringing new brands and new innovative products to the industry. We're trying to increase market share, go deeper with more SKUs. All our products are really focused on meeting the needs of the patients and giving them the best opportunity to get the relief or whatever they're looking for in cannabis. We're expanding our marketing, branding division. We're looking at doing more licensing in other states, and we're looking at possibly winning production and distribution licenses to do it ourselves.
That's great. Thank you so much for the updates. I'll jump back in queue here.
Well, thank you, Kyle.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one. Your next question comes from Aaron Grey from Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning, and thanks for the questions. First question for me, just want to piggyback off the last one in terms of, you know, organic licenses. Just want to clarify, you know, you mentioned New Jersey and New York. You know, if you're not grandfathered in there on the medical side, then, you know, vertical integration doesn't seem that it'll be allowed. Just wanted to make sure I have it correct in terms of which vertical you'd be looking to apply for those licenses. You know, I imagine it'd be more wholesale cultivation versus retail, but just if you could clarify there, that'd be helpful. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you, Aaron. Aaron, as you know, every state is different. The rules and regs change. Obviously there's going to be full verticals won't be available in New Jersey. I think our application team is looking at that. We're also looking at possible M&A for some of the people that have verticals. Our goal is to get our brands and distribution in the long-term strategy. As you know, the revenue from retail dispensaries is driving revenue at all of the MSOs. We're looking for new dispensaries, but ultimately we're looking to be at least in producing, distributing, and retail in all of these states.
All right. Great. Thank you very much for that detail. Then more specifically on Illinois, where you talked about, you know, potential, you know, M&A targets, you know, on the retail side. First off, can you just talk about maybe, you know, some of the pricing out there? It seems, you know, there's a good amount of the larger MSOs who have more of a full max out ten on the retail side. Just wanted to get a sense in terms of what you're seeing on pricing. Number two, just what you might have available in terms of potentially, you know, partnering with, you know, social equity license applicants as those additional licenses come online there in the state. Thank you.
Yes, well, since the initial awards or two rounds of lottery ball winners in Illinois, we're in communication with several kinds of winners. You know, social equity people that are looking for partners that can provide the capital and the wherewithal to take their dreams and turn them into cannabis businesses. That's a point of ours to mentor and bring more inclusion into our industry. But you know, some of the attributes of the program have run into questions. There's a lot of MSOs looking to acquire these licenses, as we are. As far as the pricing, you know, it's amazing how somehow this industry people are trying to sell licenses for millions of dollars that don't have a location, don't have local authority, and think that they're providing the opportunity.
We've seen prices grow from $1 million to $2 million, $3 million, and in some of the regions that are specific, $4 million, $5 million, $6 million. You know, there's a difference between buying and asking in conversation and actually what's closing. The ultimate value of these licenses are what people can do with them. Whether it's us or someone else, someone needs to know that they can take these licenses and turn them into real businesses. At MariMed, we believe Illinois is a very robust state. Our four dispensaries under our Thrive label are killing it for us. We can own up to 10. We're in the market to own another up to six more dispensaries. We wanna do the craft licenses.
We can own up to 3 of those, and we wanna give us the opportunity to go vertical, to provide our own oils and products, so we can distribute to our 10 stores and put our best brands like Betty's and others into the wholesale market in Illinois.
All right. Thank you very much for the color then. I'll go ahead and jump back into the queue.
Thank you, Aaron.
Thanks.
As a reminder, should you have a question, please press star followed by the one. There are no further questions at this time. You may please proceed.
We'll close.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your Conference Call for today. We thank you very much for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.