You might know SNDL (NASDAQ:SNDL) stock as representing a Canadian cannabis producer called Sundial Growers. However, the company now wants you to call it plain old SNDL.

There’s a major rebranding afoot, and some investors might not like SNDL’s new business model. Plus, after delving into the company’s financials, traders may choose to avoid SNDL stock.

There was a time when the former Sundial Growers represented a promising pure cannabis play for prospective investors. This was particularly true prior to 2020 before a number of cannabis stocks collapsed.

And so, we see SNDL doing what struggling businesses sometimes do: implementing a rebranding effort. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the company’s financial problems will be solved.

What’s Happening with SNDL Stock?

Giving SNDL stock a “D” rating might seem harsh, but just look at how much wealth the long-term investors have lost over the long run. Just in 2022 through August, the shares lost half of their value, from $6+ to around $3.

Now, some folks might think that a half-priced stock means there’s a compelling value here. Yet, it’s difficult to assign a value to SNDL as the company doesn’t even have a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. That’s because the company has no earnings, but we’ll get back to that topic in a moment.

For the moment, just know that CEO Zach George wants to emphasize how new and different the company is. Sundial Growers is old news; we should all call it SNDL now. Plus, the company now strives to “build Canada’s largest private sector distribution platform for liquor and cannabis.”

But hold on a moment – did you notice something? George mentioned liquor before cannabis. Is the company shifting away from its pure-play cannabis market business model?

SNDL May Be Different, But It’s Still Unprofitable

Frankly, a name change doesn’t really solve SNDL’s problems. The company is still unprofitable, plus some current investors might not even be aware that it’s mainly a liquor business in some respects.

Let’s do the math and see what we come up with. During the second quarter of 2022, SNDL generated $148.6 million in gross Liquor Retail segment sales. Meanwhile, the company’s quarterly gross revenue from Cannabis Retail segment sales amounted to $63.5 million.

During that same quarter, SNDL’s gross revenue from Cannabis Cultivation and Production segment sales totaled $15.4 million. In other words, the company’s generating significantly more revenue from liquor than all of its cannabis interests combined.

Can we really call SNDL a cannabis company anymore, then? Just as importantly, can we call it a profitable business venture?

The answer is no, as SNDL sustained a net earnings loss of $74 million in Q2 2022. That’s much worse than the already worrisome $52.3 million net loss from the year-earlier quarter.

What You Can Do Now

So, here’s what you can do now. If you’re currently invested in SNDL stock and you weren’t aware that it’s a drastically different company than it used to be, feel free to reconsider your long position.

And, if you haven’t bought the shares but you’re thinking about it, take a close look at SNDL’s bottom-line stats. They’re moving in the wrong direction, so caution is definitely advised as a new company name can’t mask the company’s all-too-familiar financial issues.

On the date of publication, neither Louis Navellier nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.