KAYA HLDGS INC COM USD0.001 (OTCMKTS:KAYS)'s Latest Updates Suggest Upside Potential

At the start of the year, we took a look at KAYA HLDGS INC COM USD0.001 (OTCMKTS:KAYS) as part of this coverage. We noted that the company had some licensing issues, issues that it presented to shareholders as part of a conference call mid-December, and that these issues would likely to translate to some degree of delay in it realizing its revenue potential on its expansion strategy. However, and in contrast to the seeming opinion of wider markets, which traded the company down to the tune of 50% late December, we also noted that these licensing issues were likely temporary, and that the company has a solid path forward to expansion that it should be able to navigate early 2017.Subsequent to our coverage, the company has put out a few key releases that support our conclusion, and by proxy, reinforce a medium to long-term bullish bias for Kaya stock.Here is what the releases mean, and how we expect this one to play out going forward.For those new to the company, Kaya is a cannabis and cannabis paraphernalia retailer based primarily in Oregon, US. The company operates out of what it calls marijuana superstores, and as per its expansion plans, aims to grow through consistent branding across a number of said superstores, initially in Oregon but near-term in other states in which cannabis is legal.So, the latest announcements.On January 6, Kaya announced that it had been awarded its first full recreational marijuana retailer license from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC). The license applies to one of its retail locations in Salem, Oregon, called the South Salem Kaya Shack Marijuana Superstore. This was one of the locations we reported as potentially causing issues near term, so that the company has been able to announce a quick resolution is great news from a shareholder perspective. Further, this issuance should pave the way to a similarly quick resolution on two of the company's in-development locations, both also in Salem. As yet, construction on one of these two locations is incomplete (we'll look at this this again in a minute), but the first location issuance suggests that the OLLC has a framework in place for putting together these licenses, and in turn, that the issuance post-construct-completion should be quick and easy.Alongside this announcement, Kaya also reported that it had received $2.1 million in financing commitment from its existing institutional funding sources. Further, that it expects this capital will fund its expansion strategy throughout 2017 (read: low chance of dilution near-term).Next, on January 25, Kaya reported that one of the Salem locations completed construction, and that the company had entered into the final stages of licensing application for the store, as well as also confirming that it has secured the Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS form) from the City of Portland necessary to enter into the final stages of OLCC Recreational Marijuana Retail Licensing for its existing store in Portland, Oregon. This latter store is currently only approved for medical distribution, and was the focus of our previous coverage. The second element of this latest announcement isn't overly important in that it is basically just highlighting the company's receipt of an application form, but it demonstrates Kaya's eagerness to get things moving quickly (as does the fact that the company is suing the city of Portland for a quick resolution), so we see this as a positive.Bottom line here is that many expected the licensing delays to have a material impact on Kaya's expansion strategy, rooted in the fact that said delays could take a long time to resolve. As it turns out, the company is moving incredibly fast to get things sorted, and it looks as though the delays will prove immaterial.There is still the potential for some degree of dilutive raise, but the above-mentioned capital mitigates this somewhat, and makes Kaya pretty attractive at current rates.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on KAYS, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in KAYS and have not been compensated for this article.