Losing business from one client could easily be the result of bad luck. Losing business from several clients starts to look like carelessness. This is the situation facing grocery technology company Ocado (OCDO), as major customers across the Atlantic pause and shutter projects.
Tip style
Sell
Risk rating
High
Timescale
Medium Term
Bull points
- Retail division is picking up
- Big international footprint
- Potential acquisition target
Bear points
- Breakdown in key client relationships
- Burning cash
- Dispute with joint venture partner
- Heavily shorted
The market has long been suspicious of Ocado. With pre-tax profits still proving elusive, its shares have fallen by 90 per cent since their pandemic peak and Ocado is now the third most shorted stock in London, according to FCA data. The biggest positions against it have been taken by BlackRock and D1 Capital Partners. However, a recent update has put the technology division under an even brighter spotlight, and we believe the group has further to fall.