Ocado scored a $350 million payout from Kroger after the American grocery chain ditched another robot warehouse in Charlotte and admitted three other automated facilities flopped hard. The British tech company's stock bounced up briefly before settling higher, but CEO Tim Steiner is still talking up the US partnership even though the original 20-warehouse dream from back in the day has shrunk down to just a handful of operational sites.
Investors with short positions are basically saying any future partner would be insane not to call up Kroger and ask why they bailed on the whole setup. Ocado has only posted one profitable year across its entire 25-year existence, and the company faces a massive refinancing crunch with hundreds of millions in bonds coming due soon.
The cash injection helps for the moment, but analysts are roasting the credibility of the whole business model since pretty much every major retail partner has either backed away or restructured their deals over the past few years.
Investors with short positions are basically saying any future partner would be insane not to call up Kroger and ask why they bailed on the whole setup. Ocado has only posted one profitable year across its entire 25-year existence, and the company faces a massive refinancing crunch with hundreds of millions in bonds coming due soon.
The cash injection helps for the moment, but analysts are roasting the credibility of the whole business model since pretty much every major retail partner has either backed away or restructured their deals over the past few years.
