Ocado Group (OCDO)

OCADO (OCDO) £12.19 Gain to date: 2.7% Original entry point: Buy at £11.87, 25 July 2019 Our ‘buy’ call on grocery delivery solutions firm Ocado (OCDO) has been tested in recent weeks with the shares demonstrating above-average volatility. Last month the stock sank 20% in short order due to fears of increasing competition from US firms Amazon and Walmart. Last week ...

The FTSE 100 got off to a strong start on Monday following better than expected manufacturing data coming out of China. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index showed a reading of 51.8 in November, up from 51.7 the previous month and the fastest expansion since December 2016. Anything above 50 signals expansion, and anything less than 50 signals contraction in the ...

Shares in online groceries firm Ocado (OCDO) soared by 11.3% to £13.44 after it signed up one of Asia’s biggest retailers to its Ocado Smart Platform (OSP). The OSP service encompasses the group’s software solutions and automated warehouse technology and looks to provide a solution for companies looking to expand their online groceries offering. Japan’s Aeon is just the latest in a ...

UK stocks opened weaker on Friday following losses in Asia and confirmation that the economy is still subdued after the latest GfK survey showed consumer confidence at its lowest level since 2013. The FTSE 100 index dipped 32 points or 0.4% to 7,384 with miners Anglo American (AAL), Antofagasta (ANTO) and Evraz (EVR) together with money manager St James’s Place (STJ) at the bottom of the ...

The FTSE 100 got off to a slow start this morning after US president Donald Trump signed into law a bill backing Hong Kong’s protesters. Stock markets around the world fell sharply on the news, fearing that China will retaliate. Beijing has consistently warned the US and other countries against interfering in what it sees as its internal affairs. The UK’s benchmark index no different to ...

Shares in Marks & Spencer (MKS) were marked up 5.3% to 192p after the high street bellwether reported a turnaround plan ‘running at pace’, a pick-up in October clothing sales and kept full year profit guidance unchanged with more cost-cutting to offset gross margin pressure. However, a 17% plunge in first half pre-tax profit proves there is still much more for management to do to revive ...

Ocado (OCDO) £13.00 Gain to date: 9.5% Original entry point: Buy at £11.87, 25 July 2019 Our bullish call on Ocado (OCDO) continues to make steady progress thanks to a positive third-quarter trading update (17 Sep). In the three months to 1 September the firm grew its orders at a double-digit rate, faster than the first half but in line with full year guidance, as it expanded its ...

Recently embattled Sainsbury’s (SBRY) was the only one of the UK's big four supermarket chains to achieve growth during the 12 weeks ending 6 October, despite overall supermarket sales accelerating. This is the startling finding of market research firm Kantar from its latest supermarket share data. The figures also revealed year-on-year supermarket sales growth accelerated to 1.3%, up ...

While last year saw grocery spending lifted by high temperatures, World Cup fever and a Royal Wedding, the big supermarket chains haven’t had much to celebrate this year with consumer confidence wobbly due to continued Brexit uncertainty and tough comparisons with last year’s sales bonanza. Yet despite these headwinds, shares in Tesco (TSCO) – the biggest of the three mainstream ...

UK stocks have bounced back a little this morning after yesterday’s nervousness over the Saudi Arabia oil attacks and what they’ll mean for global growth, given the major spike in the oil price. Oil giants BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) have again benefited, with their shares rising 1.3% to 531p and 1.6% to £23.67 respectively. The UK’s leading basket of stocks, the FTSE 100 ...

Continuing our look at the FTSE 350, this week we consider consumer stocks and pick five of our favourites. Three are from the FTSE 100 and two are from the FTSE 250. We’ve woven our picks in with some brand-new market research on Britain’s Favourite Brands which came out at the start of the month. During June and July YouGov (YOU:AIM) surveyed some 9,000 British consumers to find out ...

Shares in online supermarket Ocado (OCDO) gain for the third day running, up 2% to £12.30, after the latest grocery market share data from Kantar shows it continuing to grow sales at a faster clip than even the discounters. In the 12 weeks to 11 August, Ocado increased its sales by 12.6% through a combination of a 7% increase in customers and a higher spend per basket. Ocado now accounts for ...

Heavy selling on Asian markets and escalating trade tensions lead to second day straight of large losses across UK stock markets in early trade on Monday. Just mining group Fresnillo (FRES) and British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) make positive moves across the whole FTSE 100, which slumps more than 100 points, or 1.35%, to 7,307.00. Leading the sell-off is grocery ...

When companies report their financial figures, often the final figure they want you to see is not the one that simply represents all of their incomings minus their outgoings. A growing number of firms think if you just take the statutory figures they provide, which usually stick rigidly to industry-recognised accounting standards, it doesn’t always give a true reflection of how the business ...

Last month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed saw the unveiling of Europe’s first roadworthy autonomous delivery vehicle. Called Kar-go, the self-driving electric-powered robot on wheels has been developed by former Formula 1 and classic car boffins. It promises to slash the cost of last-mile goods delivery by up to 90%. This is just the sort of exciting project to have captured the imagination ...

The last two years have seen a transformation in Ocado’s (OCDO) business model from a grocery partner for a couple of middling UK supermarket chains – WM Morrison (MRW) and Waitrose – to a software-driven facilitator of online delivery for more than half a dozen retailers, many of which are based overseas. The shares have re-rated dramatically, from 300p two years ago to £14 earlier this ...

Grocery distribution technology firm Ocado’s (OCDO) shares blazed 7.3% higher to £12.56 this morning, despite the company reporting a slump in first half earnings following a fire at its flagship robotic warehouse in Andover, one also reflecting accounting changes and share scheme costs. Investors instead focused on a robust increase in half year retail revenue and a surge in fees invoiced ...

Online grocery technology company Ocado (OCDO) booked a deeper first half loss after the fire which destroyed its Andover warehouse in February. But the share price soars to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board on Tuesday with investors are comforted by Ocado’s positive outlook comments, with management saying that ‘we have never had as many opportunities to grow as we do today.’ That ...

The retail sector is at a crossroads. Hit by structural changes as spending shifts online and an uncertain economic environment as well as fast shifting consumer tastes and trends, many in the industry are really struggling. Could robots and artificial intelligence (AI) come to the rescue? Excitingly, AI is already being deployed in retail, where pure-play online retailers have an advantage in ...

Approximately one quarter of the FTSE 100 is yielding 6% or more, according to analyst forecasts collated by SharePad. This seems unusually high and begs the question: are UK stocks simply very cheap or are investors pricing in very bad news for many of the biggest companies?  In last week’s Editor’s View column we asked why income investors had fallen out of love with a large number of ...