Ocado share price surges as group posts Q3 results

Ocado’s (LON:OCDO) share price has climbed higher in London this Tuesday as the online grocer updated investors on its third-quarter performance, posting retail revenue in line with its guidance. The update comes after the company recently wrapped up its joint venture deal with Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS).

As of 08:57 BST, Ocado’s share price had added 0.93 percent to 1,362.00p. The group’s shares are outperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having climbed marginally into positive territory and currently standing 0.27 percent higher at 7,340.92 points.

Ocado posts Q3 results

Ocado announced in a statement this morning that its Retail business, or its joint venture with M&S, had delivered 11.4-percent growth in retail revenue, in line with its guidance for the remainder of the year. Growth in average orders per week was up to 12.1 percent as the company benefitted from more slots. Average order size, however, dipped by 0.8 percent reflecting  slightly greater frequency of purchase.

“These first set of results from the joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S show the resilience of Ocado following the Andover fire and the momentum the business now has,” Melanie Smith, Ocado Retail’s Chief Executive Officer, commented in the statement, adding that those were ‘really exciting times’ as the company prepares to launch the full M&S food range online, which she said customers will be able to buy on Ocado.com from September 2020 at the latest.

Analyst ratings update

Proactive Investors quoted Peel Hunt as commenting that today’s update had provided “no comment” about Ocado’s other business arms, particularly its solutions division which is the cornerstone of a strategy to sell the firm’s robotic warehouse models to other companies and pivot away from grocery delivery.

According to MarketBeat, the blue-chip group currently has a consensus ‘hold’ rating while the average target on the Ocado share price stands at 1,141.92p.