Spruce Point’s Axler defends his Oatly thesis: ‘they’re losing share in the U.S.’

Spruce Capital accused Oatly of misstating revenues & gross margins.
Ben Axler says Oatly Group AB is now worth less than $10 per share.
Shares of the company tanked about 3% on Thursday morning.

A day after Spruce Point Capital Management LLC accused Oatly Group AB (NASDAQ: OATLY) of overstating revenue and gross margins, founder Ben Axler said the Swedish food company’s stock is worth less than $10 per share.

Oatly’s response to short seller’s allegations

Oatly shares tanked 3% on Thursday morning but are still trading just under $20 with a market cap of $11.9 billion. Responding to the activist short seller’s allegations, Oatly said in a statement on CNBC:

Ben Axler’s remarks on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”

Spruce Point’s Axler, however, holds his ground that Oatly misled its investors, giving an impression of being more sustainable than it actually is. Calling it an inflated bubble stocks, he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”:

Oatly listed its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in May 2021 at a per-share price of $17. Since its debut, the stock has not dropped below the IPO price – an unusual event for what Axler called a “busted IPO”.