Walmart-backed Symbotic drops on gloomy outlook
30/07/2024 11:42
** Symbotic's Inc's SYM.O shares down 18.6% premarket to
$29 after warehouse automation firm's forecast disappoints
** SYM on track to open at lowest levels since May 2023, if
losses hold
** Co late Mon forecast fiscal Q4 revenue of $455-$475 mln,
well below LSEG est. of $516.8 mln, and its projected adj EBITDA
was also shy of consensus
** "Looking ahead, improving our deployment process may
temporarily slow our revenue growth. However, we expect system
costs to decline and gross margin to return to historical levels
during our fourth fiscal quarter" - CFO Carol Hibbard
** Reacting to report, Citigroup slashes its PT to $49 from
$62, and TD Cowen reduces PT to $43 from $55
** Avg rating among 16 brokerages covering SYM is "buy" and
median PT is $54 - LSEG
** Through Mon close, stock has lost 30.6% YTD
** Symbotic went public in Jun 2022 after Walmart-backed
WMT.N firm merged with SPAC sponsored by Japan's SoftBank
9984.T
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))