Walmart-backed Symbotic tumbles after core earnings forecast miss
06/02/2024 12:51
** Symbotic Inc's SYM.O shares tumble 17% to $41.20
premarket after warehouse automation co's qtrly core earnings
forecast falls well shy of consensus
** SYM shares on track for biggest daily pct drop since June
2022, if losses hold
** Co late Mon forecasted fiscal Q2 adj EBITDA of $12-$15
mln vs avg analysts' est of ~$28 mln, per LSEG
** In wake of report, Citi cut its PT by $8 to $62, while
Needham trimmed PT by $4 to $54
** Lower-than-expected EBITDA guide suggests "a temporary
pause in the gross margin improvement SYM has demonstrated in
recent quarters," Needham wrote in note
** 10 of 14 analysts rate SYM "buy" or "strong buy", rest
"hold"; median PT of $55 down from $58 a month ago - LSEG
** Shares off ~3% YTD through Mon. Stock, which more than
quadrupled in 2023, hit record intraday high of $64.14 in July
** Symbotic went public in June 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 1-332-219-1430))