The delivery heroes: the sequel

Food on the Move: FFF’s weekly roundup of listed FoodTech’s movers & shakers

Disappointing start to November for FFF’s listed FoodTech space - the number of share price fallers outpaced risers by a ratio of 1.5:1 in the week ended 04 November.  In all, there were 28 fallers, 19 risers and two non-movers.

And it would have been a lot worse, were it not for the food delivery sector…well…delivering: DoorDash (DASH) +9.58%; Delivery Hero (DHER) +7.57%; Ocado (OCDO) +34.84%; Just Eat Takeaway (TKWY) +19%; Deliveroo (ROO) +7.35%; and Boxed (BOXD) +17.19%. Even MissFresh (MF) contributed by being a non-mover.

OCDO set the pace. The market gave a collective thumbs up to the news that the online grocer had partnered up with South Korean retailer Lotte Shopping to “develop Lotte's online business in South Korea with the Ocado Smart Platform.”  No financial details disclosed but, according to the press release, “Lotte Shopping, the largest retail affiliate of Lotte Group, operates department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and e-commerce in South Korea, with more than 1,000 stores nationwide and an annual revenue of 15.6 trillion KRW (£9.5bn).”  Talk about winning the Lotte!

Elsewhere, DASH shares were in demand after Q3 revenues came in at US$1.7 billion, 33% higher than a year earlier and US$70 million higher than what analysts had been gunning for.  A 30% increase in gross order value to US$13.5 billion was also US$300 million above consensus and if that wasn’t enough, DASH forecast Q4’s gross order value will hit US$14.1 billion, some US$400 million higher than what analysts had been penciling in.  Analysts also had to raise their forecasts for Q4 adjusted EBITDA after DASH said this is expected to come in at US$102 million.  That’s a lot of crossing out…

Elsewhere, shares in Verde Agritech (NPK) continued their strong run, tacking on another 17% to close at CAD7.2.  One week on from announcing that its “second production plant (‘Plant 2’) has achieved its nameplate production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year (‘Mtpy’) of Verde’s multinutrient potassium product, K Forte®, sold internationally as Super Greensand®”, the potash fertiliser co. said “production is being ramped up from 1.2 million tonnes per year (‘Mtpy’) to 2.4 Mtpy…” CEO Cristiano Veloso said: “We look forward to the positive financial benefits that the additional capacity will bring to Verde’s bottom-line.” And it’s not just Verde that stands to benefit, “With every milestone, we become a more essential source to mitigate Brazil’s dependency on imported potash,” added the CEO. A win-win all round.

As for the fallers, Opticept Technologies (OPTI) stands out.  News of a US$10million rights issue did for the shares which plummeted 51% to SEK12.8, still a little above the proposed SEK11 issue price.  CEO Thomas Lundqvist commented: “The issue gives us the opportunity to strengthen the balance sheet, which gives us financial flexibility and the opportunity to develop and manufacture the systems that we see our existing customer base will demand in 2023.” As with all equity raises, always worth checking to see if any classic playbook moves were deployed in the run-up to the news.  Hmm…rewind four days and the food techie announced “an agreement with a global forest company for the treatment of cuttings in Brazil.” The 50,000 euros agreement, however, failed to set the shares alight.  No pre-rights issue share price bounce then…

Finally, there was good and bad news for Agrify (AGFY).  The good news was that the cannabis solutions provider announced it had “regained compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price listing requirement. The Company has satisfied the terms for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market by complying with the minimum bid price requirement of $1.00 per share under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). Accordingly, Nasdaq has advised that the matter is now closed.”  The bad news?  The shares shed 24% over the course of the week to close at US$1.33.  Just a hop and a skip away from the dreaded US$1 level…