A surge in its share price has made Ocado the UK’s most valuable retailer, pushing Tesco from the top spot.
The company is now worth £21.7bn, a rise of 155% since March.
Tesco is valued at a paltry £21.1bn, despite towering above the UK grocery landscape with a 26.8% market share, according to Kantar. For comparison, Ocado’s share is just 1.7%.
Its share price has risen since demand for online groceries grew during lockdown and as a consequence of its switch to delivering M&S food after a long-term arrangement with Waitrose ended.
However, its strong stock market valuation is mostly on the back of its technology offer, which gives third party retailers the kit to build their own online platforms. Ocado has signed nine such deals with major retailers around the globe since 2017.
The valuation has raised eyebrows among market analysts. Markets.com’s Neil Wilson said: “Ocado holds enormous promise but whether it can deliver is quite another matter, the cash burn remains and the payback from all these overseas deals is taking a very long time.”
