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Ocado (Q3 trading statement 19 September)
It’s tough to be a UK supermarket at the moment, even an online one, as Amazon looms on the horizon as a potential major competitor. One of the supermarkets in question, Morrisons, has already succumbed to Amazon’s overtures, allowing its products to be sold through the online marketplace. The most recent half-year figures were encouraging, but we still have little news on its deals to license its software to other firms. At almost 200 times forward earnings, Ocado remains very much about the growth story. Although, it has outperformed the comparable peers index on the FTSE 100 so far this year, up 12.6% versus a broader decline of 2.5%.
Ocado shares have stumbled below 320p three times since June, as the spike to 340p unwinds. However, we have seen steady higher lows since March, so the energy for a breakout could be building. The barriers on the upside are 320p and 340p, followed by 354p. A break below 280p would cancel out the steady sequence of higher lows.