Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Shares in Symbotic, a SoftBank-backed provider of warehouse automation software, plunged by more than a third on Wednesday after cutting its revenue forecast and disclosing errors in its accounts.
The group, which went public in 2022 in New York via a Spac, said that it had identified errors related to the recognition of revenues in its accounts covering the first nine months of 2024. As a result, Symbotic said it had been unable to file its annual report on time.
In a statement, the Massachusetts-based company, said it needed “additional time to complete its assessment of the financial impacts of correcting an error related to system revenue recognition”.
The admission comes less than two weeks after Symbotic said it had fixed another set of accounting mistakes, when it published full-year figures and restated previous quarterly figures that had incorrectly recognised revenue.
Symbotic, which is also backed by Walmart, added that it was taking steps to remedy the lapses.
The company, which says it develops artificial intelligence-powered robotics for supply chains, counts major retailers including Target, Albertsons, C&S Wholesale Grocers and Canadian discount chain Giant Tiger among its customers.
According to data from LSEG, several SoftBank-related entities hold a combined 45 per cent of Symbotic’s shares. Walmart is the company’s third-biggest investor with a 14 per cent stake, followed by Baillie Gifford with about 13.5 per cent, the data shows.
Symbotic shares were down 41.5 per cent at midday in New York and have more than halved in value this year. Wednesday’s drop wiped about $8.4bn off its market capitalisation, cutting it to $13.5bn.
Alongside the accounting errors, Symbotic cut its revenue forecast for the current quarter to between $480mn and $500mn, down from a previous range of $495mn to $515mn
The company also slashed its expectations for adjusted ebitda for the quarter to between $12mn and $16mn, below an earlier range of $27mn-$31mn.
