Ocado share price has fallen more than 90% since July 2021, leaving a £1,000 investment in the company worth less than £100. Yet the board has said Tim Steiner will remain CEO until the start of 2028.
The decision settles a leadership fight that intensified earlier this month. Steiner, the founder and CEO, will then move into a founder advisory role.
July 2021 and the 90% fall
The shares have lost 90% over five years, and they were down a further 21% since the start of 2026. For shareholders, the scale is stark: the stock has gone from a July 2021 reference point to a level that leaves even a £1,000 stake deeply reduced.
That decline has played out while Ocado has been building robotic grocery fulfilment technology and carrying the capital burden of customer fulfilment centres across the globe. The company’s own description points to the cost of that model, not just weak trading, as a drag on value.
Tim Steiner and the board
Earlier this month, efforts to remove Steiner were resolved. The board said he would continue as CEO through to the start of 2028, ending the immediate uncertainty over the top job.
His role then changes rather than ends. After that point, he will become a founder adviser, keeping him close to the business without running it day to day.
Ocado results and cash target
The latest full-year results gave the board something firmer to point to. Group revenue rose 12.1% to £1.4bn, and adjusted EBITDA surged 59% to £178m.
Management is also targeting positive free cash flow in the second half of this financial year, with full-year cash positivity now aimed for fiscal 2027 ending in November. That is the test investors will watch: whether operating gains can turn into cash quickly enough to offset the damage already done to the shares.
The harder question is whether the recovery can survive partner pullbacks from ambitious customer fulfilment centre expansion plans. Kroger and Sobeys have both reduced those plans, and the stock has already absorbed the market’s judgment while Steiner stays in place to try to change it.
