What the Morrisons-Amazon tie up is doing to Tesco, Ocado and Sainsbury’s share prices
Morrisons might be having a whale of a day after revealing its tie-up with Amazon this morning – but virtually the rest of the retail sector has spent the day so far in the red.
Morrisons' share price soared on the news that it would be offering hundreds of products to Amazon's UK customers via Pantry and Prime Now. By lunchtime, shares in the supermarket were up 4.2 per cent.
Conversely, the rest of the sector is in the doldrums. Ocado has fared the worst – presumably as investors reassess what was seen as a done deal between itself and Amazon. The delivery group's share price was down 8.9 per cent at pixel time.
Tesco was also suffering, with its share price down 2.5 per cent. Sainsbury's – which is also facing pressure over the possibility it may be usurped in its bid for Argos – was down 0.2 per cent.
Asda parent Walmart has not yet started trading but pre-open shares were down around 2.3 per cent.
John Ibbotson, who heads up consultants Retail Vision, said Morrisons' "11th hour reprieve" may be putting pressure on the rest of the Big Four "who suddenly don't look so big after all".
"Tesco could soon be about to find out what it's like to be David rather than Goliath," he added.
"I'm sure there have been many sighs of relief at Morrisons HQ, which has been papering over the cracks for some time. This deal is the final link in the chain for Amazon to launch Amazon Pantry and take on the Big Four by delivering a full grocery offer including fresh and frozen food.
"At least there will be no more rumours that Amazon will buy Ocado, as they now don’t need them."