ernational Ltd. (SODA), the Israeli maker of home soda machines, is posting its third straight quarterly rout in the stock market as sales growth falters.The shares have tumbled 12% since the end of last year, leaving them down 40% over the longest streak of quarterly declines since the company’s 2010 debut on the Nasdaq stock market.
The drop was the second-worst among the 23 stocks tracked in the Bloomberg Israel-US Equity index, which rose 5% in the quarter.
SodaStream’s sales will increase this year at less than half the 29% pace they did in 2013, according to the average of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Daniel Birnbaum said Feb. 26 that he expects “headwinds” to remain after poor holiday sales prompted the company to offer discounts. New rivals are also entering the business. Coca-Cola Co. is buying a stake in Keurig Green Mountain Inc. to help it market a home soda appliance.
Yonah Lloyd, SodaStream’s chief corporate development and communications officer, said the company plans to bolster sales by placing its products in new locations such as grocery stores this year. SodaStream has already corrected most of the issues that led to cost overruns and smaller margins in the fourth quarter, Birnbaum said on a Feb. 26 earnings call with analysts.
“Given the tiny size of the category at under 2% of homes, competition will help all players experience growth due to the greater awareness and interest,” Lloyd said in an e-mail March 27.
