CluenexAmericold COLD
Americold scores weak on business quality (2.1 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Americold does
Americold Realty Trust owns and operates temperature-controlled warehouses, charging food producers and retailers rent and handling fees to store perishable goods.
- What it does best
Americold runs a massive temperature-controlled warehouse network that food producers rely on. With a gross margin of 31.7%, it lags peers like STAG at 79.8%, but its specialized infrastructure creates high switching costs for customers needing cold chains.
- The main risk
High debt levels pose a threat, with interest coverage sitting at a thin 1.1x. If operating cash flows weaken further, servicing $4.3B in total debt leaves little margin for error.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin rests thin at 6.9% while return on equity plunges to -16.4%, landing in the bottom decile of its sector. Losses deepened with a net income of -$456M, showing heavy costs outpace scale.
Scale provides a niche moat in temperature-controlled storage, locking in food producers who face steep costs to relocate goods. Yet its gross margin sits in the bottom quartile of its sector at 6%.
Revenue shrank by 2.4% over the latest period to $2.6B, continuing a multi-year stagnation visible since 2022 where annual revenue has steadily drifted downward.
Net debt sits high at $4.2B with an interest coverage ratio of 1.1x, meaning earnings barely cover debt payments. Free cash flow is negative at -$207M. The balance sheet is softening.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on COLD
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Americold scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (2.1 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat weak, growth slow and financial health weak.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Nov 5, 2026.
See COLD today
- Today's verdict on COLD, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Americold (COLD)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/cold/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.