Americold Realty Trust COLD is deepening its role in European food logistics through a centralized frozen distribution setup for PLUS, the Dutch supermarket cooperative with about 440 stores. Under the arrangement, Americold will handle storage, inventory management, order fulfillment and distribution for PLUS’ frozen product assortment from its Barneveld distribution center in the Netherlands.
The move shows Americold’s efficiency in winning and supporting complex retail work at scale, especially as grocers look to simplify supply chains and improve service consistency. PLUS is moving to a single integrated frozen logistics model with nationwide coverage, and Americold’s Barneveld site gives it a strong operating base for high-throughput, multi-temperature retail distribution.
The agreement also fits with Americold’s wider push to focus on customer service, pricing discipline, cost control and new business wins. In its first-quarter 2026 update, management said industry fundamentals were showing signs of stabilization and highlighted progress on strategic priorities, including a new $1.3 billion joint venture with EQT.
Wrapping-Up
Still, investors should keep the positives in context. Americold’s first-quarter revenues were nearly flat at $629.9 million, while Adjusted FFO fell to 29 cents per share from 34 cents a year earlier. Core EBITDA declined 7.3% to $136.8 million and Global Warehouse same-store NOI fell 3.1%, with pressure from lower volumes, a competitive market, consumer caution and higher energy costs.
Overall, the PLUS relationship strengthens Americold’s European retail story and supports its long-term case as a major cold chain infrastructure operator with more than 220 temperature-controlled warehouses and about 1.4 billion refrigerated cubic feet globally. Still, softer warehouse demand, energy costs, leverage and earnings pressure suggest a Neutral view is reasonable for now, as investors wait for clearer volume recovery.
So far in the year, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 13.5%, outperforming the industry's rally of 10.7%. COLD’s FFO per share consensus estimate also exhibits upward revisions.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Prologis, Inc. PLD and W. P. Carey Inc. WPC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Prologis’ second-quarter 2026 FFO per share has been moved a cent northward over the past month to $1.53.
The consensus mark for W. P. Carey’s second-quarter 2026 FFO per share has been revised a cent upward to $1.32 over the past month.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.
See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Prologis, Inc. (PLD): Free Stock Analysis Report
W.P. Carey Inc. (WPC): Free Stock Analysis Report
Americold Realty Trust Inc. (COLD): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).