Overstock wants to be a blockchain company
Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock and a blockchain evangelist has made secret of the fact that he wants to run a blockchain business, not a retailer. But investors aren't sure what that means.
"It's still confusing to most people – even our own investors. Very few have done their homework," Byrne told CNN Business on Friday.
That's why Byrne said he plans to give a lot more detail about the big picture plans for Overstock's blockchain businesses when it reports its latest earnings sometime in March.
The company has made some moves into blockchain over the past few years .
It launched the Medici Ventures investing firm to focus on blockchain technology, a public digital ledger of transactions, and it is also developing its own security tokens for e-commerce and trading.
Despite the emphasis on switching Overstock to a blockchain company, Wall Street seems more focused on trying to figure out when the online retailer will finally be sold – and who might buy it.
However, overstock shares have pulled back sharply as Byrne's February target draws near without any sign of a deal being imminent. Overstock fell 9% on Thursday.
"It doesn't surprise me that nothing has happened yet," said Bill Baker, an analyst with GARP Research. He notes that retail is a notoriously tough and competitive business and that Overstock has been losing money in it.
But Baker thinks for overstock's retail business could still materialize and that it could fetch about $ 100 million.
Bet on blockchain may eventually pay off big
Overstock's current market value is just north of $ 650 million though. So does that mean that the company's blockchain businesses are really worth more than half a billion dollars?
Baker believes they are. He said Overstock is making the right call to focus on the more rapidly growing blockchain world instead of the perennially challenged retail business and that the stock could rally further thanks to tzero and Medici.
Byrne sounds frustrated by how difficult it is to remain in retail as well.
"There's no point in trying to compete," Byrne said. "It's way too expensive."
