A massive stock market crash: Maytronics shares collapse 98% to a 15-year low

Maytronics, the kibbutz-based company that became a star of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange during the COVID-19 pandemic, represents one of the most significant cases of value destruction in the Israeli capital market.

From a valuation of approximately 9.1 billion shekels in November 2021, the company's value has plummeted to less than 200 million shekels—a 98% drop that wiped out billions from the pockets of kibbutz members, who hold the majority of shares, and thousands of public investors.

Maytronics' equity stands at about 340 million shekels, yet the market prices the entire company at less than 200 million. Simply put, investors are signaling that the assets recorded on the balance sheet—factories, inventory, the brand, and subsidiaries—are worth less in practice than their book value, and that the core business itself is currently seen as having no value.

This situation occurs when the market loses faith in a company's ability to generate profit from its assets. The gap is even more pronounced when looking at tangible equity: the balance sheet includes about 273 million shekels in intangible assets from past acquisitions. Excluding these, the tangible equity shrinks to just 60–70 million shekels, explaining the prevailing pessimism.

Between 2020 and 2022, Maytronics rode the pandemic wave. As people stayed home and invested in private pools, demand for the company's cleaning robots soared. However, this boom created two persistent problems: overproduction leading to heavy inventory, and aggressive Chinese competition, as firms like Aiper and Wybot entered the market with significantly lower prices.

When demand moderated, distributors in Europe and the USA were left with full warehouses and reduced their orders. Simultaneously, the strengthening of the shekel against the dollar hurt revenues, as Maytronics manufactures in Israel but sells globally.

This combination eroded profitability quarter after quarter, culminating in a 2025 net loss of 222 million shekels—seven times the loss of the previous year—which also included accounting corrections that reduced equity by a quarter of a billion shekels.

At the heart of the crisis is a management issue. Sharon Goldenberg, who took office as CEO in February 2022 with an annual salary exceeding 4.1 million shekels, resigned in August 2025 following a series of disappointing reports and repeated downward revisions of forecasts.

Goldenberg was not the only departure; months earlier, Chairman Ron Cohen had also left. In February 2026, Rafi Ben Ami, former CEO of Applied Materials Israel, replaced Goldenberg, marking the first time Maytronics chose a CEO from outside the company.

The first-quarter 2026 report, published in late May, offered no improvement. Revenues fell to 309.3 million shekels, though when neutralizing currency effects, the decline was only 0.8%, indicating that demand remains relatively stable. The real issue is profitability: the gross margin was cut from 37.5% to 28.4%, and the company shifted to an operating loss of 10.8 million shekels. While the order backlog jumped 39% to 171.8 million shekels—a sign that distributor inventory is clearing—a high backlog sold at low margins is not necessarily positive news.

Equally concerning is the liquidity situation: working capital plummeted to just 59 million shekels, compared to 335 million a year earlier, with the quarter financed primarily through short-term credit.

Investors should note that Maytronics remains a market leader with a strong brand and tangible products, and the stock price is historically low. However, there is no evidence of a turnaround yet. Until the company demonstrates a return to gross margin growth and cash flow that does not rely on credit, the recovery story remains a hope, and the level of uncertainty remains extremely high.