Just Eat shares hit new 52-week low even as orders rise by 25%

Shares of Just Eat Takeaway NV (LON: JET), the Amsterdam-headquartered food delivery corporation, slipped more than 5% on Wednesday, 13 October, to a fresh 52-week low even after the company reported a rise of 25% in the third quarter orders.

The food ordering and delivery enterprise registered 266 million orders in the July-September quarter of 2021, translating into a GTV equivalent to EUR 6.8 billion, 23% higher as compared to the same period a year earlier.

The company has projected the adjusted EBITDA margin to remain in a range of between minus 1% and minus 1.5% of the GTV, while reiterating the guidance for full 2021. The order growth remained tepid in the US with the net volume rising by 3% as compared to the corresponding period of last year, showcasing the weakest order growth across the operating regions.

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Following the earnings release, the stock of Just Eat Takeaway tumbled as much as 5.52% to a new 52-week bottom of GBX 5,202 from the previous closing price of GBX 5,506 apiece. However, the shares staged a partial comeback in the afternoon session but continued to trade 2% lower from the last close.

At the current market price (CMP), the stock of Just Eat stands with a 1-year loss of nearly 40%, while the shares are down 48% as compared to the 52-week high price of GBX 10,050. Unusually high trading volumes were seen in the shares of Just Eat Takeaway with the total traded turnover surpassing GBP 7.38 million following a traded volume of 234,057, as at 13:57 BST.

According to the company, the investment programme in the United Kingdom helped substantially in driving network effects with Just Eat UK overtaking the milestone of one billion orders since its incorporation. The enterprise reached more than 200 million orders in the nine-month period of the present calendar year, with the UK business witnessing a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 51% in Q3 of 2021.

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Of all the operating markets, Germany emerged as the second fastest-growing segment after the company added 10 million incremental orders in the corresponding quarter, witnessing a YoY order growth of 35%.

For the full year 2021, the order growth to remain more than 45% YoY, excluding Grubhub, while the consolidated GTV is expected to arrive between a range of EUR 28 and EUR 30 billion, Just Eat Takeaway said in an exchange filing.