Stock of the Day: Just Eat (LON:JE)
After a pretty rocky start of the year, with the stock tumbling below £5 by the end of February, Just Eat quickly resumed its record-breaking climb as spring got underway. It all started with its full year figures on March 7th, the annual update sparking a near 18% increase in the space of a fortnight. That’s because Just Eat revealed a 42% surge in full year orders to 136.4 million, alongside a 52% jump in revenue to £3375.7 million and a staggering 164% swell in pre-tax profit to £91.3 million.
The good news kept on coming with May’s first quarter report. Revenue rose 46% to £118.9 million, with like-for-like sales up 40%. The acquisition of Canadian company SkipTheDishes led to a 38% increase in non-UK orders to 15 million, while domestic orders grew by 17% to hit 24 million. There was a bit of a mood-dampener later in the month, however, after it was announced that the company’s £200 million takeover of key rival Hungryhouse would undergo an in-depth investigation by the CMA.
Yet that M&A set-back didn’t affect Just Eat for too long, and since then the stock has looked pretty unstoppable, aided by the appointment of former Moneysupermarket.Com (LON:MONY) chief Peter Plumb as its new CEO (he takes over in September. Having hit a fresh all-time high of £7.19 just last week,
In terms of the company’s interim statement on Thursday, investors will want to see the same level of order and revenue growth as in the first quarter, a potential challenge given jump in inflation and impact on wages seen in the months since the Q1 update.
Just Eat PLC has a consensus rating of ‘Buy’ with an average target price of £7.12.
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