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FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX Broker) - Shares of food delivery service Delivery Hero continued their recent downward spiral on Friday. The stock price dropped by as much as 8.5 percent to EUR18.165 during intraday trading, marking its lowest level since August 2024. By late afternoon, the shares were trading at EUR18.50, about seven percent below the previous day's close, only slightly above their session low. With this loss, Delivery Hero shares were firmly at the bottom of the MDax index.

This extends the stock's recent correction ahead of the upcoming quarterly results, which the company is scheduled to publish next Thursday. Just this week, the share price has slumped by around 16 percent. Since peaking at nearly EUR30 in mid-September, the stock has fallen by 38 percent.

Traders attributed the losses partly to a more cautious assessment of growth companies. In addition, a Bloomberg report on Thursday indicated that U.S. ride-hailing and food delivery giant Uber is interested in acquiring Turkish delivery service Getir. Delivery Hero operates in Turkey through Yemeksepeti, a competitor of Getir.

Delivery Hero's market capitalization has now dropped by about one third this year to EUR5.5 billion. By comparison, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2021, shares were briefly worth more than EUR145, and the company was valued at almost EUR30 billion. Due to its pandemic-driven surge, Delivery Hero shares were listed in the DAX index from August 2020 to June 2022.

The company's largest shareholder, with approximately 27 percent, is Prosus, an investment firm specializing in technology companies. Just a few weeks ago, Prosus acquired Delivery Hero rival Just Eat Takeaway (Lieferando) for a little over EUR4 billion. Some experts anticipate that Prosus may also make an offer for Delivery Hero.

JPM analyst Marcus Diebel recently reaffirmed his "Overweight" rating with a price target of EUR34, citing hopes for a takeover as the main reason. However, he does not expect any short-term improvement in the company's current business situation.

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