Europe’s Food Delivery Stocks Need M&A Spark to Unlock Potential

After a lackluster year, analysts expect food delivery stocks Just Eat Takeaway.com NV and Delivery Hero SE to rebound strongly over the next 12 months. Yet their optimism hinges on something that’s so far proved elusive: mergers & acquisitions action.

While peer Deliveroo Plc has surged 45% this year on the potential for capital returns and dealmaking, Germany’s Delivery Hero and Amsterdam-listed Just Eat Takeaway have been weighed down by a lack of catalysts on the M&A front. Both are down more than 40% in 2023.

“The big thing that’s driving the different share-price performances among the companies is the ...