Maybank raises Grab’s target price to US$6.48 on proposed acquisition of foodpanda Taiwan

[SINGAPORE] Maybank maintained a “buy” call and lifted its target price for superapp company Grab to US$6.48, up from its previous target of US$6.44 on Tuesday (Mar 24), a day after Grab proposed a US$600 million acquisition of Delivery Hero’s foodpanda Taiwan. 

The target price represents a 77 per cent upside to the Nasdaq-listed counter’s closing price of US$3.66 on Monday.

The elevated target price comes from the brokerage raising its estimates for Grab’s food-delivery gross merchandise value by 4 to 10 per cent between FY2026 and FY2028. 

Earnings forecasts have also been reversed from a 7 per cent loss to a profit of 2 per cent, reflecting the costs of integration from the acquisition and longer-term earnings increases. 

The proposed acquisition gives Grab access to a “structurally attractive”, established and high-demand food-delivery market, as well as opportunities to expand into related services, wrote Maybank analyst Hussaini Saifee in a note on Tuesday. 

He described Taiwan as an “attractive on-demand entry point” – a market in which foodpanda Taiwan generated US$1.8 billion in sales from just 10 per cent of its target consumer base using its food-delivery services.

Facing less competition

Grab is likely to face less competition because the Taiwan market operates on a “two-player structure”, Hussaini added, referring to foodpanda and Uber Eats being the two dominant players.

The brokerage expects Grab’s Taiwan segment to turn profitable by end 2027, despite near-term earnings likely being diluted by operational and financial integration efforts, as well as migration and technology unification costs from the acquisition until 2027.

The macro backdrop is strong. The Taiwan economy racked up 9 per cent gross domestic product growth in 2025, which makes it likely to support demand of Grab’s services with increased discretionary spending.

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Grab to buy foodpanda’s Taiwan business for US$600 million

Analysts also pointed out that its emerging smart-mobility ecosystem creates “additional optionality for Grab’s tech and operating stack”. 

Grab’s earnings are forecast to rise by around 47 per cent in FY2026 to US$736 million, from US$500 million in FY2025.

Grab reported earnings of US$268 million in FY2025, rebounding from a loss of US$105 million in FY2024.

Earnings for Q4 FY2025 hit US$171 million, over six times the US$27 million in the preceding year, mainly driven by higher operating profit and net finance income.

The group’s revenue grew by nearly a fifth (about 19 per cent) to US$906 million in Q4 FY2025 from US$764 million, driven by growth in its on-demand and financial-services segments. 

Rising competition and costs

While the Asean delivery and ride-hailing services market is underpenetrated, Maybank expects a “risk of a slight flare-up” in competition from Indonesian superapp company Gojek, which has stronger financial foundations, and Vietnam-based ride-hailing company XanhSM’s entry into multiple markets. 

Maybank’s Hussaini added that in the face of higher oil prices dampening driver earnings and supply, Grab may expand incentives and support, and incur additional costs to keep fares stable in order to protect demand. 

DBS maintains target, rating on Grab

In a separate note on Monday, DBS maintained its target price of US$5.93 and also issued a “buy” on Grab. 

DBS analyst Sachin Mittal noted that even in light of the proposed acquisition, Grab kept its 2026 adjusted earnings at between US$700 million and US$720 million, suggesting that the proposed buy would have an “almost negligible” impact on earnings for that year.

Nevertheless, the lender views the counter’s recent multiple valuation decreases as a “buying opportunity”.

Mittal said that Grab is aiming for a full platform migration of users, merchant-partners and driver-partners from foodpanda to the Grab app by early 2027. Earnings from the acquisition will contribute to the group’s 2026 revenue forecast of US$4.04 billion to US$4.1 billion.