It has now been more than three years since the Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) share price first debuted on the ASX boards.
Endeavour was spun out of Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) in June 2021. But this bottle shop stock has had a rocky journey ever since.
Endeavour, which owns the Dan Murphy's and BWS chains, is currently down around 30.5% from the share price it first hit the ASX at more than three years ago. Yep, Endeavour shares first began trading on the Australian share market at around $6.10 each.
By August 2022, the company had rocketed to over $8.30. But it has been downhill ever since. At market close on Tuesday, you can buy shares of this company for just $4.23 each. Earlier this morning, though, those shares hit a new all-time low of $4.21.
Check that all out for yourself here:
So, how did Endeavour shares get to the rather depressing state they are in today?
Image source: Getty Images
Why is the Endeavour share price at a record low?
Well, the bleeding seemed to start in 2023. That was when Endeavour's largest shareholder, Bruce Mathieson Sr, began pushing back against the Endeavour board, sparking a very public brawl among the company's highest echelons. Mathieson pushed to have another major shareholder, Bill Wavish, join Endeavour's board, but management rejected this push.
We can see in the Endeavour share price that this started to weigh on investor sentiment for the company. But ever since then, Endeavour has seemingly disappointed investors with every single earnings report it has dropped.
Back in February, the company revealed its half-year earnings for the six months to 31 December 2023. As we covered back then, these earnings saw the company report a 3.6% drop in net profits after tax despite sales rising 2.5%.
August's full-year earnings were similar. For the 12 months to 30 June 2024, Endeavour reported a 3.2% slide in net profits, again despite a 3.6% rise in sales.
Investors who might have felt queasy following these numbers were certainly not comforted when Endeavour warned last month that its sales momentum was slowing thanks to cost-of-living pressures. The company also stated that it was expecting "softer sales and a lower margin sales mix" going forward.
Putting all of these facts together, we can see why investors have been losing their faith in Endeavour as a solid investment.
Where to from here?
It's potentially not all bad news for shareholders though. Earlier this month, my Fool colleague discussed the optimistic views of ASX broker Goldman Sachs.
Goldman thinks the recent falls in the Endeavour share price have left the company looking cheap today. It currently has a buy rating on Endeavour shares and a 12-month share price target of $5.50. That would indicate that Endeavour could bounce back by 30% if Goldman is on the money.
