Stock Market Today, July 6: Southeast Asian Mobility Upstart Grab Falls as Uber CEO Exits Board

Grab Holdings (NASDAQ:GRAB), a Southeast Asian super-app for rides, delivery, and financial services, closed at $3.85, down 1.28%. Shares fell after the company said Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi stepped down from its board, as the company tries to close its acquisition of foodpanda. Trading volume reached 73.0M shares, coming in about 35% above its three-month average of 54.3M shares. Grab Holdings IPO'd in 2020 and has fallen 68% since going public.

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) closed at 7,538, up 0.74%, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) finished at 26,121, up 1.12%. Among internet services and online platforms, ride-hailing, delivery, and fintech super-app peers, Uber Technologies closed at $72.43, down 2.69%, and DoorDash closed at $188.46, down 1.85%, as investors weighed platform growth against company-specific updates.

What this means for investors

There are many moving parts tied to Grab’s news with Uber’s CEO leaving the former’s board -- but investors shouldn’t panic about today’s developments. It was mostly a web of conflicts of interest that needed to be sorted out for both companies to grow.

Uber is in the midst of acquiring Delivery Hero, a Germany-based global food and grocery delivery company. Delivery Hero owns foodpanda -- which is simultaneously being acquired from Delivery Hero by Grab. Due to these ties, Khosrowshahi’s tenure on Grab’s board had to end because of the significant overlap between the two companies and the concurrent acquisitions.

Ultimately, today’s news was more about avoiding regulatory trouble than anything else -- Uber is maintaining its economic stake in Grab (roughly 14% of shares outstanding) -- so there is no need to worry. In fact, I really like both the stocks for the long haul at today’s prices.

Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends DoorDash, Grab, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.