Danone (DANOY) (GPDNF) share price has underperformed its peers in the last decade.
This underperformance can be explained by the following:
1) Lack of margin expansion because of a continued focus on top-line growth at the expense of margins improvement and bottom-line growth.
2) Several acquisitions considered as very expensive. Danone paid a 21.7x EV/EBITDA multiple to purchase Numico in 2007 (This acquisition led to a capital increase in 2009) and a 21.2x EV/EBITDA multiple to acquire WhiteWave in 2016. Overall investor perception is that these deals are value-destructive for shareholders.