DoorDash in advanced talks to buy Instacart, deal could happen this week
Key Facts
DoorDash has entered advanced talks to buy Instacart, and a deal could be reached as soon as this week, according to a Wall Street Journal report published on October 26. That remains a possibility attributed to the report: no agreement has been announced, and the talks could fall apart. Instacart had begun exploring sale options with the help of an investment bank, according to an earlier report by The Information. The newspaper said the talks do not guarantee a deal. Separately, Uber and Instacart are no longer negotiating, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
The report refocused attention on the grocery-delivery company after second-quarter results showed year-over-year growth of 14% in revenue and gross transaction value. Gross transaction value reached 10.351 billion dollars in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, while revenue reached 1.043 billion dollars. Orders rose 9% to 90.3 million. In the second quarter of 2025, gross transaction value was 9.081 billion dollars and revenue was 914 million dollars, with 82.7 million orders. The comparison reflects business expansion over a year, while the sale talks remain separate from any official announcement.
Second-quarter growth was uneven across profitability measures. Net income under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles was 111 million dollars, down 4% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA rose 19% to 313 million dollars. Gross profit under the same accounting standards also increased 11% to 751 million dollars. Advertising and other revenue was 297 million dollars, up 16%. Free cash flow reached 480 million dollars, up 156% from the year-earlier period. These figures show a divergence between declining net income and growth in other profitability and cash measures.
Chief Executive Chris Rogers said the company had "meaningfully accelerated its growth over the past three quarters," pointing to the attraction of more customers to its marketplace and enterprise platform. This comes in a market where delivery platforms compete with retailers developing their own digital channels. Zach Stambor, an analyst at eMarketer, said Instacart could face pressure from two sides: retailers building their own channels and larger platforms combining grocery delivery with other services. He added that a deal could give the company broader resources and reach to compete. A Reuters report noted the expansion of rapid-delivery services, including Amazon Now, which delivers groceries and essentials within 30 minutes or less.
Regulatory scrutiny remains one of the main potential obstacles to a deal between two companies whose services overlap. The Information said a combination of Instacart with DoorDash or Uber could prompt an antitrust review because of the overlap in grocery delivery. The newspaper noted that antitrust officials in the Trump administration had shown greater willingness to approve deals with conditions, such as divestitures of some businesses. But bringing direct competitors together would still be subject to an investigation. Advanced talks therefore do not guarantee that the deal will clear regulatory review or be completed.
Talks between DoorDash and Instacart date back to 2021, when the companies discussed a potential sale valuing Instacart at between 40 and 50 billion dollars, according to The Information; that process stalled in part because of questions about regulatory approval. In the current development, the company’s market capitalization was estimated at about 12 billion dollars at Thursday’s close on October 22, according to Reuters. A Reuters report said a hypothetical acquisition premium of between 30% and 40% could put the company’s value at about 16 to 17 billion dollars, but that is a conditional estimate, not an announced price. Instacart shares jumped 9.2% to 56.44 dollars in Friday trading after the report of sale talks, according to Bloomberg. DoorDash closed at 179.38 dollars and Uber at 66.70 dollars on October 23, according to EL7 data.
Instacart is expected to report third-quarter results on November 5, 2026, according to a company announcement. The results will provide another financial update as investors await developments in the talks with DoorDash. An earlier EL7 story covered reports that Instacart was exploring a sale to Uber or DoorDash and cited a value of 12 billion dollars. The current talks remain unresolved, according to published reports. No final agreement has been announced in the available information.