Advanced Talks Could Value Instacart at About $17 Billion in DoorDash Deal
Key Facts
DoorDash is in advanced talks to acquire Instacart in a deal that could value the grocery delivery platform at about $17 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Reuters on October 26. The source said an agreement could be reached as soon as Wednesday, but added there was no guarantee it would be completed. The potential valuation puts a substantial value on a platform that connects shoppers with retailers, while negotiations remain unresolved. Reuters reported that Instacart’s discussions with Uber about a deal are no longer active. The potential deal would bring together Instacart’s established marketplace and retailer relationships with DoorDash’s network and customer base, Reuters said.
At Friday’s close on October 23, Instacart’s market capitalization was about $13 billion, below the valuation under discussion. In regular trading on Monday, Instacart shares rose about 8%, while DoorDash shares fell about 6%, according to Reuters. The stocks moved after news of the talks emerged, while the potential deal price remained an estimate attributed to a person familiar with the matter. The market capitalization recorded at Friday’s close does not necessarily represent the amount DoorDash would pay if the two sides reach an agreement. Nor does the trading move settle the deal’s terms or prospects for completion.
Instacart says it works with more than 2,200 national, regional and local retailers, delivering orders from nearly 100,000 stores in more than 15,000 cities across North America. Those relationships could give DoorDash access to an established grocery market and a broad store network, according to Reuters’ description of the potential deal’s benefits. In the second quarter of 2026, gross transaction value on Instacart’s platform was about $10.351 billion, up 14% year over year. Orders reached 90.3 million, up 9% from the same period a year earlier, according to the company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These indicators reflect the scale of activity Instacart could add to DoorDash’s business if the deal is completed.
Instacart’s revenue in the second quarter of 2026 was about $1.043 billion, up 14% year over year, according to its filing. The company reported GAAP net income of $111 million, down 4% from the year-earlier period. Chief Executive Chris Rogers said the company had “meaningfully accelerated our growth over the past three quarters,” citing 14% growth in gross transaction value in the second quarter. These figures provide context on the company’s performance as sale talks proceed, but do not establish the negotiations’ motivations or outcome. The comparison between revenue and transaction growth and the decline in net income shows different trends in the quarter’s results, based on figures reported by the company.
DoorDash recorded gross transaction value of $33.1 billion across its marketplaces in the second quarter of 2026, up 36% year over year, according to its filing. The company said the addition of Deliveroo affected order and transaction value growth during the quarter. Excluding the acquisition’s impact, orders rose 17% and gross transaction value grew 23% year over year. The results put the scale of DoorDash’s business in context as a potential deal would add substantial grocery delivery activity. For the third quarter of 2026, DoorDash forecast gross transaction value of between $33 billion and $34 billion and adjusted EBITDA of between $950 million and $1.1 billion.
The talks come in a sector that Reuters said faces rising labor costs, tighter regulation of delivery workers and intensifying competition after the pandemic-driven surge in online demand receded. The two companies had previously discussed a deal in 2021 at a valuation ranging, according to a report by The Information, from $40 billion to $50 billion. Those talks were partly derailed by antitrust questions, the report said. The difference between that range and the current potential valuation of about $17 billion highlights how the figures under discussion have changed across the two rounds of talks. But the current source did not cite final terms or guarantee that negotiations would result in an agreement.