DoorDash Posts $4.616 Billion in Revenue and Agrees to Acquire Instacart at $17 Billion Valuation
Key Facts
On October 29, DoorDash announced a definitive agreement to acquire Instacart, valuing its equity at about $17 billion, alongside third-quarter 2026 revenue of $4.616 billion. The company said total orders rose 28% year over year to 993 million, while gross order value increased 36% to $33.9 billion. Net income attributable to shareholders grew 91% to $466 million, and adjusted EBITDA rose 41% to $1.060 billion. The results combine expanding operating activity with a major deal that strengthens the company’s presence in grocery delivery and local commerce. The agreement still requires shareholder and regulatory approvals before it can close.
Third-quarter revenue was $3.446 billion in the same period of 2025, then rose to $4.454 billion in the second quarter of 2026 before reaching $4.616 billion in the third quarter. Revenue recorded from Deliveroo, which was included in the quarterly total, was $365 million, while revenue excluding its impact reached $4.251 billion. Total revenue grew 34% year over year, but the growth rate was 23% excluding Deliveroo. On the same basis, orders rose 17% rather than 28%, and gross order value increased 23% rather than 36%. The comparison shows that expansion included underlying growth as well as Deliveroo’s contribution to the consolidated figures.
The agreement values Instacart’s equity at about $17 billion, with the $65-per-share offer representing a 26% premium to the closing price on October 22, the last session before media reports of a possible deal. Under the terms, Instacart shareholders can elect to receive $65 in cash per share, 0.3372 of a DoorDash share, or a combination of $48.75 and 0.0843 of a share. The portion of consideration paid in DoorDash stock is capped at no more than 25% of total consideration. DoorDash said it expects to fund the cash portion with available liquidity and debt financing proceeds, and that the deal does not include a financing condition. Shareholders holding about 19% of Instacart’s outstanding shares agreed to vote in favor of the deal.
DoorDash presented the deal as combining its delivery network with Instacart’s grocery technology and retailer relationships. It said Instacart users could gain access to more than 50,000 additional stores, alongside about 100,000 stores currently available on its platform. It also said combining DashPass and Instacart+ memberships into a single fee could save members an estimated $100 million annually. The company estimated that the synergy plan would take several years to reach at least $500 million annually, net of investments. It added that it expects to invest more than 100% of total synergies in the first year after closing, meaning the savings target comes with high initial spending.
The deal comes as the companies’ shares of U.S. delivery-platform spending have shifted. The Associated Press said Instacart’s share fell from 26% five years ago to 18% at the time of its report, while DoorDash’s share rose from 44% to 59% over the same period. The agency added that DoorDash completed more than 3 billion orders last year through a network of 9 million independent delivery workers, compared with 338 million orders fulfilled by Instacart. Instacart founder Apoorva Mehta said the idea of combining the companies had been discussed for years, and that he and DoorDash Chief Executive Tony Xu had explored it over that period. The deal gives the companies an opportunity to link the scale of a delivery network with a grocery-focused platform and its retailer relationships.
Approvals remain a major hurdle to closing the deal, which requires approval from Instacart shareholders and regulatory review, including by authorities in the United States, Canada and Israel. DoorDash said it expects the deal to close in late 2027 or during the first half of 2028, if the required approvals are secured. The Associated Press warned that antitrust experts believe greater consolidation could reduce competition and weaken retailers’ options in negotiations with delivery platforms. The agency quoted an antitrust expert as saying, "Less competition and greater concentration tend to harm consumers." In Thursday afternoon trading on October 29, DoorDash shares rose 5% while Instacart shares fell 1.6%; DoorDash closed at $179 that day.