DoorDash (DASH) Tops Q3 Estimates as Orders Grow 28%

DoorDash (DASH) reported third-quarter revenue of $4.62 billion, up 34% year on year, beating the $4.56 billion analysts expected, according to LSEG data cited by CNBC. Earnings of $1.06 a share, which CNBC described as adjusted, topped LSEG’s 84-cent estimate; the Zacks consensus was 82 cents. The shares jumped 5.6% on Thursday to close at $179.00, after the results and a deal to buy Instacart came out before the open.

The stock gave some of that back on Friday. As of 9:31 a.m. ET it was down 1.2% at $176.89.

What stood out

Volume did the work. Marketplace gross order value, the total value of orders placed through DoorDash’s apps, rose 36% to $33.9 billion, near the top of the $33 billion to $34 billion range the company gave in August. Orders rose 28% to 993 million.

Part of that growth was bought. Deliveroo, the British delivery company DoorDash bought, is in this quarter’s numbers but not the year-ago quarter’s. Without it, gross order value grew 23% and orders grew 17%, the release showed.

Profit grew faster than sales. Net income attributable to shareholders rose 91% to $466 million, and adjusted EBITDA, a measure of operating profit before interest, taxes, and some non-cash costs, rose 41% to $1.06 billion.

The Instacart deal

The bigger news for the stock was the deal. DoorDash agreed to buy Instacart for $65 a share in cash and stock, about $17 billion, a 26% premium to Instacart’s close on 22 October, before reports of the talks, the companies said. DoorDash expects the deal to close in late 2027 or the first half of 2028.

“Grocery is one of the hardest things to get right online,” Chief Executive Tony Xu said in the deal announcement. Instacart’s own third-quarter revenue rose 17% to $1.10 billion, its release showed.

The reaction was a reversal. DoorDash slid 6.1% on 26 October when the talks were first reported.

The outlook

For the fourth quarter, DoorDash expects gross order value of $35.4 billion to $36.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $900 million to $1.1 billion.

The EBITDA range sits below the third quarter’s $1.06 billion at the midpoint.

Our take

This was a clean quarter: a revenue beat, orders still growing in the high teens without Deliveroo, and profit growing faster than sales. The open questions are the fourth-quarter profit dip and a second large deal while Deliveroo is still being absorbed. Even after Thursday’s jump, the stock closed 32.7% below its 52-week closing high of $266.06 from 29 October 2025. Next quarter we’d watch whether order growth holds once the Deliveroo boost drops out of the comparison.