DoorDash Releases Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DoorDash, Inc. (NASDAQ: DASH) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. In Q3 2026, we generated new quarterly records across Marketplace GOV, revenue, and net income. In the quarter, we drove continued growth in our membership1 programs, launched new products, added more selection, advanced our global technology platform, and continued to innovate in key new areas of our business, including merchant services, AI, and autonomy. We are pleased with our execution through the first nine months of 2026 and excited about the contributions we are making to local economies. Additionally, we announced a definitive agreement to acquire Maplebear Inc. ("Instacart") for $65.00 per share, payable in at least 75% cash and up to 25% DoorDash common stock, subject to election and proration mechanics. We believe that, together with Instacart, our combined scale and complementary technologies will enable us to build the next generation of tools and services that will empower local merchants to thrive, provide more choice for consumers, and generate more opportunity for Dashers2 and shoppers using Instacart's platform ("Shoppers"). Third Quarter 2026 Key Financial Metrics Total Orders increased 28% year-over-year (Y/Y) to 993 million. Marketplace GOV increased 36% Y/Y to $33.9 billion. Revenue increased 34% Y/Y to $4.6 billion. GAAP net income attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders increased 91% Y/Y to $466 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 41% Y/Y to $1,060 million. Three Months Ended (in millions, except percentages) Sept. 30,2025 Dec. 31,2025 Mar. 31,2026 Jun. 30,2026 Sept. 30,2026 Total Orders 776 903 933 970 993 Total Orders Y/Y growth 21 % 32 % 27 % 27 % 28 % Marketplace GOV $ 25,015 $ 29,683 $ 31,604 $ 33,078 $ 33,941 Marketplace GOV Y/Y growth 25 % 39 % 37 % 36 % 36 % Revenue $ 3,446 $ 3,955 $ 4,036 $ 4,454 $ 4,616 Revenue Y/Y growth 27 % 38 % 33 % 36 % 34 % Net Revenue Margin 13.8 % 13.3 % 12.8 % 13.5 % 13.6 % GAAP gross profit $ 1,689 $ 1,911 $ 1,944 $ 2,223 $ 2,311 GAAP gross profit as a % of Marketplace GOV 6.8 % 6.4 % 6.2 % 6.7 % 6.8 % Contribution Profit $ 1,268 $ 1,405 $ 1,380 $ 1,641 $ 1,780 Contribution Profit as a % of Marketplace GOV 5.1 % 4.7 % 4.4 % 5.0 % 5.2 % GAAP net income attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders $ 244 $ 213 $ 184 $ 200 $ 466 GAAP net income attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders as a % of Marketplace GOV 1.0 % 0.7 % 0.6 % 0.6 % 1.4 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 754 $ 780 $ 754 $ 914 $ 1,060 Adjusted EBITDA as a % of Marketplace GOV 3.0 % 2.6 % 2.4 % 2.8 % 3.1 % Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding 442 443 442 439 440 Operational Update In Q3 2026, we grew Total Orders 28% Y/Y (17% Y/Y excluding the impact of Deliveroo), Marketplace GOV 36% Y/Y (23% Y/Y excluding the impact of Deliveroo), and revenue 34% Y/Y (23% Y/Y excluding the impact of Deliveroo). In Q3 2026, net income attributable to our common stockholders was $466 million and Adjusted EBITDA was $1,060 million. As a note, beginning in Q4 2026, we intend to stop disclosing quarterly results excluding Deliveroo, as this will represent the anniversary of the acquisition and our total company results will be largely comparable with the year-ago period. In our U.S. restaurant category in Q3 2026, Y/Y growth in Marketplace GOV accelerated slightly compared to Q2 2026, despite a challenging Y/Y comparison due to strong growth in Q3 2025. On a quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q) basis, Marketplace GOV in the U.S. restaurant category grew faster in Q3 2026 than in any third quarter since Q3 2020. Growth in the U.S. restaurant category was driven by continued Y/Y growth in order rates3 among mature cohorts4 and accelerated Y/Y growth in new consumers.5 We continued to drive strong growth in U.S. DashPass paid memberships in Q3 2026, which helps reduce transactional friction for consumers. Over the last two years, growth in DashPass has helped drive a 9% reduction in transaction fees per order in the U.S. restaurant category. In our U.S. grocery and retail categories, Y/Y growth in Marketplace GOV in Q3 2026 remained strong, growing at more than double the pace of Y/Y growth in our U.S. restaurant category. During the quarter, in our U.S. grocery and retail categories, we announced several new merchant partners, supporting broader selection for consumers, and we continued to drive improvements to affordability and quality, which helped drive continued double-digit Y/Y growth in order rates for nearly all mature cohorts in Q3 2026, as well as Y/Y growth in new consumers to our U.S. grocery and retail categories that was consistent with Y/Y growth in the first half of 2026. We view the relatively consistent growth in our U.S. marketplace in Q3 2026, and over the last four years, as a positive signal of underlying demand trends and a reflection of our ability to continue producing increased value through product innovation. A recent addition to our service in some cities is reservations and, during Q3 2026, restaurant reservations through our U.S. marketplace grew over 340% Q/Q in existing geographies, with more than 10% of reservations in Q3 2026 coming from consumers who were new to DoorDash in the quarter.6 In our international marketplaces, we drove accelerated Y/Y growth in Marketplace GOV in Q3 2026,7 supported by accelerated Y/Y growth in Total Orders at each of our international brands. We continue to diffuse operating insights and product innovations across the company, which is helping improve the efficiency of our international operations. At the same time, we continue to work to improve the dynamism of our capital allocation across geographies and product areas, so that we can take advantage of the best opportunities we see to positively impact customer outcomes and drive long-term profit production. We believe these improvements helped enable us to drive strong topline performance in our international marketplaces in Q3 2026, with contributions to total profitability that exceeded our expectations entering the quarter. The first nine months of 2026 was a period of excellent execution and solid financial performance. Nonetheless, we continue to have significant work ahead of us to improve our existing services, complete the implementation of our new global technology platform, and build the next generation of services that will drive local commerce and our company forward. Agreement to Acquire Instacart DoorDash, Inc. and Instacart today announced a definitive agreement under which DoorDash will acquire Instacart for a total value of $65.00 for each Instacart share, or an equity value of approximately $17 billion. Instacart stockholders will have the right to elect to receive, for each Instacart share: (i) $65.00 in cash, (ii) 0.3372 shares of DoorDash common stock, or (iii) a mix of $48.75 in cash and 0.0843 shares of DoorDash common stock, in each case, subject to a cap on the total stock consideration issuable by DoorDash equal to 25% of the aggregate consideration and certain proration mechanics. Instacart's board of directors has unanimously approved the agreement. The value of $65.00 per Instacart share represents a 26% premium to Instacart's closing price on October 22, 2026, the last trading day before media reports about a possible transaction. As described above, Instacart stockholders may elect to receive cash, DoorDash common stock or a mix of cash and DoorDash common stock for each Instacart share, subject to a cap on the total stock consideration issuable by DoorDash equal to 25% of the aggregate consideration. If stock consideration is oversubscribed, applicable Instacart stockholders will receive stock consideration on a prorated basis. DoorDash expects to fund the cash portion of the consideration with cash on hand and proceeds from debt financing. DoorDash has entered into a financing commitment letter with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. providing for a 364-day senior unsecured bridge loan facility in support of the debt component of the transaction, subject to satisfaction or waiver of certain customary conditions. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition. DoorDash is targeting a capital structure that will maintain investment-grade ratings. The transaction is expected to close in the end of 2027 or the first half of 2028, subject to approval by Instacart stockholders, the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, other regulatory approvals, including in Canada and Israel, and other customary closing conditions. Stockholders holding about 19% of Instacart's outstanding shares have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction. Grocery Delivery and Instacart Grocery delivery is still early in its adoption. We’ve made meaningful progress over the past five years at DoorDash, significantly improving logistics quality for grocery delivery, but as we’ve said many times, the product still isn’t there. Consumers are still asked to pay a premium for imperfect delivery. To achieve the end state of perfect grocery delivery every time at the best possible prices, we believe that invention is required on the fulfillment and business models of grocery delivery. In order to obtain perfect delivery every time from the widest selection of grocers, we believe managing the inventory ourselves for third-party grocers is important. This is why we started our DashMart project five years ago, first learning how to do this by holding our own inventory, and now managing thousands of high-quality products from Giant Eagle, Albertsons, and others. When we manage inventory ourselves, we achieve 99%+ fulfillment accuracy.8 We also deliver more than 10 minutes faster on average,9 because the warehouse environment is optimized for delivery whereas a grocery store was never set up for delivery. In addition to faster delivery, managing the inventory ourselves gives us the potential to reduce the cost of fulfillment, and lower costs enable us to reinvest into more value for consumers. Managing inventory inside a warehouse is a fixed cost business. Scale is a necessary (though insufficient) input into helping lower costs. This is one of the reasons we’re attracted to Instacart, as it adds scale that is unique to our network. Over the past 14 years, Instacart has built a great brand that serves millions of consumers. Hence, we believe that combining our reach will enable the best possible logistics and software infrastructure to produce the best possible grocery delivery experience for grocers, consumers, Shoppers, and advertising partners. We expect this to be true on Day 1 (after close), as the combined reach will increase density across the grocery store network, helping increase delivery speed, lower fulfillment costs, and provide greater earning opportunities for Shoppers. As we have historically done, we expect to reinvest a portion of the improved network efficiencies into creating a better experience for all audiences. We’ve done this both with our U.S. restaurant marketplace, where our reinvestments into product innovation have continued to generate durable growth, and in our acquired businesses outside of the U.S. Most recently, we demonstrated this investment philosophy and approach at Deliveroo, which in Q3 2026, saw Total Orders grow at twice the Y/Y rate it did in Q3 2025 (pre-acquisition). To this end, we see a multi-year path to $500 million or more of annual synergies, net of investments. We expect to invest more than 100% of total synergies in the first year after close, followed by positive net synergies in year two and beyond. However, our initial aims in online grocery with third-party fulfillment won’t be the end state, and Instacart’s scale will benefit us on the journey toward creating a better product experience for grocery delivery. First, the expected efficiencies created can give us the investment capacity to invest further in our fulfillment network. Second, Instacart’s scale will help amortize the fixed cost of managing inventory on behalf of grocers. Moreover, Instacart shares the same mission as we do to empower merchants to grow on their own channels. Instacart has invested in its Enterprise product for several years and is a leader in this space. In addition to offering grocers the best Day 1 and long-term products from the DoorDash and Instacart marketplaces, when we combine Instacart’s leading Enterprise software with our leading fulfillment services, we believe we can offer grocers an even more efficient logistics network and best-in-class first-party products, too. Finally, the combined reach and cross selling opportunities across different categories will be a win for advertisers who are always seeking scaled platforms to earn the best return on ad spend. Atoms vs Bits Four years ago, as ChatGPT launched and the advent of the AI revolution was getting started, we recognized two important challenges for companies: one to be the leading digital personal assistant, and the other to become the leading physical network to help fulfill tasks in the real world. DoorDash will be focused on the second of these two battles. Building a scaled logistics network and solving the challenges that connect all of these audiences in the end-to-end flow of delivery is how we intend to compete. As AI personal agents are now starting to become more mainstream, our strategy today remains focused on winning the battle for atoms. This doesn’t mean that we won’t contribute to AI innovation digitally. In fact, we recently shipped a series of AI agents that solve real customer problems including: Ask DoorDash, which helps you find new restaurants most similar to what your usual orders are and enables you to build your grocery order baskets faster; Text DoorDash, a texting solution that is the fastest way to order outside the DoorDash app; and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) that interfaces with external AI agents, including those used at companies for easier corporate ordering. But from a capital allocation perspective, we are investing substantial sums in two ways to build for the physical world. We are investing in building capabilities like warehousing and in autonomous delivery. We are also investing in our ability to help merchants win with unique demand and the best products, such as today’s announcement to team up with Instacart. Financial Outlook Period Marketplace GOV Adjusted EBITDA Q4 2026 $35.4 billion - $36.4 billion $900 million - $1,100 million Based on our current outlook and assuming a stock price consistent with recent trading levels, we expect: 2026 stock-based compensation expense of approximately $1.2 billion. 2026 depreciation and amortization expense of approximately $1.2 billion, inclusive of approximately $450 million of amortization of acquired intangible assets. 2026 year-end timing for merchant payments compared to the end of 2025 is expected to reduce reported 2026 Free Cash Flow by between $700 million and $800 million. Our outlook assumes that aggregate consumer demand and key foreign currency rates remain relatively stable at current levels. Our outlook also anticipates significant levels of ongoing investment in new categories, international markets, and in our system capacity to support further growth, as well as growing investment in new initiatives and our global technology platform. We caution investors that consumer spending in any of our geographies could deteriorate relative to our outlook, which could drive results below our expectations. Additionally, our increasing international exposure heightens risks associated with operating in foreign markets, including geopolitical and currency risks. Changes in the international operating environment could negatively impact results versus our current outlook. We have not provided GAAP net income (loss) attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders outlook or a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA outlook to GAAP net income (loss) attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders as a result of the uncertainty regarding, and the potential variability of, reconciling items such as legal, tax, and regulatory expenses and other items. Accordingly, a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA outlook to GAAP net income (loss) attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders is not available without unreasonable effort. However, it is important to note that material changes to reconciling items could have a significant effect on future GAAP results. We have provided historical reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP measures in tables at the end of this release. For more information regarding the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this release, please see "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below. Q3 2026 Financial Performance Three Months Ended Y/Y % Change Q/Q % Change (in millions, except percentages) Sept. 30,2025 Dec. 31,2025 Mar. 31,2026 Jun. 30,2026 Sept. 30,2026 Sept. 30,2026 Sept. 30,2026 Revenue $ 3,446 $ 3,955 $ 4,036 $ 4,454 $ 4,616 34 % 4 % Net Revenue Margin 13.8 % 13.3 % 12.8 % 13.5 % 13.6 % GAAP cost of revenue, exclusive of depreciation and amortization $ 1,687 $ 1,935 $ 1,992 $ 2,107 $ 2,171 29 % 3 % GAAP sales and marketing expense $ 576 $ 707 $ 746 $ 821 $ 765 33 % (7 )% GAAP research and development expense $ 355 $ 419 $ 398 $ 535 $ 499 41 % (7 )% GAAP general and administrative expense $ 400 $ 480 $ 432 $ 538 $ 426 7 % (21 )% GAAP net income attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders $ 244 $ 213 $ 184 $ 200 $ 466 91 % 133 % Net cash provided by operating activities $ 871 $ 421 $ 594 $ 944 $ 994 14 % 5 % Free Cash Flow $ 723 $ 254 $ 420 $ 742 $ 787 9 % 6 % The Y/Y increase in Total Orders in Q3 2026 was driven primarily by growth in the number of consumers and the acquisition of Deliveroo. Excluding the acquisition of Deliveroo, Total Orders increased 17% Y/Y in Q3 2026. The Y/Y increase in Marketplace GOV in Q3 2026 was driven primarily by growth in Total Orders and an increase in average order value10 on our Marketplaces. Excluding the acquisition of Deliveroo, Marketplace GOV increased 23% Y/Y in Q3 2026. The Y/Y increase in revenue in Q3 2026 was driven primarily by growth in Marketplace GOV. Excluding Deliveroo, revenue increased 23% Y/Y in Q3 2026. The Y/Y increase in GAAP cost of revenue, exclusive of depreciation and amortization in Q3 2026 was driven primarily by increases in Total Orders. As a percentage of Marketplace GOV, GAAP cost of revenue, exclusive of depreciation and amortization, was 6.4% in Q3 2026, down from 6.7% in Q3 2025 and in line with 6.4% in Q2 2026. The Y/Y increase in GAAP sales and marketing expense in Q3 2026 was driven primarily by increases in advertising expenses and personnel-related compensation expenses. As a percentage of Marketplace GOV, GAAP sales and marketing expense was 2.3% in Q3 2026, in line with 2.3% in Q3 2025 and down from 2.5% in Q2 2026. The Y/Y increase in GAAP research and development expense in Q3 2026 was driven primarily by increases in personnel-related compensation expenses and third-party software expenses. As a percentage of Marketplace GOV, GAAP research and development expense was 1.5% in Q3 2026, up from 1.4% in Q3 2025 and down from 1.6% in Q2 2026. The Y/Y increase in GAAP general and administrative expense in Q3 2026 was driven primarily by increases in personnel-related compensation expenses. As a percentage of Marketplace GOV, GAAP general and administrative expense was 1.3% in Q3 2026, down from 1.6% in Q3 2025 and 1.6% in Q2 2026. GAAP net income attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders was $466 million in Q3 2026, up from $244 million in Q3 2025 and $200 million in Q2 2026. Adjusted EBITDA was $1,060 million in Q3 2026, up 41% from $754 million in Q3 2025 and up 16% from $914 million in Q2 2026. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of Marketplace GOV was 3.1% in Q3 2026, up from 3.0% in Q3 2025 and 2.8% in Q2 2026. In Q3 2026, we generated net cash provided by operating activities of $994 million and Free Cash Flow of $787 million, up from $871 million and $723 million, respectively, in Q3 2025. In February 2025, our board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $5.0 billion of our Class A common stock. Year to date through October 28, we have repurchased a total of 6.8 million shares of our Class A common stock for $1.0 billion under the February 2025 authorization. We currently have approximately $4.0 billion remaining under the current stock repurchase authorization. We may or may not repurchase any portion of the remaining amount. Analyst and Investor Conference Call and Earnings Webcast DoorDash will host a conference call and webcast to discuss our quarterly results today at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time (8:30 a.m. Eastern Time). Those interested in listening to the call can register and attend by visiting our Investor Relations page at https://ir.doordash.com. An archived webcast will be available on our Investor Relations page shortly after the call. Available Information We announce material information to the public about us, our products and services, and other matters through a variety of means, including filings with the SEC, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts, the investor relations section of our website (ir.doordash.com), our blog (doordash.news), and our social media accounts on X (including @TheDashboard) and LinkedIn in order to achieve broad, non-exclusionary distribution of information to the public and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. 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DoorDash Releases Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results

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