DoorDash Q3 2026: $17B Instacart Deal, Record Results

DoorDash will buy Instacart for $65 a share, about $17 billion, as record third-quarter 2026 results lift its stock and reshape U.S. grocery delivery.

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What Are the Terms of the DoorDash-Instacart Deal?

The deal pays $65.00 per share, and Instacart holders can choose cash, DoorDash stock or a mix. Cash is $65.00 per share, and the stock option is 0.3372 DoorDash shares. The mixed option is $48.75 in cash plus 0.0843 DoorDash shares.

Stock consideration is capped at 25% of the total, so at least 75% of the payment will be cash. Elections are subject to proration if holders ask for more stock than the cap allows. Closing is expected at the end of 2027 or early 2028, after regulatory review and a shareholder vote.

How Did DoorDash Perform in the Third Quarter?

DoorDash set records for Marketplace gross order value, revenue and net income in the third quarter of 2026.

• Total orders rose 28% from a year earlier to 993 million.
• Marketplace gross order value, the total value of orders on the platform, rose 36% to $33.9 billion.
• Revenue rose 34% to $4.6 billion, ahead of the roughly $4.56 billion consensus.
• GAAP net income attributable to common stockholders rose 91% to $466 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA reached $1.06 billion.
• Adjusted earnings per share were $1.06, against a consensus near 82 to 84 cents.

Instacart reported third-quarter earnings of 60 cents per share, short of the 63 cents analysts expected. The miss did not change the offer price.

Why Did Markets React This Way?

Investors rewarded DoorDash because the earnings beat reduced concern about the price of an acquisition this size. DASH shares rose between roughly 5% and 9% in premarket trading, depending on the time of the quote.

Instacart shares traded around $58, below the $65 offer. The gap reflects the long timeline to close and the antitrust risk, since the combined company would hold a large share of U.S. online grocery delivery. A discount of that size is typical for a deal that will not close for more than a year and still needs regulatory clearance.

Strategic Context

The acquisition extends DoorDash's push beyond restaurants into groceries and retail, where order frequency and basket sizes are larger. Instacart supplies established relationships with grocery chains and a large base of shoppers. Its advertising business sells placement to consumer brands, and that revenue carries higher margins than delivery fees.

DoorDash has been expanding in grocery and convenience delivery, and Instacart brings scale in the category that DoorDash has been building toward. The combination also puts both companies' logistics networks under one owner. That could lower delivery costs per order, but it would also concentrate pricing power in one platform.

What Comes Next for the Deal?

Regulators in the United States will decide whether the deal can proceed. Antitrust agencies are likely to examine overlap in grocery delivery, the effect on retailers that rely on both platforms, and the consequences for gig workers who currently shift between apps.

DoorDash will also have to finance the cash portion, which is at least three-quarters of the price. Its record earnings and cash generation support that, but the size of the payment makes integration costs and the timeline closely watched points for shareholders.

Outlook

DoorDash enters the deal with record orders, revenue and profit, and a cash-heavy offer of $65 per share for Instacart. The market has welcomed the strategy for DASH, while the spread in CART shares shows that closing the deal carries regulatory risk. The transaction is not expected to close until late 2027 or early 2028.