DoorDash swings to loss in second quarter since IPO
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Aggressive expansion into a crowded global grocery delivery market plunged SoftBank-backed DoorDash into a wider than expected loss in the second quarter since its December 2020 IPO.
The NYSE-listed food delivery firm reported a net loss of $102m in the second quarter, wider than the $74.6m loss Wall Street had been expecting.
This translated to a loss of $0.30 a share – worse than analyst estimates of $0.20.
Total expenses more than doubled to $1.34bn, eclipsing a jump in revenue in the period and sending DoorDash’s stock down by around 5 per cent in extended trading.
Contributing to its dip in shares, the firm also said it expects a decline in new customer acquisition in the third quarter.
Revenue beat expectations, surging 83 per cent year-on-year to $1.2bn, ahead of Wall Street estimates of $1.1bn.
DoorDash reported marketplace gross order value – a key metric for growth that tracks the total value of all app orders and subscriptions – rose 70 per cent to $10.5bn in the quarter.
The firm interpreted this as a robust result considering Covid restrictions were relaxed in multiple US locations, meaning its key market had more options to dine out in restaurants.
After this confidence boost, DoorDash raised its full-year marketplace gross order value expectations to between $39bn and $40.5bn – up from its previous forecast of betwen $35bn and $38bn.
As the demand for food delivery persisted more than a year into the global pandemic, DoorDash signed new partnerships to deliver pet supplies retailer PetSmart, meat alternative maker Beyond Meat and grocer Albertsons’ products.
During the second quarter, DoorDash also expanded outside its US core market into Canada, Australia and Japan.
“While we observed encouraging trends in the first half of 2021, we caution investors that significant uncertainty remains and consumer behavior could deviate from the expectations included in our guidance,” the firm said.