DoorDash agreed on Oct. 29 to buy Instacart for roughly $17 billion — its largest acquisition ever — betting that grocery delivery can help it hold off Amazon and Walmart.
The offer values Maplebear Inc., Instacart’s parent, at $65 per share in cash and stock, a 26% premium to the Oct. 22 close before reports of a deal surfaced. Instacart shareholders can elect all cash, all DoorDash stock, or a blend.
The announcement came the same day DoorDash posted record third-quarter revenue of $4.62 billion, up 34%. Closing is expected at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028, pending reviews in the US, Canada and Israel and a shareholder vote.
Mamdani’s warning on prices
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attacked the deal on X within hours, pointing to the $131.5 million settlement DoorDash agreed to last month with the city over late and missing worker payments. He has also backed the Delivery Protection Act, a City Council bill targeting Amazon’s delivery operations in the city.
Just last month, DoorDash couldn’t seem to find the money to pay their deliveristas — until our administration forced them to give back $131M+ in stolen wages and penalties. This week, they’ve managed to find $17 billion to acquire one of their main competitors. Corporate… https://t.co/EUnynAhrSx
Xu’s cheaper-delivery pitch
DoorDash CEO Tony Xu argues the merger pairs Instacart’s grocery software with DoorDash’s delivery network so stores keep their customer relationships and data. Grocery is one of the hardest things to get right online,
he wrote in a statement, and the companies say the combination will deliver efficiencies to offer faster delivery as well as lower cost throughout the system
and enable more affordable prices.
On the third-quarter earnings call, Xu said combining Instacart’s storefront software with DoorDash’s first-party logistics would let merchants run their own loyalty programs and keep their own customer data. DoorDash’s Ravi Inukonda projected the combination would contribute $500 million annually to the bottom line by year three. Analysts at William Blair wrote that Instacart’s retailer relationships would let DoorDash spread its grocery investments over a larger scale, lowering unit fulfillment costs.
The two companies’ Q3 2026 numbers
| Metric | DoorDash | Instacart |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 revenue | $4.62 billion | $1.095 billion |
| Year-over-year revenue growth | 34% | 17% |
| Quarterly profit measure | Net income of $466 million, up 91% | Adjusted EBITDA of $342 million, up 23% |
Fournier questions unit economics as app downloads decline
Not everyone is convinced. Andrés Fournier said the deal won’t end well.
Having run digital retail, dark stores and supermarkets for 15 years, I can tell you both models have fundamental flaws,
he said, questioning whether the core unit economics will ever work.
Markets have been muted: DoorDash shares stood at $179.67 on Nov. 6, down 0.139% that day. The growth backdrop is cooling too — Sensor Tower estimates downloads of standalone delivery apps in the US and Canada are down a fifth so far in 2026 from a year earlier.
Speculation had already moved Instacart’s stock: shares surged Oct. 26 on reports of final-stage talks, pushing founder Apoorva Mehta’s holdings back above $1 billion.
DoorDash acquires advertising business to complement existing revenue
Analysts say DoorDash is largely buying an advertising business it failed to build alone. Instacart’s advertising and other revenue was $297 million in the second quarter, 28.5% of everything it earned, while DoorDash’s ads run around 10% of revenue after it bought ad-tech firm Symbiosys for $175 million in 2025.
BREAKING: DoorDash just agreed to buy Instacart for $17 billion. Here's what that means for customers and shoppers. https://t.co/6QYfEDmvqB
Bryan Gildenberg, CEO and founder of Confluencer Commerce, told Retail Brew the two ad networks are complementary — Instacart sells more effectively to CPG brands, while DoorDash’s audience differs — and that shoppers could yield more route density. Instacart’s marketplace spans nearly 100,000 stores; the merger adds more than 50,000 DoorDash stores.
A $1.25 billion hedge
The companies have priced in a regulatory fight. At least 75% of the price comes in cash, and the agreement carries a $1.25 billion breakup fee if antitrust objections kill the deal. Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel at an antitrust advocacy nonprofit, warned the combined market share could create a food delivery monopoly that squeezes worker pay and drains consumers.
DoorDash first explored buying Instacart for about $50 billion in 2021, according to Retail Brew — far above today’s price, as standalone delivery growth has cooled.
Fournier closed with a challenge: I have respect for the DoorDash team and hope it works out. Let’s see where my view stands in three years.
>
More on Instacart
Related reading
Discover more from Archyworldys
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.