Instacart is upgraded to a buy after a strong Q4 and a sharp valuation reset. CART benefits from a massive $1T U.S. grocery market, ongoing convenience trends, and new AI-driven customer acquisition. Advertising (Carrot Ads) and AI integration are key growth catalysts, with GTV and adjusted EBITDA margins improving.
Instacart (NASDAQ:CART) shares jumped more than 14% in early trading on Friday after the grocery delivery company posted its strongest quarterly volume performance in three years, even as profit margins came under pressure. For the fourth quarter, gross transaction value (GTV) rose 14% year-over-year to $9.85 billion, while orders climbed 16% to 89.5 million.
Maplebear Inc. (CART) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
While the top- and bottom-line numbers for Maplebear (CART) give a sense of how the business performed in the quarter ended December 2025, it could be worth looking at how some of its key metrics compare to Wall Street estimates and year-ago values.
Maplebear (CART) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.53 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.52 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.53 per share a year ago.
Instacart topped Wall Street's fourth-quarter revenue estimates and issued strong guidance as more customers turn to the grocery delivery platform. Instacart said it had its strongest quarter of gross transaction value in three years as its enterprise platform gains momentum.
The food-delivery platform, also known as Maplebear, posted net income of $81 million, or 30 cents a share, down from $148 million, or 53 cents a share, from the same period a year earlier.
BP (BP) beat Q4 revenue estimates with $47.38B (+3.6% Y/Y), but shares fell 5% premarket. Instacart (CART) partnered with 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS) for national flower delivery, expanding its platform ahead of Valentine's Day.
Maplebear Inc., aka Instacart, faces mounting long-term headwinds from in-house competition, regulatory pressures, and consumer belt-tightening despite recent CART share price declines. Local laws in Seattle and New York City are driving up costs, forcing CART to raise fees and cut driver incentives, resulting in declining order volumes. While CART's fundamentals—20x GAAP P/E, 2.8x P/S, 14.15% net margin, and 17.56% FCF margin—appear solid, slow revenue growth and competitive threats raise concerns.
Maplebear (CART) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
Investors with an interest in Internet - Commerce stocks have likely encountered both Maplebear (CART) and Chewy (CHWY). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now?
New York State Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday (Jan. 8) that she demanded information from Instacart about its use of algorithmic pricing and price-setting experiments and that she warned the company that it may be violating the state's law.