DoorDash's record quarter funds a $17 billion Instacart buyout at $65 a share, at least 75% in cash
The same 8-K that delivered a record quarter also priced Instacart at $65 a share, at least 75% in cash. DoorDash holders fund the deal; Instacart holders who elect cash get out first.
Richard Tang · 3 min read
DoorDash+4.24% — DoorDash, up 4.24 percent today filed its Q3 results and its Instacart takeover in the same 8-K this morning, the SEC filing companies must make for major events such as a deal or earnings, and the pairing is the message: the record quarter is the receipt for the $17 billion check 1. What changed since our earlier reports of advanced talks: the agreement is now definitive at $65 a share, at least 75% in cash with a JPMorgan bridge commitment behind it, and it was announced inside the quarter itself 1.
Revenue hit $4.6 billion, up 34%, net income rose 91% to $466 million, and adjusted EBITDA, the profit measure that excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and stock compensation, reached $1.06 billion 1. The market's first read was not cautious: Instacart rallied 4.4% toward the offer price while DoorDash edged slightly higher 2. CART converging on $65 is the arbitrage trade working 2.
Q3's $466 million is DoorDash's largest quarterly net income on record
Data
| Net income ($M) | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '24 | $162M |
| Q4 '24 | $141M |
| Q1 '25 | $193M |
| Q2 '25 | $285M |
| Q3 '25 | $244M |
| Q4 '25 | $213M |
| Q1 '26 | $184M |
| Q2 '26 | $200M |
| Q3 '26 | $466M |
The terms put DoorDash's shareholders on the hook
Instacart holders get $65.00 a share, at least 75% of it in cash, with the stock portion capped at 25%; DoorDash funds the cash from its balance sheet plus a 364-day bridge commitment from JPMorgan+1.00% — JPMorgan, up 1.00 percent today, and says it wants to keep investment-grade ratings 1. On the balance sheet it has about $5 billion of cash to start from 1.
Instacart holders who elect cash get out at a fixed price; DoorDash holders carry the debt and the dilution across a close expected at end-2027 or in the first half of 2028, a regulatory clock of roughly 14 to 20 months, pending antitrust review in three jurisdictions 12.
Revenue rose every quarter of 2026, to a record $4.6 billion in Q3
Data
| Revenue ($M) | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '25 | 3,446 |
| Q4 '25 | 3,955 |
| Q1 '26 | 4,036 |
| Q2 '26 | 4,454 |
| Q3 '26 | 4,616 |
The reason sits in the filing itself
US grocery and retail GOV, gross order value, meaning the total dollar value of orders on DoorDash's marketplaces, is growing at more than double the pace of US restaurants 1. DoorDash admits grocery delivery "still isn't there" because consumers pay a premium for imperfect delivery. Its answer is managing inventory in warehouses like DashMart, a fixed-cost business where scale matters, and Instacart adds that scale on day one 1.
The risk is the gap between those two facts. DoorDash must keep record margins while rebuilding a grocery business it calls unfinished, out of borrowed cash. Instacart's board unanimously approved the deal, and holders of about 19% of its shares have agreed to vote in favor 1.
Who pays and who waits
For investors, the trade splits cleanly. Instacart trades as a claim on $65 across a regulatory clock running to end-2027 or the first half of 2028 12. DoorDash is a bet that a record quarter can fund, and eventually fix, grocery fulfillment it calls unfinished.
Watch three things: the antitrust review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino process, the Instacart shareholder vote with 19% of shares already signed, and DoorDash's first quarter carrying bridge debt. Until those resolve, the record quarter is the collateral and the grocery fix is the promise.
Get Deals by email, free
The acquisitions, rounds and contracts that move AI money. In our daily email, every weekday.
