DoorDash beats revenue estimates as consumer demand remains strong

By Granth Vanaik

(Reuters) – DoorDash Inc topped Wall Street expectations for quarterly revenue on Thursday helped by steady demand for ordering food online, despite persistently high inflation and higher prices.

Shares of the company rose 11% in extended trading.

The company also said Ravi Inukonda will take over as chief financial officer, effective March 1, with current incumbent Prabir Adarkar moving to be chief operating officer. Christopher Payne, who was associated for seven years with DoorDash will retire, the company added.

As fears of a recession grow in the United States, cost-conscious consumers have stuck with their pandemic habit of ordering affordable meals at home rather than dining at restaurants, boosting revenues for companies like DoorDash and UberEats parent Uber Technologies Inc.

DoorDash continues to see consumers order more frequently, a company spokesperson told Reuters, adding that in 2022 it saw more consumers use the platform than ever.

Total orders rose 27% to 467 million in the fourth quarter from the prior year.

The top U.S. food delivery company expects gross order value – the total value of all app orders and subscription fees – to be between $60 billion to $63 billion for 2023, compared with $53.4 billion it reported in 2022.

The San Francisco-based firms revenue jumped 40% to $1.82 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31. Analysts had expected about $1.77 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

However, the companys quarterly net loss widened to $642 million, or $1.65 per share, from $155 million, or 45 cents a year earlier, due to costs related to stock-based compensation and staff cuts.

Late in November, the company had said it would be cutting about 1,250 jobs, or 6% of its total workforce, in an attempt to keep a lid on costs that have ballooned in the face of a tough economy.

(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)