DoorDash is a more preferred stock for Wall Street, given its vast food delivery expansion, while Instacart, in its nascent stage, has been able to grow steadily.
- Instacart has a consensus rating of ‘Buy,’ according to Koyfin. 17 out of the 33 analysts covering Instacart rate it ‘Buy’ or higher.
- Wall Street has a consensus ‘Strong Buy’ rating on DoorDash, according to Koyfin, with 34 out of the 44 analysts covering the stock rating it ‘Buy’ or higher.
- In the fourth quarter, more than 9,000 brands advertised on Instacart, up from 7,000 last year.
Instacart’s better-than-expected quarterly results and a strong forecast for the new quarter, driven by a surge in online orders, have put the focus on competition in the food delivery sector between the grocery delivery platform and rival DoorDash, which is set to report next week.
A rapid growth in advertising revenue through several brands turning to its platform, Instacart is enjoying a new growth era, not just propelled by customers ordering on its platform, but retailers and other companies marketing themselves using its application.
In 2025, the company delivered over $1 billion in advertising and other revenue, reflecting the strength of the ad formats and measurement tools.
CART Vs DASH: Growth Stories At A Glance
Shares of Instacart jumped nearly 15% during overnight trading on Thursday after the company’s first-quarter forecast for gross transaction value, which shows the value of products sold on Instacart, to be between $10.13 billion and $10.28 billion.
In the fourth quarter, more than 9,000 brands advertised on Instacart, up from 7,000 last year, and this diversification made the company’s ad ecosystem stronger and more resilient, executives said on a post-earnings call on Thursday.
Instacart’s shares have declined more than 26% so far this year, compared to the nearly 9% gain witnessed last year.
Shares of DoorDash were marginally down during overnight trading and have declined nearly 29%, underperforming Instacart. DoorDash and Instacart are seeing a hit from investors turning cautious regarding consumer spending in 2026, which has been pressured for a while due to rising prices in the United States.
In January, Stifel said that Amazon’s commentary during its quarterly earnings suggests there may be incremental pricing pressure on consumers in 2026. However, Instacart reported revenue growth of 12% to $992 million in the fourth quarter, easing worries.
Analyst Ratings: Which Stock Has More Upside?
Instacart has a consensus rating of ‘Buy,’ according to Koyfin. 17 out of the 33 analysts covering Instacart rate it ‘Buy’ or higher, 14 analysts have a ‘Hold’ rating, and two analysts have ‘Sell’ or lower rating. CART’s average price target on Wall Street is $49.96, which implies a 50% upside to the last closing price of $33.24.
Wall Street has a consensus ‘Strong Buy’ rating on DoorDash, according to Koyfin, with 34 out of the 44 analysts covering the stock rating it ‘Buy’ or higher and 10 rating it ‘Hold.’ The average price target was $274.69, implying a 71% upside from Thursday’s closing price of $161.14.
Bank of America on Thursday lowered the firm’s price target on DoorDash to $260 from $305 and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating, according to TheFly ahead of the company’s quarterly report on Feb. 18. The firm said that while first quarter guide downs have been sold so far in the sector in 2026, it thinks the first-quarter outlook could be a clearing event if the top line is strong and full year margin outlook is relatively unchanged.
Wall Street expects DoorDash to post revenue of $3.99 billion, a 39% jump from a year earlier, and earnings per share are estimated to be $1.29, compared to $1.06 from a year ago, according to data from Fiscal AI.
Retail Sentiment Turns Bullish
Retail sentiment on DoorDash jumped to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory a day ago, with message volumes at ‘extremely high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.
Instacart retail sentiment was in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory compared to ‘bullish’ a day ago, with message volumes at ‘extremely high’ levels.
Shares of Instacart have declined 34% in the last 12 months and DoorDash stock has fallen 20% during the same period.
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