By Granth Vanaik
(Reuters) -DoorDash projected annual core profit largely above expectations and beat fourth-quarter revenue estimates on Thursday, signaling more customers used its online delivery platform to order food and grocery items.
Shares of the San Francisco-based firm were down about 3% in after hours trading after it forecast current-quarter core profit below estimates owing to higher costs.
The company has been steadily growing its U.S. market share through newer partnerships in categories outside its core restaurant delivery business, with companies such as Best Buy and Victoria’s Secret.
“We have been able to continue attracting new consumers and driving higher consumer engagement for the simple reason that our service continues to get better,” CEO Tony Xu wrote in a letter to shareholders.
DoorDash expects 2024 adjusted earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) between $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion, mid-point of which is above expectations of $1.63 billion, according LSEG data.
In the first-quarter, however, it expects adjusted EBITDA between $320 million and $380 million, mid-point of which is below estimates of $355.3 million.
Total orders jumped 23% to 574 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from a year earlier, as people opted to order from the comfort of their homes given eating out still remains expensive.
DoorDash expects 2024 gross order value (GOV) – a key metric that shows the total value of all app orders and subscription fees – between $74 billion and $78 billion, compared with $66.8 billion in 2023.
The food-delivery firm also authorized up to $1.1 billion in share repurchases.
Its revenue rose 26.7% to $2.30 billion in the reported quarter, compared with estimates of about $2.24 billion.
Net loss narrowed to $154 million, or 39 cents per share, from $640 million, or $1.65 per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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