The Motley Fool on $CART (Oct 27, 2026)
Instacart's move to sell itself is logical: revenue growth has slowed to about 11% year over year versus DoorDash's more than double, and scale is decisive in this difficult business. The speaker expects a deal within 12 months but at a little less than the roughly $19 billion sought, with no bidding war now that Uber talks appear over.
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And we also have news of a merger or potential merger with Instacart. We will discuss that at the very end.
We'll come back after the break to see what exactly is happening on Instacart. Usually when we hear rumors of company mergers, it is often said that an acquiring company is trying to buy the target company.
But, in the case of Instacart, the opposite seems to be the case, as there were reports over the weekend that Instacart itself has approached Uber and DoorDash for sales , not the other way around.
Instacart is currently listed as Maple Bear, which is quite strange, as their business name and business type are completely different. But the funny thing is. This year it has increased by 53 percent.
It has been publicly traded for just over 3 years. Anyone would think they want to stay in the market for a while longer. So what is the real story ? Why are they in such a hurry to sell the business ?
Yes, I'm not surprised why Instacart wanted this deal. Their income growth is slowing down. I think it's like 11 percent year over year , whereas DoorDash is growing at more than double that.
Instacart still has some control. Their valuation is far below their peak as a private company. However, the share price is at its recent high. Their advertising business is quite strong.
And right now, the regulatory environment is unlikely to be more favorable for such a deal. So, I'm not surprised that they want to complete the deal quickly.
Yes, the economic situation of this business is extremely difficult. Scale or scope of business is the only effective factor here. Many competitors have larger business scopes, and DoorDash has a history of expanding its business scope through M&A, as they did with Deliveroo in Europe.
In my opinion, this is a very logical decision in all respects.
So, if we come to a specific number, I think Instacart is demanding around $19 billion for this deal according to the latest reports. While I'm at it , if the deal is completed within the next 12 months, will Instacart be sold for $19 billion ?
Will it be more or less than 19 billion? Compared to $19 billion, I would probably be a little lower or on the under side.
Hmm, I think the deal will be done, but I think it will be a little less than that. Yeah, I mean, it looks like they didn't get the bidding war they wanted, because they...it looks like they're not talking to Uber anymore.