Instacart parent company Maplebear posted second-quarter revenue growth and earnings ahead of estimates. Instacart stock jumped following the report.
Maplebear said it earned an adjusted 41 cents per share for the June-ended quarter, up 105% from a year earlier. That beat the 38 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet forecast. Sales increased 11% to $914 million, compared to analyst estimates of $896 million.
Sales growth accelerated from the 9% rate that Instacart posted in Q1. The gross total value of transactions on Instacart's grocery delivery marketplace grew 11% to $9.08 billion. Analysts were projecting $8.94 billion.
For the current quarter, the company expects gross transaction value of roughly $9.075 billion for Instacart, at the midpoint of its range. That beat analysts forecasts ahead of the report.
"It's clear all business is firing on all cylinders," Maplebear Chief Executive Fidji Simo said on a call with analysts Thursday. "We've extended our supply advantage by building innovative technologies that make our service easier to use and more affordable."
The call marked Simo's final one as the leader of the Instacart parent company. She is joining ChatGPT creator OpenAI to lead its applications business.
On the stock market today, Instacart stock was up more than 5% at 51.89 in recent action.
Instacart Stock Adds To Gains
Instacart stock has already outperformed the S&P 500 this year, with a 19% gain heading into Friday trading. Shares were also ahead 53% compared to 12 months ago.
Tariffs and a weak July U.S. employment report raised some concern among analysts about consumer spending heading into the results Thursday. But strong growth from Instacart as well as Uber Technologies and DoorDash pointed to steady demand of app-based delivery of food and groceries.
Instacart credited part of its growth to restaurant orders that it offers in partnership with Uber Eats. Advertising revenue, meanwhile, increased 12% to $255 million.
Total orders through Instacart increased 17% year-over-year to 82.7 million. Average-order-value decreased by 5%, however, which Instacart said reflected an increase in food deliveries and a lowered minimum for Instacart+ members to receive free delivery.
"The (year-over-year) improvement continues to be driven by higher order frequency and use case from restaurants and the introduction of lower minimum basket for Instacart+ members," Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion wrote to clients Friday. "Paid members are growing nicely, and net engagement as a percentage of monthly users continue to deepen. Restaurant still has a lot of runway, though contribution to overall growth will lessen over time."
One challenge for Instacart will be that its Q3 results are lapping the first quarter that Uber food delivery became available, which Champion said could cause year-over-year order growth to moderate. He rates Instacart stock as overweight, or buy.
Coming into the report, Instacart stock had an IBD Composite Rating of 77 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The score combines five separate proprietary ratings into one rating.
