What’s Going On Here?US food delivery app DoorDash posted a bevy of all-time highs late last week. What Does This Mean?There were concerns – entirely legitimate ones – that both rising inflation and the post-pandemic novelty of open restaurants would drag on demand for takeout last quarter, but DoorDash didn’t see any such signs. In fact, it boasted a laundry list of records: a record number of users, a record value of orders, and record monthly subscriptions from over 10 million members – nearly half its roughly 25 million monthly active users. Throw in a strong showing from the Finnish delivery platform it bought late last year, and DoorDash’s overall revenue rose by a better-than-expected 30%. You can hardly blame investors for getting carried away after an update like that: they sent its shares up 20%. Why Should I Care?The bigger picture: This is DoorDash’s town.
DoorDash made the most of the early lockdowns, getting a foothold in the American suburbs and quickly establishing itself as the dominant meal delivery service in the country. And it’s only grown its market share since then: the company was responsible for 59% of all US food delivery sales in May, according to data from Bloomberg Second Measure. And now, it's expanding into other services like convenience store items, groceries, and alcohol, which could see it extend its lead over the likes of Grubhub and Uber Eats even more.
Zooming out: The gig isn’t up just yet.
Multiple gig economy companies seem to be trouncing analysts’ post-pandemic expectations, with Lyft posting its highest-ever quarterly profit last week thanks to strong demand and savvy cost-cutting. But while the ride-hailing giant said it was expecting more trips this quarter as the new school year kicked off, it did warn that higher insurance costs could hit its profit growth in the rest of the year. | 