Live news: DoorDash shares rise after upbeat earnings

DoorDash enjoyed an after-hours trading bounce after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings for last year’s fourth quarter, showing signs of healthy post-lockdown growth for the food delivery business.

DoorDash, the market-leading food delivery group in the US, ahead of Uber Eats, grew its monthly active user base to 34mn, up 28 per cent on the same period in 2021.

Revenue climbed to $1.82bn, up 40 per cent on 2021, and above Wall Street estimates. Order numbers rose 27 per cent to 467mn. 

Gross Order Volume — the total value of all orders on DoorDash — rose to $14.4bn. The company said it forecasted GOV of $15.1bn-$15.5bn for the current quarter.

Some of the growth can be attributed to the company’s acquisition of Wolt, a Finnish delivery service taken over by DoorDash in June 2022 — a move which opened it up to more than 20 markets in Europe.

The company said it had also introduced additional efficiency in its existing markets, including reducing delivery times by around 10 per cent.

However, the company incurred deeper losses than Wall Street had been expecting: $642mn, compared to a $155mn loss last year. The company said it suffered a $312mn impairment due to a poorly performing investment, plus restructuring charges of $84mn related to recent employee lay-offs.

The company said Christopher Payne, DoorDash’s chief operating officer and president, would be stepping down. He will be replaced by current chief financial officer Prabir Adarkar. Ravi Inukonda, a finance and strategy executive, will step up to the CFO role.

Shares rose by as much as 10 per cent before settling at around 5 per cent higher.