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    DASH
    Earnings call· Jun 2025(Q2 FY25)

    DoorDash Q2 FY25 earnings call DASH

    Aug 6, 2025 Source

    Executive summary

    DoorDash Q2 FY25 — Strong U.S. Marketplace and Advertising Revenue Growth

    DoorDash delivered a strong Q2 FY25, marked by accelerating U.S. marketplace growth driven by DashPass and increased order frequency. The company's advertising business surpassed a $1 billion annualized run rate, while new verticals and international operations also demonstrated robust expansion and improved unit economics. Management emphasized continuous product improvement and strategic investments across its growing portfolio of businesses, including the pending Deliveroo acquisition and the recently closed SevenRooms acquisition, to drive long-term scale and efficiency.

    Highlights

    5

    • U.S. marketplace orders accelerating year-over-year, driven by DashPass membership growth and frequency uptick.

    • Advertising revenue exceeded $1 billion annualized run rate, making it the fastest in history to reach this milestone.

    • New verticals growing much faster than core restaurants, with increased selection and improved unit economics year-over-year.

    • International business (Wolt) showed strong growth in users and order frequency, with MAUs and order frequency hitting all-time highs.

    • DashPass cohorts, including older ones, continue to engage at higher levels, with order frequency hitting an all-time high.

    Guidance & targets

    4
    CategoryTargetConfidence
    Deliveroo acquisition closing
    at some point in Q4
    high materiality
    Medium
    New verticals volume share leadership
    volume share leaders
    medium materiality
    High
    Take rate
    higher than the first half take rate
    medium materiality
    High
    Operating expenses as percentage of GOV
    roughly 2% of GOV
    low materiality
    Medium

    Segment performance

    2
    SegmentRevenueYoYQoQMargin
    International business
    Strong growth in users and order frequency, driven by product improvements, selection, and new categories. Unit economics improved year-over-year. Gaining share across most countries.
    MAUs: all-time highOrder frequency: all-time highWolt+ growth: faster than DashPass at same time
    		—strong—positive gross profit
    New Verticals
    Strong quarter, growing really fast. Strength from both new and existing cohorts. Increased selection, better product quality, more affordability. More DashPass users ordering from more categories.
    Volume share: expected to be leaders within next yearNew cohorts ordering: higher than same time last yearExisting cohorts engagement: larger than last yearOrder frequency: continuing to increase, all-time highs
    		—much faster than core restaurants—improved unit economics year-over-year

    Operational metrics

    13
    Advertising revenue run rate
    $1 billion
    annualized

    At some point last year, we did cross $1 billion of revenue run rate in the ads business, making it the fastest in history to get there.

    Operating expenses as percentage of GOV
    2%
    long term

    roughly, you should think about it as 2% of GOV in that range, which we've talked about for the past couple of quarters.

    DashPass users ordering from new verticals
    continued to increasevs Q4 FY24
    Q2 FY25

    in Q4, we talked about the fact that roughly about 1/4 of our users order from new verticals. That number has continued to increase.

    Wolt+ growth rate
    faster than DashPass at the same time
    Q2 FY25

    Wolt+ has been a good addition to our overall portfolio... That continues to do quite well. And when I look at the slope of the Wolt+ curve, actually, it's growing faster than DashPass at the same time.

    Monthly Active Users
    all-time high
    Q2 FY25

    When I look at the MAUs just for the international business, they have hit an all-time high.

    Order frequency
    all-time high
    Q2 FY25

    order frequency has also hit an all-time high.

    New customer cohort size
    higher than same time last yearYoY
    Q2 FY25

    On the new cohorts, today, the size of new cohorts ordering from new verticals is higher than same time last year.

    Existing customer cohort size
    larger than what we saw last yearYoY
    Q2 FY25

    The engagement levels of mature cohorts, think of them as existing cohorts, the size of those cohorts is also larger than what we saw last year.

    Order frequency
    continuing to increase
    Q2 FY25

    At the same time, these cohorts are engaging with us more, which means order frequency is continuing to increase. So when you look at the underlying cohort performance, it's very strong. Both users are growing, order frequency is growing. We've hit all-time highs across both of those metrics.

    Order frequency
    higher
    Q2 FY25

    DashPass, when they continue to graduate, the order frequency is higher... order frequency hit an all-time high.

    Take rate
    highervs Q1 FY25
    Q2 FY25

    take rate was going to be higher in Q2. It was in line with our expectation... we saw benefit from Dasher costs... we are driving improvements in the underlying product, especially quality, which gave us benefit in terms of credits and refunds. The third factor was ads is becoming a larger portion.

    Dasher costs
    higher
    Q1, Q4

    Dasher cost is seasonal for us... Dasher costs are higher for us in Q1. Dasher costs are higher in Q4. So you're thinking about the model, Nikhil, in Q4, Dasher costs are going to be higher. They're more reasonable in Q2 and Q3.

    Average Order Value (AOV) / Basket size growth
    uptick in growthfor a couple of quarters
    Q2 FY25

    it looks like the AOV or basket size has continued to see this uptick in growth for a couple of quarters in a row now... largely as a result of mix shift, we are seeing new verticals become a larger portion of the business.

    Deals & partnerships

    5
    SymbiosysAcquired to enhance on-platform and off-site advertising capabilities.

    Acquisition closed to enhance the advertising business, allowing DoorDash to act as an agent for marketing spend for merchants and advertisers.

    DeliverooAcquisition of UK-based food delivery platform.

    Anticipated to close in Q4 FY25, subject to regulatory review. Management plans to run the company with a focus on product experience and unit economics.

    SevenRoomsAcquisition to build a third B2B product, adding marketing and data analytics components for merchants.

    Acquisition closed in early/mid-June. It brings a marketing and data analytics component to understand customer engagement with merchants in an omnichannel way.

    Coco RoboticsPartnership for sidewalk robots for autonomous delivery.

    Partnership for sidewalk robots, with launches in L.A. and Chicago. Part of DoorDash's broader work in autonomous delivery since 2017.

    Google WingPartnership for drone delivery tests.

    Partnership for drone delivery, particularly in parts of the world outside the U.S. DoorDash is excited about recent regulatory developments in the U.S. regarding drone delivery.

    What to watch in Q3 FY25

    4

    Deliveroo acquisition status

    Q4 FY25
    CurrentPending regulatory review
    TargetClosed

    Why it matters

    This acquisition is a significant international expansion and will impact DoorDash's global footprint and financial results.

    we anticipate closing on the time line we had communicated, which is at some point⏳ in Q4, it's obviously still subject to regulatory review.

    Q&A highlights

    7

    What specific product improvements drove U.S. marketplace strength, DashPass growth, and frequency? How is DoorDash scaling its advertising opportunity after the Symbiosys acquisition, given it exceeded $1 billion annualized run rate?

    Tony Xu attributed U.S. marketplace strength to long-term product improvements across selection, affordability, quality, and service. For ads, he noted crossing $1 billion run rate and explained Symbiosys helps them act as a marketing agent for merchants. Ravi Inukonda added that ads growth is disciplined, focusing on merchant ROAS and consumer conversion.

    “at some point last year, we did cross $1 billion of revenue run rate in the ads business, making it the fastest in history to get there.”

    asked by Shweta Khajuria · answered by Tony Xu

    2 min read7 chapters

    Detailed Narrative

    01

    U.S. Marketplace Strength and Product Improvement

    DoorDash reported accelerated growth in its U.S. marketplace, attributing it to long-term product improvements in selection, affordability, delivery quality, and customer service. DashPass membership growth and increased order frequency were key drivers, with both new and existing cohorts showing higher engagement and order frequency reaching all-time highs. Management emphasized that these improvements are the result of work dating back several years, with current efforts expected to impact future quarters.

    02

    Advertising Business Growth and Strategy

    The advertising business surpassed a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate, noted as the fastest to reach this milestone. Management emphasized a disciplined approach focused on merchant return on ad spend (ROAS) and consumer conversion, prioritizing a best-in-class consumer experience. The acquisition of Symbiosys aims to enhance marketing capabilities for merchants by leveraging DoorDash's data and know-how, positioning DoorDash as a growth engine for its partners.

    03

    New Verticals Expansion and Cross-Platform Benefits

    New verticals, including grocery, convenience, and retail, are growing significantly faster than the core restaurant business, with the company expecting to become volume share leaders within the next year. This growth is driven by increased selection, product quality, affordability, and higher engagement from both new and existing customer cohorts. Unit economics for new verticals have improved year-over-year, leveraging existing platform assets.

    04

    International Business Performance (Wolt)

    The international segment, primarily Wolt, demonstrated strong performance with Monthly Active Users (MAUs) and order frequency reaching all-time highs. The Wolt+ subscription program is growing faster than DashPass at a comparable stage. Improvements in quality and affordability are driving customer engagement, and unit economics for international operations have improved year-over-year, with gross profit remaining positive.

    05

    AI Integration and Operational Efficiency

    DoorDash is actively integrating AI across its operations to enhance user experience, improve search and personalization, and streamline physical world processes like inventory management and merchant onboarding. AI is also being used to boost engineering productivity, reflecting a fundamental rethinking of business operations from first principles, similar to the adoption of cloud computing in the company's early days💬.

    06

    Strategic Acquisitions and B2B Platform

    The acquisition of SevenRooms aims to expand DoorDash's Commerce Platform business by adding marketing and data analytics capabilities for merchants, complementing existing B2B products like DoorDash Drive and Storefront. The pending Deliveroo acquisition is anticipated to close in Q4 FY25, subject to regulatory review, with a strategic focus on improving product experience and unit economics post-acquisition to maximize long-term margin dollars.

    07

    Robotics and Drone Delivery Initiatives

    DoorDash continues to explore autonomous delivery solutions, including partnerships for sidewalk robots (Coco Robotics) and drone delivery (Google Wing). The company emphasizes the complexity of solving the end-to-end system for scalable, economically viable autonomous delivery, noting that the vehicle itself addresses only a fraction of the overall challenge. DoorDash has been working on this for approximately eight years.

    AI-generated summary of the company’s earnings call. Not investment advice.