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    DASH
    Earnings call· Sep 2025(Q3 FY25)

    DoorDash, Inc. DASH

    Nov 5, 2025 Source

    Executive summary

    DoorDash Q3 FY25 — Accelerated Growth and Strategic Investments

    DoorDash delivered strong Q3 FY25 results, marked by accelerating growth across its core business and new verticals, alongside record subscription numbers. The company is strategically investing hundreds of millions in 2026 to build a new global, AI-native tech platform and expand new product initiatives like DashMart Fulfillment Services and autonomous delivery, aiming for long-term growth and efficiency despite near-term cost increases.

    Highlights

    5

    • Core business growth accelerated for the fourth straight quarter, exceeding expectations.

    • Ads business achieved $1 billion in annualized revenues, making it the fastest in history to reach this milestone.

    • New Verticals business is growing rapidly, leading in order volume share and showing improving unit economics.

    • U.S. marketplace demonstrated increasing strength on a larger base, driven by product improvements and user acquisition.

    • DashPass and Wolt+ subscriptions reached record numbers in the U.S. and internationally.

    Concerns

    3

    • Incremental step-up costs for 2026 are estimated to be around $100 million per quarter for platform development.

    • Deliveroo integration involves extra tech investments and temporary cloud instances, adding to costs.

    • Accounting differences for Deliveroo result in an estimated USD 8 million to USD 10 million impact/expense to EBITDA when converting to DoorDash's definition.

    Guidance & targets

    2
    CategoryTargetConfidence
    EBITDA margin for existing business (ex-Deliveroo)
    up slightly compared to 2025
    high materiality
    High
    Deliveroo contribution to overall EBITDA
    $200 million
    medium materiality
    High

    Segment performance

    3
    SegmentRevenueYoYQoQMargin
    New Verticals
    New verticals had a strong quarter, growing really fast and leading in order volume share. Unit economics continue to improve sequentially and year-on-year. The focus is on scaling the business and improving the product to drive future free cash flow generation.
    Order volume share: leadersUser penetration (Q4 last year): 1/4 of usersMiles: increasedOrder frequency: increasingBasket size: increasing
    		—growing really fast—unit economics continue to improve
    Deliveroo
    Deliveroo's growth is exceeding expectations, growing double digits. The focus is on improving product and consumer experience to drive scale, retention, and order frequency. The $200 million EBITDA contribution reflects investments in product, selection, quality, and people.
    		—double digits—$200 million contribution to overall EBITDA
    U.S. Restaurants
    The U.S. restaurant business is performing well, growing at a larger scale and accelerating. Unit economics continue to progress nicely, with incremental margins consistently above 7% over the last eight quarters.
    Unit economics: still progressing quite nicelyIncremental margins (last 8 quarter average): above 7%
    		———incremental margins above 7%

    Operational metrics

    11
    Incremental investments
    several hundred millions
    FY26

    Investments primarily in building a new global tech platform and new products.

    Incremental step-up cost
    $100 million
    per quarter

    Estimated incremental step-up cost for platform development in 2026.

    Ads business annualized revenues
    $1 billion
    annualized

    The ads business reached $1 billion in annualized revenues, making it the fastest in history to do so.

    Users ordering from new verticals
    1/4continued to grow quite nicely
    Q4 last year

    In Q4 of last year, one-quarter of DoorDash users ordered from new verticals, and this number has continued to grow.

    Monthly Active Users (MAUs)
    growing
    Q3 FY25

    Underlying cohorts show MAUs are growing, contributing to U.S. marketplace strength.

    Order frequency
    growing
    Q3 FY25

    Underlying cohorts show order frequency is growing, contributing to U.S. marketplace strength.

    DashPass subscribers
    record quarter
    Q3 FY25

    DashPass subscribers in the U.S. had a record quarter.

    Wolt+ subscribers
    record quarter
    Q3 FY25

    Wolt+ subscribers internationally had a record quarter.

    Items available for delivery in cities
    tens of millions
    current

    There are tens of millions of items available in cities, but only a single-digit percentage are currently delivered through DoorDash.

    Items delivered through DoorDash
    single-digit percentage
    current

    Only a single-digit percentage of the tens of millions of items available in cities are currently delivered through DoorDash.

    Deliveroo EBITDA accounting impact
    USD 8 million to USD 10 million
    per period

    Estimated impact/expense to EBITDA when converting Deliveroo's EBITDA definition to DoorDash's definition.

    Product announcements

    4
    ProductTypeDetails
    In-store products (reservations, CRM platform)launch
    DoorDash Dotlaunch
    DashMart Fulfillment Serviceslaunch
    Going Outlaunch

    Deals & partnerships

    2
    DeliverooAcquisition of Deliveroo to expand presence in Europe and build a leading local commerce platform.

    The acquisition of Deliveroo was completed, and the company is now focusing on integrating the business, improving product, and leveraging operational playbooks. The deal thesis was to operate in large, attractive markets and deploy operational rigor.

    KrogerPartnership to add Kroger to the grocery selection on DoorDash.

    Kroger was added to DoorDash's grocery selection, enhancing the platform's offerings and reinforcing its leadership in order volume and new customer acquisition in the grocery category.

    Risks & headwinds

    6
    Incremental costs for global tech platform developmentFY26

    approximately $100 million per quarter

    Mitigation: Expected to lead to long-term efficiency, freed-up engineering capacity, and a better cost structure.

    Temporary cloud instance costs during tech stack migrationFY26

    extra costs incurred

    Mitigation: Necessary for maintaining multiple stacks while building a new one, protecting the customer experience during transition.

    Deliveroo EBITDA accounting differences

    USD 8 million to USD 10 million impact or expense to EBITDA

    Mitigation: This is a modeling adjustment for converting Deliveroo's EBITDA definition to DoorDash's.

    Competitive landscape in local commerceongoing

    always been a competitive space

    Mitigation: Focus on continued growth, improving selection, quality, affordability, and service levels to meet increasing consumer expectations.

    Inventory fulfillment challenges in grocery/perishablesongoing

    customers not ordering if accuracy is not near-perfect

    Mitigation: Developing DashMart Fulfillment Services to manage inventory systems and run end-to-end fulfillment for near-perfect accuracy.

    Regulatory and political intervention (e.g., Dasher pay, worker classification)ongoing

    potential impact on Dasher pay and organizing

    Mitigation: Advocating for commonsensical policies, ensuring fair treatment for all audiences, and proactively investing in Dasher protection (e.g., occupational accident insurance).

    What to watch in Q4 FY25

    5

    Global Tech Platform Development

    FY26
    CurrentUnderway, with majority of investments in 2026
    TargetProgress on architecture and initial deployment, leading to increased efficiency and feature velocity

    Why it matters

    This initiative is expected to drive long-term efficiency, faster product development, and a better cost structure across all markets.

    The first major area is building a new global tech platform. And so this is an effort that's been underway for a couple of years now, but it's coming to a head where we're actually making the majority of those investments in 2026.

    Q&A highlights

    5

    How are the several hundred millions in 2026 investments split between tech platform and direct product efforts? What are the tech platform efforts (AI rewrite/integration, cost savings potential)?

    Investments are primarily in building a new global, AI-native tech platform for a single tech stack across all markets, and in new products like DashMart Fulfillment Services and autonomous vehicles. The tech platform aims for efficiency and faster shipping, with long-term cost savings. The core business's strong performance allows for these reinvestments, which are expected to drive strong IRRs and extend growth duration.

    “The first major area is building a new global tech platform. And so this is an effort that's been underway for a couple of years now, but it's coming to a head where we're actually making the majority of those investments in 2026.”

    asked by Deepak Mathivanan · answered by Tony Xu

    2 min read6 chapters

    Detailed Narrative

    01

    Global Tech Platform and AI Integration

    DoorDash is undertaking a significant investment in 2026 to build a new global tech platform, aiming for a single tech stack across all markets and audiences. This initiative will enable faster feature deployment and is designed to be AI-native, incorporating new tooling and architecture for agent workflows and software development. Management anticipates this will lead to greater efficiency, freed-up engineering capacity, and a better cost structure in the long run.

    02

    New Product Development and Commercialization

    The company is investing in several new products, many of which have evolved from long-running experiments. Key launches include in-store products like reservations and the SevenRooms CRM platform, DoorDash Dot (a purpose-built autonomous delivery vehicle), and DashMart Fulfillment Services. These initiatives aim to solve more local commerce problems with high quality, leveraging DoorDash's track record of growing experiments into successful businesses.

    03

    Deliveroo Integration and European Strategy

    DoorDash views the Deliveroo acquisition as an opportunity to become the leading local commerce platform in Europe, building on the success of Wolt. The initial focus is on improving product and consumer experience to drive retention, frequency, and unit economics. While cost efficiencies from combining European teams are expected over time⏳, the immediate priority is adding to Deliveroo's foundation and applying learnings from DoorDash and Wolt to achieve best-in-class metrics.

    04

    Autonomy Vision and Pragmatic Expansion

    DoorDash envisions a multimodal autonomous delivery world, utilizing Dashers, various vehicles (land, air, DoorDash-built, partner-built), to offer the highest quality, lowest cost, and best service. The company is taking a pragmatic approach, testing within single markets and focusing on aspects like manufacturing, partnerships, hardware/software integration, repair, teleoperations, and city government collaboration. 2026 is slated for commercialization of some efforts, acknowledging it will be a gradual process requiring upfront investments.

    05

    New Verticals Growth and Category Expansion

    Beyond grocery and convenience, DoorDash is seeing significant growth across diverse categories such as pets, electronics (especially for gifting), health and beauty, and home improvement. The company is effectively becoming an 'everything inside your city store,' with new customers often entering through non-restaurant categories and then engaging in multi-shopping behavior across the platform, reinforcing the value of DashPass.

    06

    DashMart Fulfillment Services Strategy

    DashMart Fulfillment Services aims to address the inventory fulfillment challenge for retailers, enabling them to offer same-hour or same-day delivery with near-perfect accuracy. This involves managing inventory systems end-to-end, from warehousing to fulfillment. The approach is customized for each retailer, depending on their goals (e.g., new geographies, densifying existing ones, utilizing less productive square footage), with the ultimate goal of bringing more selection to customers.

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