Why analysts see DoorDash as a ‘core holding’ for internet investors
DoorDash shares have been volatile of late, but it hasn’t shaken Wall Street’s conviction in growth opportunities for the stock. Shares of the food delivery platform initially tumbled as much as 12% in extended trading on Feb. 18, after DoorDash’s fourth-quarter earnings missed expectations. Its forecast also disappointed as the company warned investments in Deliveroo and its international business would cut into future profits. It seemed like a huge setback for the stock, which had already fallen 20% since the start of 2026. But the losses reversed as CEO Tony Xu spoke to analysts on the company’s conference call. The executive painted a picture of momentum and durability as he reassured investors that the investments would pay off in the long run. Analysts appear to agree with Xu’s vision. They expect opportunities in grocery and international to help support demand and drive sustained revenue growth. In the next trading session, shares ended 2% higher. But the volatility wasn’t over. A paper published Sunday by Citrini Research called out DoorDash as the poster child for the threats posed by agentic artificial intelligence in destroying habitual app loyalty, jolting the stock again. On Thursday, shares were recovering, rising more than 4%, and putting the one-week gain at less than 3%. DASH YTD mountain DASH YTD chart Analysts anticipate much more upside ahead, with the average price target predicting shares could rise about 45%, according to LSEG. Thirty-six analysts rate the stock as either a strong buy or buy, while 11 view it as a hold. Xu’s comments during the earnings call were prescient, seemingly addressing some of the points Citrini’s paper would raise days later. Rather than existential threats, the executive views AI assistants as channel partners. “And we’ll see how much traffic they can drive in a very similar way to how companies like Facebook and Google did the same for DoorDash in the past,” Xu said. Analysts noted that even if AI agents take on the role of discovery, food and grocery orders will still need to be delivered, which is an opportunity for DoorDash. “I fundamentally think DoorDash is a ‘core holding’ for internet investors,” Citizens analyst Andrew Boone said in an interview. He rates the stock market outperform, with a $250 price, or 52% upside to DoorDash’s Tuesday close. Boone attributed his opinion to the runway ahead for Deliveroo and other avenues the company has for revenue growth such as advertising. “Deliveroo is still really early. It looks like there’s a lot of opportunity to improve the product,” Boone said. Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Evercore, noted that DoorDash grew orders by 20% in the latest period, and its growth is “extraordinarily” consistent. Gross order value, a key metric watched by analysts, is also very bullish, according to Jason Helfstein, an analyst at Oppenheimer. “They expected the strong GOV that they saw in the first quarter to continue through the year, and then they talked about second half margins as being stronger than the first half,” he told CNBC. “This is probably a company that can grow revenues 20% for the foreseeable future and in this market at that size, that’s pretty rare, and I think that’s why investors are pretty interested.” Both Helfstein and Mahaney rate DoorDash outperform. Helfstein’s $235 price target implies an upwards move of 43%. Mahaney’s $300 price target corresponds to an 82% rally. Although some investors last week clearly saw the investment in Deliveroo, a British food delivery company DoorDash acquired in 2025, as a “big negative,” it is opening up a significant opportunity for international growth, particularly in Europe, according to Mahaney. As part of the acquisition process, the company is also working on creating a cohesive technology platform, he said. Mahaney also sees long-term opportunities from Deliveroo’s investments in new products such as autonomous delivery vehicles. “Those are the areas they’re investing in, and I think the market is generally okay with those investments because they’re viewed as coming from a position of strength,” he added. “So that’s why I stay constructive on this.” Helfstein also sees an additional opportunity to bring in new customers in the U.S., with about 70% of American consumers not ordering food outside of restaurants. He also expects DoorDash could expand beyond delivering items from convenience and grocery stores to other types of retailers. He noted that he once ordered a space heater off of the platform. Boone said the grocery business is a trillion dollar market opportunity. While DoorDash isn’t the only one in this space — notable rivals include Amazon and Walmart — there is room for multiple companies to succeed, the analysts said. During DoorDash’s earnings call, Xu pushed back on rising fears tied to Amazon’s grocery delivery business, arguing that this will not impact the company’s growth and that the choices DoorDash provides consumers to select between multiple independent grocers and retailers is what gives it its edge. Helfstein also applauded DoorDash’s $1.2 billion acquisition last June of reservation platform SevenRooms. This entry into restaurant reservations, he said, could enable the platform to better understand what their customers are eating and ultimately provide more personalized recommendations. “They now offer an almost complete front-of-house platform for restaurants, and so how big can that business be? There should be a lot of cross-selling and synergy in terms of getting somebody to adopt a DoorDash marketing suite in addition to the core marketplace,” the analyst said. — CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos contributed to this report.
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