Instacart (CART) Q4 2025 earnings
Instacart Shares rose 14% in extended trading Thursday after the grocery delivery company reported strong fourth-quarter revenue and optimistic guidance.
The company’s performance according to LSEG forecasts is as follows:
- earnings per share: 52 cents expected versus 30 cents
- Revenues: $992 million, expected $974 million
Revenue was up 12% from a year ago. Net income totaled $81 million, or 30 cents per share. The company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $303 million; This was above the $292 million StreetAccount had expected.
In a letter to shareholders, CEO Chris Rogers said Instacart’s technology and customer-centric approach are driving greater growth and engagement on the platform.
“Our execution of the topics that matter most to customers drives strong momentum across both our marketplace and our enterprise platform, which is a real, strategic advantage for us,” he said.
Gross transaction value, which tracks the value of goods sold, rose 14% year over year to $9.85 billion, beating StreetAccount’s estimate of $9.54 billion. Instacart said this was the strongest quarter of growth for the metric in three years. Orders totaled 89.5 million, surpassing StreetAccount’s forecast of 87.8 million.
Instacart expects gross transaction value for the first quarter to be in the range of $10.13 billion to $10.28 billion; this was above StreetAccount’s estimate of $9.97 billion. The company expects adjusted EBITDA to be between $280 million and $290 million, versus the $277 million StreetAccount expects.
Finance chief Emily Reuter told CNBC that strong gains on Instacart’s enterprise platform, where the company added 70 net new retailers last year, helped the company’s strong gross transaction value.
He said Instacart also sees a “small” contribution from future growth drivers such as infrastructure, international markets and investments in artificial intelligence.
Like many competitors, Instacart is working with new artificial intelligence tools to optimize its platform for customers and businesses in the increasingly competitive food delivery market. Recent product launches include new AI tools for grocery stores and OpenAI’s ChatGPT integration.
Some experiments did not go so smoothly.
In December, Instacart came under fire for AI pricing tests it conducted with a small group of retailers that gave customers different prices for the same items. Instacart later discontinued the test, saying it “missed the mark.”
Food delivery apps like these Door Panel And Uber Eats has also stepped up its push into grocery delivery, adding more retailers and AI features to its platforms. Uber Eats this week launched an artificial intelligence tool Helping customers create a shopping cart from text or images.
Reuters said there are opportunities for multiple players to operate in what has become a “massive” market for consumers.
“We are the clear leader among the early players in the digital space, and that is because we can deliver what most customers want consistently over time,” he said.
