Instacart said to explore sale, other options

The reports of a potential sale sent Instacart’s share price soaring to a new all-time high of more than $57 on Friday. Shutterstock

Instacart has reportedly discussed selling itself to both Uber and DoorDash as it explores its strategic options, according to reports.

The delivery specialist was previously said to have discussed a sale to Uber, but those talks have since broken off, Bloomberg reported. Instacart has also hired an investment banking company to evaluate its options, according to a report on the Information.

As previously reported, Instacart has had a partnership with Uber Eats since 2024, which Instacart said has helped it add grocery customers. The agreement allows Instacart users to order from Uber Eats’ local restaurant partners and have those orders delivered by Uber Eats drivers.

The reports of a potential sale sent Instacart’s share price soaring to a new all-time high of more than $57 on Friday, although it lost some of those gains in early trading on Monday, sliding to about $54 per share at mid-day. That puts Instacart’s market capitalization at about $12.6 billion.

Some analysts said the company’s performance in the year-to-day period, combined with increasing competition from DoorDash and Uber Eats, could indicate that it might be a good time to consider a sale. Instacart is “an attractive strategic asset” with solid growth and strong margins, Ken Gawrelski, an analyst with Wells Fargo, said in a report quoted by Seeking Alpha.

The Seeking Alpha report also cited DoorDash as a logical partner, given that company’s ongoing growth in grocery ecommerce.

Instacart in August reported that its quarterly revenues totaled $1.04 billion in the second quarter, up 14% over year-ago-levels and reflecting gains in both transaction revenues and ad revenues. Gross profit was up 7.3%, to $751 million.

The possible sale comes as grocery ecommerce continues to gain traction and has become one of the fastest-growing segments of the supermarket industry. Online grocery sales were up 20.7% in the third quarter, compared with year-go levels, according to the recent third-quarter report from Brick Meets Click. The report found that year-over-year growth has exceeded 20% for the past eight consecutive quarters, fueled by steady gains in order frequency and an expanding monthly user base.