DoorDash Stock Rockets On Deal To Acquire International Delivery Platform Wolt For $8.1 Billion

DoorDash announced Tuesday it’s acquiring Wolt, a food delivery platform that’s expanded into groceries and retail, in an all-stock transaction valued at $8.1 billion.

The move is an effort to accelerate the company’s international growth. Shares of DoorDash popped more than 24% in after-hours trading following an initial dip.

Wolt has about 4,000 employees and operates in 23 countries, the company said in a release. In January, Wolt said it surpassed 10 million users.

Upon closing, Wolt founder and CEO Miki Kuusi will run DoorDash International. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

The announcement came as part of DoorDash’s third-quarter earnings report.

Here are the key numbers:

• Loss per share: 30 cents vs 26 cents expected in a Refinitiv survey of analysts
• Revenue: $1.28 billion vs $1.18 billion expected

DoorDash reported a net loss of $101 million. That’s more than double its loss of $43 million in the same quarter of 2020.

DoorDash was one of the benefactors of stay-at-home trends as people relied heavily on food delivery services while taking precautions to minimize the spread of Covid-19.

The company said the number of new consumers acquired in the quarter was down compared to peak levels in 2020. But that still remains “well above” levels in 2019 and prior years, it added. Total orders were up 47% to 347 million.

And consumers were spending more on orders during the quarter. Marketplace gross order value jumped 44% to $10.4 billion. DoorDash said it expects a range of $10.3 billion to $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter.

Over 3 million people provided services, or “dashed,” in the quarter to earn more than $2.8 billion. The company also reported 500,000 partner merchants, saying it continues to add at a “pace that is faster than pre-pandemic levels.”

Adjusted EBITDA reached $86 million in the quarter, a decrease of 24% compared to the second quarter. The company anticipates a range of $0 million to $100 million in the fourth quarter.

–  CNBC