DoorDash Inc (NASDAQ:DASH) stock rose 2.78% (As on February 12, 11:26:25 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company forecast a key demand metric to come in above Wall Street’s expectations for the first quarter, as it adds more grocery stores to its platform to complement its core restaurant business. Gross order value rose 21% year over year to $21.3 billion in the fourth quarter, while the analyst were expecting it to be of $20.93 billion. DoorDash has been expanding its delivery services to bigger grocery stores, like Wegmans, and other large retail chains like Home Depot Inc. That expansion has taken place amid a wave of price increases for consumers — particularly at restaurants, which make up DoorDash’s core business. Total Orders increased 19% Y/Y to 685 million. GAAP net income (loss) attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders was $141 million compared to $(154) million in Q4 2023, and Adjusted EBITDA increased to $566 million from $363 million in Q4 2023.

Moreover, in the U.S. marketplace, MAUs increased at a double-digit pace Y/Y throughout 2024, with increased average order frequency. Y/Y growth in Marketplace GOV from the U.S. restaurant category was relatively consistent throughout 2024, with Q4 being the strongest quarter of growth for the year. Across the international marketplaces, the company increased merchant selection by over 25% Y/Y in 2024, with substantial increases in selection in the restaurant and new verticals categories. Improvements to the product and increased adoption of DashPass and Wolt+ drove increased average order frequency in the international marketplaces in 2024.

DASH in the fourth quarter of FY 24 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 33 cents, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 34 cents, according to analysts polled by FactSet. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 25 percent to $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 24, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $2.84 billion.

The company, which delivers food from restaurants and other items from retailers, said it expected marketplace gross order value — or the total dollar value of orders made on the platform — to be between $22.6 billion to $23 billion in the current first quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $22.41 billion. For Q1, the company forecast adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, in a range of $550M to $600M, or $575M at the midpoint, missing estimate of $585M.