There's speculation that Instacart may be going public soon. The company raised $200 million in October 2020, fueling IPO rumors. And with the passing of Proposition 22 in California, Instacart will be allowed to classify their workers as contractors instead of employees, which removes a major blocker for the company.
Reports have suggested that the company's stock could be publicly traded this year, but nothing is set in stone yet.
Latest updates
Monday, March 8: Instacart reportedly raised $265 million in a private funding round, bringing its valuation to $39 billion. Friday, March 5: Instacart may be going public via a direct listing. Sources close to the deal have suggested a direct listing is on the horizon. The company has not confirmed this rumor, however. Thursday, November 12: Instacart taps Goldman Sachs to lead its IPO.
Thursday, November 5: Proposition 22 in California is passed, allowing gig economy companies — Instacart included — to classify their workers as contractors instead of employees.
What we know about the Instacart IPO
Instacart plans to go public with a $30 billion valuation and Goldman Sachs helming the deal, according to Reuters. But Instacart has yet to file a viewable Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, so little more is known about the grocery delivery service's pending IPO.
There's no news yet about how much the stock will cost when it goes public. It's expected to launch in 2021. We'll update this page with information as it becomes available.
What we know about Instacart’s balance sheet
Instacart’s valuation of $30 billion in October 2020 followed a series of milestones for the company. It first became profitable in April after having lost $300 million in 2019. CEO Apoorva Mehta noted that feat cleared it past its 2022 goals.
The surge was partly driven by the COVID-19 pandemic which triggered lockdowns and forced people to stay home. Customers bought $700 million worth of goods through Instacart in each of the first two weeks of April, marking a 450% increase from December 2019. And other companies heard the noise. Since March, Instacart has extended pick-up services to more than 1,500 stores. It provides pickup services for more than 60 major grocers like Aldi, Sprouts Farmers Market and The Fresh Market. It has also set its sights beyond groceries and supermarkets by working with companies like Sephora and 7-Eleven.
San Francisco-based Instacart currently serves more than 7.5 million customers. Instacart has not released its earnings for 2020. But amid the optimism, it sought to reel in $35 billion in grocery sales.
Still, it’s unclear whether the online grocery delivery service will keep speeding forward. It still faces stiff competition from the likes of Uber and DoorDash, which recently went public.
It’s also important to note that Instacart saw a surge in demand in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some areas are beginning to ease lockdown restrictions as vaccines are rolled out. If the pandemic is quashed soon, it’s unclear whether customers would remain loyal to Instacart or return to the traditional way of shopping for everyday needs.
How to buy shares in Instacart when it goes public
Once Instacart goes public, you'll need a brokerage account to invest. Consider opening a brokerage account today so you're ready as soon as the stock hits the market.
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How do similar companies perform?
It's impossible to predict how any stock will perform — and IPOs can be particularly volatile. But evaluating the performance of companies like Instacart can be useful in determining how the market is performing and whether now is a good time to invest in this industry.
Select a company to learn more about what they do and how their stock performs, including market capitalization, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio and dividend yield. While this list includes a selection of the most well-known and popular stocks, it doesn't include every stock available.
Company summary
Grubhub Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides an online and mobile platform for restaurant pick-up and delivery orders in the United States. The company connects approximately 300,000 local restaurants with diners in various cities. It offers mobile applications and mobile Websites; and operates Websites through grubhub.com, seamless.com, and menupages.com. The company also provides corporate program that offers employees with various food and ordering options, including options for individual meals, group ordering, and catering, as well as proprietary tools that consolidate various food ordering into a single online account. In addition, it offers Grubhub for Restaurants, a responsive web application that can be accessed from computers and mobile devices, as well as Grubhub-provided tablets; GH+ subscription program to diners; delivery services to restaurants; point of sale (POS) integration, which allows restaurants to manage Grubhub orders and update their menus directly from their existing POS system; and Website and mobile application design and hosting services for restaurants, as well as technology and fulfillment services, including order transmission and customer relationship management tools. The company was formerly known as GrubHub Seamless Inc. and changed its name to Grubhub Inc. in February 2014. Grubhub Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Uber Technologies, Inc. develops and operates proprietary technology applications in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It connects consumers with independent providers of ride services for ridesharing services and other forms of transportation services, including public transit, as well as connect riders and other consumers with restaurants, grocers, other stores, and delivery service providers for meal preparation, grocery, and other delivery services. The company operates through four segments: Mobility, Delivery, Freight, and Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) and Other Technology Programs. The Mobility segment provides products that connect consumers with mobility drivers who provide rides in a range of vehicles, such as cars, auto rickshaws, motorbikes, minibuses, or taxis. It also offers Uber for Business, financial partnerships, transit, and vehicle solutions offerings. The Delivery segment allows consumers to search for and discover local restaurants, order a meal, and either pick-up at the restaurant or have the meal delivered, as well as offers grocery and convenience store delivery, and select other goods. The Freight segment connects carriers with shippers on the company's platform and enable carriers upfront, transparent pricing, and the ability to book a shipment. The ATG and Other Technology Programs segment engages in the development and commercialization of autonomous vehicle and ridesharing technologies, as well as Uber Elevate. The company was formerly known as Ubercab, Inc. and changed its name to Uber Technologies, Inc. in February 2011. Uber Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Lyft, Inc. operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing in the United States and Canada. The company operates multimodal transportation networks that offer riders personalized and on-demand access to various mobility options. It provides Ridesharing Marketplace, which connects drivers with riders; Express Drive, a flexible car rentals program for drivers; Lyft Rentals that provides vehicles for long-distance trips; and a network of shared bikes and scooters in various cities to address the needs of riders for short trips. The company also integrates third-party public transit data into the Lyft app to offer riders various transportation options. In addition, it offers autonomous vehicles; concierge for organizations; Lyft Pass that allows organizations to create custom transportation programs; enterprise programs, including monthly ride credits for daily commutes, supplementing public transit by providing rides for the first and last leg of commute trips, late-night rides home, and shuttle replacement rides; and transportation solutions that can be customized for events, such as recruiting events, conferences, celebrations, meetings, and company retreats. The company was formerly known as Zimride, Inc. and changed its name to Lyft, Inc. in April 2013. Lyft, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
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Dawn Daniels is a publisher with Finder, based out of Oregon. Her background includes editing more than 40 published books, including Financial Fitness: 21 Easy Exercises to Get Your Personal Finances in Shape Fast by Dr. Vi Scott. In her spare time, Dawn enjoys hiking ridiculous distances and collapsing in exhaustion.
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