Can I buy Instacart stock? Yes, their stock symbol is NASDAQ: CART. For some people, doing groceries is an unnecessary and time-consuming chore. Thankfully, in the last decade, many delivery companies decided to exploit that market. Today, consumers can browse their favorite items at their favorite stores and have them delivered to their doorstep within the day.
Food and grocery delivery saw huge growth since the pandemic began. However, since restrictions subsided, growth has massively slowed down. However, Instacart IPO’d under Maplebear on Septemeber 18, 2023, at $30 per share.
Chart by TradingView
Table of Contents
Instacart Stock (CART) Stock Introduction
Instacart was created in 2012 in the US. Its founders wanted to address a time-consuming activity: grocery delivery and pickup for various products. Instacart quickly captured the hearts of Americans and Canadians and began to grow exponentially.
Today, the company partners with over 40,000 stores across the US and Canada, from local grocers to chain stores. Some of its biggest partners are Costco, CVS Pharmacy, Best Buy, Walgreens, Staples, Sephora, Bed Bath and Beyond and many more.
Consumers can choose what they want to order directly from Instacart’s application in over 5,500 cities across Canada and the US. How does Instacart make money?
Consumers are charged a delivery fee that starts at $3.99 for same-day orders over $35. Instacart also offers same-hour deliveries, club store deliveries, and orders under $35. The cost for those orders will vary depending on the type of delivery.
Clients can also be charged a pickup and service fee based on their order. Instacart offers a Membership + where clients can save on some of the recurring fees mentioned above.
Now that we know better how Instacart works, let’s look at their business more deeply and what that would mean for Instacart stock.
Instacart Growth
Instacart quickly grew to become part of our future online shopping experience. Since 2012, the company’s sales grew steadily. What propelled its popularity even higher was the pandemic.
Before the pandemic began in 2019, Instacart’s share of e-commerce grocery sales was 11%. The following year, that number doubled to 22%. Grocery sales jumped from $7B to $23B.
Consumers liked not only the idea of saving valuable time and staying safe at home but also that the application was very user-friendly and the technology behind the application was smooth. The shopping experience was complete for consumers.
Part of Instacart’s growth is also to distinguish itself from other companies in the same sector. What technology can make the shopping experience even more fluid? Amazon equipped its Whole Foods Market stores with grab-and-go technology.
The store is equipped to know exactly what is in the cart and how much it costs. Can Instacart do the same? Well, in 2021, it acquired the artificial intelligence startup Caper AI. The company’s technology can identify items in a shopping cart and charge them directly to the consumer.
Instacart is looking to implement this technology with its various partners. This would be a game-changer in the industry. Did it affect the Instacart stock price?
Instacart ($CART) TipRanks Stock Forecast Report 3/24
Instacart Stock Post-Pandemic
We saw how Instacart grew during the pandemic and what its future shopping experience can look like. Now, we have to face the reality of things. Since the pandemic restrictions were lifted, shoppers returned to their favorite stores.
For Instacart, it is no longer possible to keep growing at its pandemic pace. This factor led to changes in its valuation by institutional investors. Instacart had to reevaluate its valuation more than once.
The company was valued at $39B. Before the Instacart stock IPO, investors had difficulty pricing it over $15B. What were the causes for this sudden change of heart from investors?
First, there is an increasing amount of competitors in the field. Analysts expected Instacart’s market share to remain around 20%. Online shopping for groceries and pickups isn’t expected to decrease, but competition will make things more difficult for Instacart.
Hence, it is important to develop its technology to have an advantage over its competitors. Second, growth is slowing down. Valuations are based on future growth.
During the pandemic, it was at an unsustainable level. Growth levels have fallen back to earth since. Lastly, from a stock market perspective, pandemic stocks have lost a lot of value in the last months.
Instacart IPO’d on September 18,2023 under the name Maplebear. It opened at $30 per share and had its skyrocketing moment. Then the price fell. Now, it trades around where it started: $30 per share.
SERVICES |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| DESCRIPTION | Bullish Bears offer trade rooms in our Discord. Our chat rooms include penny stocks, large caps, options, and futures | We offer stock signals and trade alerts through our watch lists and Discord bots using Tradytics | Swing trade and day trade watch lists with hand-picked symbols that have the best chance of breakouts. These are stocks to watch |
| INCLUDED | Trading courses • Live streaming • Discord • Real Time Teaching • Scanners & Bots Trade Rooms | Watch lists • Symbols • Support and resistance levels • Discord bots and scanners Trade Alerts | Swing trade watchlist • Day trade watchlist • Alert levels mapped out • Watch lists updated daily Watch Lists |
Instacart Stock Competitors
In this section, we will look at Instacart’s stock competitors. Since Instacart is trading around the $30 price it opened at, has it been truly affected by its competitors? It has been range trading for a few months now.
1. Just Eat (OTCMKTS: JTKWY)
Just Eat is a Danish company formed in 2001. Currently, it is trading in the US over the counter and on the London Stock Exchange. The company is an intermediary between many independent and chain food outlets and customers worldwide.
Just Eat is present in 22 countries. In the US, it is present via Grubhub. They partnered up with Amazon to provide its services to Prime members. In Canada, it owns SkipTheDishes. In Australia and New Zealand, it operates via Menulog.
Just Eat’s business consists of acquiring and developing existing delivery platforms and integrating them into its business. Just Eat’s growth is very similar to Instacart’s. Both are earning billions of dollars every year.
The main difference is Eat’s presence in Europe. It has already established its presence, and it will be hard to dethrone them. Profitability in the future is also an issue.
2. DoorDash (NYSE: DASH)
DoorDash was founded in 2013. It quickly became the largest food delivery company in the US. Its market share is 56%. DoorDash has a lot of competitors in the food delivery space, such as Uber Eats and GrubHub.
It is currently exploring deals with other businesses to expand its presence in the US. Meta and DoorDash partnered to deliver items from the Facebook Marketplace. It is an interesting partnership that responds to GrubHub’s deal with Amazon.
DoorDash is looking to bounce back from its disappointing stock performance. It is down over 70% from its all-time high in November last year.
The company has room to grow in complementary businesses such as everyday shopping articles and its international presence. Once growth stabilizes, this stock will likely begin to grow once again.
Final Thoughts: Instacart Stock
Instacart stock is available to trade under the ticker $CART. The company name is Maplebear. It hasn’t done much since its IPO and has stayed around the $30 price at which it debuted. It could be one to watch if more people stop grocery shopping in person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Instacart has more hold ratings than buy ratings. Sell ratings are at 0. So, if you have it, hold it. If you want to buy, check its technical analysis and get the best entry for profit.
Analysts estimate that Instacart stock will reach a high of $48 with a low of $26. It's currently trading within that range.
Instacart does not pay dividends.
