DoorDash missed on sales and orders in Q1. The stock still popped 12% after the bell.
Wall Street is buying the spend story.
The food delivery giant beat on EPS at 42 cents. Wall Street wanted 36 cents.
Sales came in at $4.04 billion. The mark was $4.14 billion.
Total orders also missed at 933 million. The mark was 954 million. But gross order value jumped 37% to $31.6 billion, ahead of the $31.5 billion call.
Sales still grew 33% from $3.03 billion a year ago. That's fast for a firm this big.
Gross margin came in at 51.9%, ahead of the 51.6% mark. Net income did dip to $184 million from $193 million.
EPS landed at 42 cents, down from 44 cents the year before. But that was still ahead of the call.
DoorDash is pouring billions into AI and global growth. It is also building one tech stack to tie all its brands together.
It bought Deliveroo last year, a UK delivery firm. It also bought SevenRooms, a tool for booking tables.
The firm rolled out a self-driving robot last year too. The plan is one tech stack across all brands.
CEO Tony Xu has stood by the spend plan. Backers had pushed back on it before.
The plan is starting to show in the numbers. Backers are paying up for it.
Finance chief Ravi Inukonda said the design work is done. Early wins are showing across the brands.
The firm is also dealing with a $50 million plus bill in Q2. It is for driver gas relief tied to the war in Iran.
Higher pump prices have squeezed drivers. DoorDash had to pay them more to keep them on the road.
Inukonda said the firm will offset the cost. It will push other spend into the back half of the year.
He said the gas relief plan could last longer if pump prices stay high. Other parts of the firm would take the cut to make up for it.
DoorDash joined a few other delivery firms with driver relief plans. The fight with Uber Eats is fierce.
Losing drivers to gas costs is a soft risk that hits the firm fast. No drivers means no orders.
Gas prices are tied to global oil prices. Those have stayed high through the war.
The firm wants to keep its drivers on the road. The relief plan is the cost of doing that.
The Q2 guide put gross order value at $32.4 billion to $33.4 billion. That's above the $32.43 billion mark.
The EBITDA midpoint of $820 million came in just below the $830 million mark.
DoorDash shares closed near $186 in after-hours trade. The stock had moved up roughly 11% during the day.
The big question now is how fast the new tech stack pays off. The firm has spent years and a lot of cash to build it.
Wall Street wants to see that bet show up in the back half of the year. The Q2 print should be a first test.
A clear win there would push the stock higher. A miss would put the spend plan back under the lens.
Net income trends will also be in focus. The firm wants to grow profit, not just sales.
Tony Xu has staked the firm's path on this build-out. The early signs are good.
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