Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Announces Earnings Results

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.22), FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $992.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $969.95 million. Maplebear had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 15.72%.

Here are the key takeaways from Maplebear’s conference call:

• Q4 momentum: Instacart delivered its strongest GTV growth in three years with $9.85B GTV (+14% YoY) and 89.5M orders (+16%), and repurchased $1.1B of shares in Q4 (total $1.4B repurchased in 2025).
• Marketplace + Enterprise play: The company now reaches 2,200+ retail banners (~100,000 locations) and powers >380 grocery e?commerce sites, using a land?and?expand Storefront Pro strategy (examples: Costco, Sprouts) to deepen retailer integrations and drive durable growth.
• AI and product acceleration: Heavy AI investments lifted average engineer output ~40% and enabled ~4x faster production builds, accelerating rollouts like Cart Assistant, Smart Shop, Caper Cart, and international launches.
• Advertising expansion: Ads and other revenue grew 10% YoY, Carrot Ads expanded to 310+ retailer sites, 9,000+ brands advertised on Instacart, and off?platform/data solutions plus in?store Caper ads are new monetization vectors.
• Near?term financial headwinds: GAAP net income fell 46% to $81M primarily due to non?recurring legal/regulatory charges (including a $60M FTC settlement), and cost of revenue rose partly from higher payments to publishers tied to ad initiatives (expected to moderate in 2026).

Maplebear Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CART traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.24. The stock had a trading volume of 9,568,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,508,494. The company has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. Maplebear has a 12 month low of $32.73 and a 12 month high of $53.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus initiated coverage on Maplebear in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Maplebear from $65.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Maplebear in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Maplebear from $66.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Maplebear from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.35.

Maplebear News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Maplebear this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat and strong forward commentary — Q4 revenue came in at $992M, gross transaction value was the strongest in three years, and management gave robust guidance driven by essentials demand and ad momentum, supporting today’s upside in the stock. Instacart stock pops 14% on revenue beat, rosy guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Beat on revenue metrics and forecast for the quarter — Reuters reports Instacart forecasted a strong quarter for GTV and core profit thanks to essentials and rising advertising revenue, which underpins investor optimism. Instacart forecasts strong quarter driven by essentials demand, advertisement business
• Positive Sentiment: Operating cash flow and liquidity improved — operating cash flow rose to $184M and cash & equivalents held at $637M, giving the company financial flexibility. Maplebear Inc. (CART) Stock Rises on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: New retailer partnership expands assortment — Instacart partnered with Lush for same-day delivery from 250 stores, a tactical move that can modestly expand order frequency around holidays and promotions. Instacart Partners with Lush
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed and profits fell sharply — diluted EPS of $0.30 missed consensus (~$0.52–$0.53), operating profit fell ~36.8% and net income declined ~46.6% Y/Y, which is the primary driver of caution despite revenue strength. Maplebear earnings summary and transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory hit reduced profit — a reported $60M FTC settlement weighed on profitability in the quarter. Instacart Profit Falls Following $60 Million Settlement With FTC
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and mixed institutional flows — multiple insiders sold shares in the past six months and several large institutional holders trimmed positions, which can pressure sentiment. Insider & institutional activity summary
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst outlook mixed — some firms maintain buy/outperform ratings and elevated price targets (median ~$50), but Benchmark and at least one other shop have trimmed expectations, adding caution to the tape. Benchmark Has Lowered Expectations for Maplebear

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Maplebear news, General Counsel Morgan Fong sold 4,914 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $222,161.94. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 404,940 shares in the company, valued at $18,307,337.40. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 26.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maplebear

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Maplebear in the second quarter valued at about $508,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Maplebear during the 2nd quarter worth about $285,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Maplebear during the 1st quarter worth about $268,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Maplebear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $178,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Maplebear by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579 shares during the period. 63.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Maplebear Company Profile

Maplebear, Inc, doing business as Instacart, operates a leading online grocery and essentials marketplace that connects consumers, retail partners and personal shoppers through its digital platform. The company enables customers to order groceries, household items and specialty products for same-day or scheduled delivery, as well as in-store pickup. By integrating its technology with retailers’ existing inventory and point-of-sale systems, Maplebear streamlines the shopping experience and provides real-time availability and pricing.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, Maplebear has grown from a regional startup to a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ under the ticker CART.