Tony Xu, co-founder and chief executive officer of DoorDash Inc., smiles during the Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference in Laguna Beach, California, USA, on Tuesday, October 22, 2019.
Martina Albertazzi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DoorDash reported its fourth-quarter 2020 earnings after the bell on Thursday, which exceeded analyst revenue expectations but included a large net loss in its initial release as a publicly traded company.
The stock fell more than 12% during out of hours trading after the report.
Here are the key figures:
- Revenue: $ 970 million, versus $ 938 million expected, according to a Refinitiv analyst survey
- Loss per share: $ 2.67, unadjusted
CNBC does not compare reported earnings with analyst estimates for a company’s first report after it goes public, as uncertain stock counts can distort expectations.
The company reported a net GAAP loss of $ 312 million primarily due to IPO-related costs and stock-based compensation. That’s still more than double the Q4 2019 GAAP net loss, which came in at $ 134 million.
Sales for the quarter represented 226% year-over-year growth.
DoorDash’s public debut occurred as Americans remain heavily dependent on food delivery services while taking precautions to minimize the spread of Covid-19. DoorDash saw demand increase strongly, with total orders in the fourth quarter rising 233% year-on-year to 273 million.
But DoorDash told shareholders it expects some of the tailwinds it experienced from stay-at-home orders in the US will turn around once the country gets the virus under control.
“We hope the markets will open up soon. When that happens, we expect a decrease in consumer engagement and average order value, although the exact amount remains unclear,” the company wrote. “In each scenario, we will continue to focus on reducing friction in our marketplace and executing the factors that drive long-term consumer adoption: selection, experience and value.”
The company warned that the outlook for the year “remains highly uncertain,” but issued some guidance based on the assumption of a “successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.”
The company forecasts adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter to fall between $ 0 and $ 45 million and range from $ 0 to $ 200 million for the full year 2021. It expects gross order value in its marketplace to fall between $ 8. 6 billion and $ 9.1 billion for the first quarter and between $ 30 billion and $ 33 billion for the full year.
DoorDash began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in December and ended its first day of trading at over 85% with a market cap of $ 60.2 billion. The stock has since fallen below that valuation and is currently around $ 53 billion.
The company disclosed in its IPO prospectus $ 149 million in revenue losses of $ 1.9 billion through September 2020, with major growth and smaller losses from the year before. In 2019, DoorDash had a net loss of $ 533 million on revenues of $ 587 million in the same nine months.
The pandemic has put gig workers more in the spotlight for apps like DoorDash, Lyft and Uber, which rely on a workforce of independent contractors. The health crisis has renewed calls from progressives to give gig workers worker protections, including health benefits and paid sick leave.
But California voters handed the gig companies a big win in November when they voted to support their voting measure, Proposition 22. The measure said app-based food deliverers and carpoolers could remain independent but be entitled to additional protections, such as a guaranteed minimum. income and transferable benefits.
DoorDash noted in its earnings report that the next quarter will be the first full quarter operating under Prop 22 “and ongoing price control”. The company said these are likely to negatively impact withdrawal rates and adjusted EBITDA.
This story develops. Check back regularly for updates.
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
WATCH: Delivery men risk their lives bringing groceries to people during the coronavirus – that’s the way it is for them