Doordash stock drops 15%, heads for worst day ever on spending fears

Doordash‘s stock plummeted toward its worst session ever as investors rejected the company’s aggressive spending strategy.

The food delivery platform said it plans to shell out “several hundred million dollars” next year on new product initiatives like autonomous delivery and a new global tech stack.

These plans will improve its product globally, but involve “direct and opportunity costs” in the short run, Doordash said.

CEO Tony Xu defended the company’s spending decisions during the earnings call with analysts and said Doordash is running the business as it always has — to solve problems for customers in the highest quality ways.

“Our track record in investing in the areas that we currently have operating … have suggested that we’ve had some success in repeating this playbook, and we’re doing this now for future growth,” he said.

In recent months, Doordash has spent big money to open new markets and boost optionality for customers as it battles industry competitors such as Uber, and worries mount of a slowdown in consumer discretionary spending.

This year, the California-based company purchased restaurant booking platform SevenRooms for $1.2 billion and acquired British food delivery firm Deliveroo in a deal worth $3.9 billion. Doordash also launched an autonomous robot delivery robot known as Dot in September and new DashMart fulfillment services for retailers.

The length and breadth of these investments will remain a key issue for the company’s shares, wrote Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski.

“In our view, this is one of the best operational management teams in the sector and longer duration investors are likely to remain supportive through this period,” he wrote. “However, given inconsistent disclosure, we believe patience may be required.”

Doordash’s third-quarter profit totaled 55 cents per share, falling short of the 69 cents per share forecasted by LSEG. Revenues grew 27% from a year ago to $3.45 billion, above Wall Street’s $3.36 billion estimate.

The company expects adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter between $710 million to $810 million, with a midpoint of $760 million. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $806.8 million.

Doordash expects Deliveroo to add $45 million to adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter and about $200 million in 2026.

Shares are up more than 20% this year.