Benchmark raised its price target for DoorDash Inc. to $285 from $280 on Wednesday while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares. The new target stands well above the stocks recent market price of $183.45 and sits within a broader analyst range of targets from $200 to $340. Market technicals also point to divergent signals - the stock has risen 7.6% over the past week even as its relative strength index indicates it may be in oversold territory.
Benchmark pointed to key takeaways from DoorDashs fourth-quarter earnings call to justify the higher target. Management emphasized that the company is moving beyond a restaurant-and-grocery delivery model toward a more comprehensive local commerce platform. That strategy now encompasses merchant-facing software and services such as Storefront and SevenRooms, business-to-business product offerings, and expanded fulfillment capabilities, including DashMart warehousing and DashLink last-mile delivery.
Those initiatives appear to be contributing to top-line momentum. DoorDash reported revenue growth of 27.93% to $13.72 billion over the last twelve months. International operations were singled out as a strength, with the company noted as gaining share in its largest foreign markets. The Deliveroo acquisition in Europe is growing at a faster pace than initial expectations while reportedly maintaining the same level of profit contribution.
On the U.S. marketplace, Benchmarks food delivery survey found that roughly 30% of DoorDash customers now place orders outside the restaurant category, a sign the platform is penetrating grocery and retail verticals and attracting new users through those offerings. The company is also reported to be expanding its advertising business, with both onsite and offsite capabilities under development, and working on autonomous delivery options that include drones and autonomous vehicles that ultimately hand off to human delivery workers.
Recent analyst activity around DoorDash has been mixed, underscoring differing views on how the companys strategy will translate into sustained profitability. Truist Securities raised its price target to $340, highlighting solid performance and management guidance even in the face of challenges such as adverse weather and seasonal cost increases. KeyBanc increased its target to $280, citing strong Gross Order Volume trends and the rising profitability of newer verticals.
By contrast, some firms trimmed their outlooks. Piper Sandler lowered its price target to $220 on concerns about heightened competition and execution risk. Guggenheim reduced its target to $255 while acknowledging stronger-than-expected Marketplace Gross Order Value trends and positive contributions from Deliveroo. Cantor Fitzgerald moved its target down to $230, attributing the adjustment to investment costs despite DoorDash exceeding prior expectations for gross order value and EBITDA.
Taken together, these revisions reflect a range of analyst assessments about DoorDashs near-term operational challenges and longer-term opportunity. Managements push into merchant software, B2B services, fulfillment infrastructure and advertising are central to the bullish cases, while competition, execution risk and ongoing investment outlays underpin the more cautious views.
Investors weighing DoorDash should consider both the pace of revenue growth and the mix of investments required to scale new verticals and delivery technologies. The companys recent results, including a U.S. restaurant marketplace gross order value that reached the second-highest level in the past 15 quarters, provide evidence of strong demand even as analysts differ on how margin and profit dynamics will evolve.