Cantor Fitzgerald reduced its price objective on DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ:DASH) to $230 from $285 but preserved an Overweight rating on the shares. The downgrade follows a quarterly report in which key top-line and profitability metrics slightly outperformed consensus, while the company flagged near-term incremental costs.
Visible Alpha data show DoorDash's fourth-quarter gross order value (GOV) and adjusted EBITDA beat prior street estimates by roughly 1%. On a core basis - excluding the Wolt acquisition - DoorDash recorded 25% year-over-year GOV growth in the quarter, matching the pace reported in the third quarter and reflecting broad-based strength across its principal businesses.
Over the trailing twelve months DoorDash's revenue rose 24.46%, and the company reported $863 million in net income for that period, indicating profitability on a full-year basis. Despite those results, short-term profitability guidance softened: first-quarter total GOV guidance reached as high as 38% year-over-year at the top end, which was about 4 percentage points above previous street expectations, while EBITDA guidance sat roughly $70 million lower at the midpoint compared with earlier projections. Management attributed the EBITDA shortfall at the midpoint primarily to planned incremental investments and weather-related effects.
The company signaled progress on a handful of strategic initiatives during the quarter. Executives highlighted ongoing work in grocery and retail categories and continued international expansion efforts. Additionally, DoorDash has started re-platforming work intended to accelerate product iteration and to enable AI integrations once the new platform components are live.
Cantor Fitzgerald indicated that its fiscal 2027 GOV and EBITDA forecasts are largely unchanged after reviewing the fourth-quarter results, suggesting the firm views the recent investments as near-term cost pressure rather than a material change to its longer-term model.
Market data referenced in the reporting note that DoorDash's stock has declined nearly 30% over the past six months, with technical indicators such as the relative strength index signaling oversold conditions.
Other brokerages have also updated their DoorDash outlooks. Bernstein SocGen Group reduced its price target to $270 from $285 while commenting on the company’s vertical and regional expansion and nascent profitability improvements. Needham trimmed its target to $265 from $275 but maintained a Buy rating, citing robust bookings momentum. Stifel lowered its target to $224 from $253, noting likely margin effects related to the Deliveroo integration. Separately, Bernstein reiterated an Outperform rating and a $285 price target despite DoorDash's disclosure of a forthcoming investment cycle that the company said will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in 2026.
Competitive dynamics also feature in the near-term outlook. One notable market development is Grubhub’s plan to remove delivery and service fees on orders above $50, a change that could influence DoorDash’s competitive positioning on larger orders.
Context for investors
InvestingPro analysis referenced in the company's reporting materials lists 16 additional items of interest for investors, including metrics tied to DoorDash's financial health score and valuation measures. Those items are presented as part of a broader research package intended to inform investment decisions.
Overall, the quarter combined healthy demand trends with near-term margin pressure from extra investments and external factors such as weather. Cantor Fitzgerald's lower price target reflects those incremental costs while its stable longer-term estimates for GOV and EBITDA indicate confidence that the investments are not expected to materially alter the firm's 2027 outlook.