DoorDash has priced its shares at $102 apiece heading into its stock market debut Wednesday, valuing the 7-year-old food delivery company at nearly $39 billion.
The price was higher than the company’s most recent target price of $90 to $95 a share, reflecting investor enthusiasm for the initial public offering.
The San Francisco-based company raised $3.4 billion in its offering. Starting Wednesday morning, DoorDash will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DASH.
DoorDash was founded in 2013, when CEO Tony Xu and some classmates at Stanford University set up a website and posted local menus. Customers have placed more than 900 million orders since then.
It now offers delivery from 390,000 merchants in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Powering that service are 1 million independent delivery drivers.
DoorDash was already growing before the pandemic thanks to customers’ growing preference for dining at home. Its revenue more than tripled to $885 million between 2018 and 2019.
But lockdown orders and the closure of indoor dining have made DoorDash indispensable for many restaurants and diners this year. DoorDash reported revenue of $1.9 billion in the first nine months of 2020 alone.
DoorDash pulled ahead of its rivals by focusing on suburbs and smaller cities. It now controls 50% of the U.S. food delivery market. Its chief rival, Uber Eats, controls 26%, while GrubHub controls 16%.
Despite its market dominance, DoorDash has yet to post an annual profit. It had a net loss of $667 million in 2019 and lost $149 million in the first nine months of 2020. The company did turn a profit of $23 million in the second quarter this year, but followed that with a $43 million loss in the third quarter.
In federal filings, DoorDash warned that its sales growth may not continue at the same pace once the pandemic subsides.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.