Growth Slows, Profitability Doesn't
DoorDash's FY2023 10-K closed out a year of accelerating Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, and disclosed a new $1.1 billion buyback authorization announced just weeks into 2024. This Form 10-Q, covering the quarter ended March 31, 2024 and filed with the SEC in May 2024, shows profitability kept compounding even as growth continued to decelerate: Adjusted EBITDA» grew 82% year-over-year to $371 million from $204 million, and free cash flow» grew 54% to $487 million from $316 million. Revenue grew 23% to $2,513 million - continuing a multi-quarter slowdown from 40% growth in this same quarter a year earlier - and GAAP net loss attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders narrowed to $23 million from $161 million, the smallest quarterly GAAP loss this site has recorded for DoorDash.
The buyback authorized in February 2024 - covered as a subsequent event in the FY2023 10-K - saw no activity at all this quarter. This filing discloses explicitly that DoorDash "did not repurchase any shares of its Class A common stock under the share repurchase program" during the three months ended March 31, 2024, despite having entered into a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan for it. This breaks the pattern of DoorDash's two prior programs, both of which began spending within the same quarter they were authorized.
The Prescription
DoorDash should clarify why the newest, largest buyback authorization ($1.1 billion) sat completely idle for its first full quarter, when the two smaller programs before it ($400 million in 2022, $750 million in 2023) both began spending immediately. Nothing in this filing explains the pause - it isn't a blackout-period disclosure, a stated valuation view, or a change in capital priorities. Investors comparing this program's pace to the prior two (both fully spent within eight months or less) need to know whether the delay is deliberate or simply a slower start to an equally committed program.
What it should stop doing: repeating identical Proposition 22 status language for a fifth consecutive filing without any update. The California Supreme Court granted review in June 2023; this 10-Q, covering the quarter ended March 2024, still describes the case in exactly the same terms as Q2 2023, Q3 2023, and the FY2023 10-K. Nearly a year has passed since review was granted with no disclosed timeline for a ruling.
Key Financial Metrics
Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2023 - consolidated, reported in USD (DoorDash reports natively in USD, no FX conversion needed)
| Metric | Q1 2024 | Q1 2023 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2,513M | $2,035M | ✅ +23% |
| Adjusted EBITDA» | $371M | $204M | ✅ +82% |
| Operating Income (Loss) | $(61)M | $(171)M | ✅ loss narrowed 64% |
| Net Income (Loss) attributable to common stockholders | $(23)M | $(161)M | ✅ loss narrowed 86% |
| Free Cash Flow» | $487M | $316M | ✅ +54% |
Balance sheet: DoorDash's 10-Q compares quarter-end to the prior fiscal year-end, not the year-ago quarter, so the columns below are Mar 2024 vs. Dec 2023
| Balance sheet metric | Mar 2024 | Dec 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $11,450M | $10,839M | ✅ +6% |
| Total Liabilities | $4,440M | $4,026M | ⚠️ +10% |
| Total Stockholders' Equity | $6,999M | $6,806M | ✅ +3% |
Free Cash Flow was $487 million for the quarter, per the company's own disclosure, driven by net cash provided by operating activities of $553 million (up from $397 million a year earlier) less $34 million of capex and capitalized software combined. Total cash and marketable securities (cash and cash equivalents of $3,124 million plus short-term marketable securities of $1,366 million and long-term marketable securities of $646 million, excluding $394 million of funds held at payment processors and $12 million of long-term restricted cash) stood at $5,136 million as of March 31, 2024, up from $4,661 million three months earlier - cash built up further despite the new buyback authorization, since none of it was actually spent this quarter.
DoorDash's Adjusted EBITDA grew 82% year-over-year to $371 million and free cash flow grew 54% to $487 million, while GAAP net loss narrowed to just $23 million - its smallest quarterly loss on record - but the $1.1 billion buyback authorized in February 2024 saw zero spending through quarter-end, a break from the pattern of DoorDash's two prior repurchase programs, both of which began spending in the same quarter they were authorized.
Key Operational Metrics
Q1 2024 vs. Q1 2023
| Metric | Q1 2024 | Q1 2023 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Orders | 620M | 512M | ✅ +21% |
| Marketplace GOV» | $19,239M | $15,913M | ✅ +21% |
| Contribution Profit» | $751M | $533M | ✅ +41% |
| Contribution Profit as a % of Marketplace GOV | 3.9% | 3.3% | ✅ +0.6pp |
| Net Revenue Margin (Revenue ÷ Marketplace GOV) | 13.1% | 12.8% | ✅ +0.3pp |
| GAAP Gross Profit | $1,129M | $921M | ✅ +23% |
Contribution Profit grew 41% year-over-year, again outpacing revenue's 23% growth, extending the margin-expansion trend this site has tracked in every quarter since Q1 2022. Contribution Margin (Contribution Profit as a percentage of revenue) reached roughly 30%, matching the FY2023 full-year level. Total Orders and Marketplace GOV growth both decelerated to 21% from 27-29% a year earlier - the fourth consecutive quarter of order-growth deceleration this site has tracked, though Contribution Profit growth (41%) continued to outpace order growth by a wide margin, showing per-order economics are still improving even as volume growth slows. DoorDash still does not disclose exact merchant, consumer, or Dasher headcounts, or an absolute DashPass subscriber count.
Beyond the Usual
The New $1.1 Billion Buyback Authorization Went Entirely Unspent Its First Quarter
DoorDash's board authorized a $1.1 billion share repurchase program in February 2024, and the company entered into a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan in connection with it - but this filing explicitly states DoorDash "did not repurchase any shares of its Class A common stock under the share repurchase program" during the three months ended March 31, 2024. This is a departure from both prior programs: the $400 million 2022 program and the $750 million 2023 program each began spending within the same quarter of authorization. No reason for the delay is disclosed. Cash and marketable securities grew to $5.1 billion as of quarter-end, the highest level this site has recorded for DoorDash, partly reflecting this unspent authorization.
The Proposition 22 California Supreme Court review, granted in June 2023, remains pending with no ruling and no disclosed expected timeline - the fifth consecutive DoorDash filing (spanning Q2 2023 through this Q1 2024 10-Q) to describe the case's status in essentially identical terms.
Stock Price Since Last Quarter
DoorDash's stock rose sharply in the first quarter of 2024, from a December 29, 2023 close of $98.89 to a March 28, 2024 close of $137.72 (the last trading day before the Good Friday market holiday) - a 39% increase, the fifth consecutive quarterly gain this site has tracked and its largest single-quarter gain since going public (DoorDash has not split its stock since its IPO, so these remain actual nominal prices). The stock is now down only about 33% from its $205.98 peak recorded at the end of Q3 2021 - its closest approach to that all-time high since the peak itself - and stands 182% above the December 2022 low of $48.82.
Target Valuation Range
~5.6x TTM EV/Revenue, up sharply from ~4.1x three months earlier. Verdict: too-early-to-call on a numeric fair-value range — the peer-multiple read below is the honest substitute (see the DCF-timing note further down). Bottom line: the stock's 39% price gain drove the largest single-quarter valuation re-rating this site has tracked for DoorDash, meaningfully outpacing even this quarter's strong fundamental growth - DoorDash is now priced more richly on both revenue and EBITDA multiples than at any point previously covered.
With 381.27 million Class A and roughly 27.24 million Class B shares outstanding (408.51 million total, per the balance sheet as of March 31, 2024) and no funded debt:
| Market cap → enterprise value | Q1 2024 (period-end) |
|---|---|
| Share price (period-end, March 28, 2024 close) | $137.72 |
| Shares outstanding (Class A + B) | 408.51 million |
| Market capitalization | ~$56.3 billion |
| Less: cash and marketable securities | $5.14 billion |
| Funded debt | none |
| Enterprise value | ~$51.1 billion |
| Peer-multiple sanity check (TTM basis) | FY2023 | Q1 2024 (TTM) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTM Revenue | $8,635M | $9,113M | ✅ up |
| TTM Adjusted EBITDA | $1,190M | $1,357M | ✅ up |
| Enterprise value | ~$35.2 billion | ~$51.1 billion | ✅ up |
| EV/Revenue» | ~4.1x | ~5.6x | ✅ up |
| EV/Adjusted EBITDA» | ~30x | ~38x | ⚠️ up |
TTM figures are computed as FY2023 minus Q1 2023 plus Q1 2024 (revenue: $8,635M − $2,035M + $2,513M = $9,113M; Adjusted EBITDA: $1,190M − $204M + $371M = $1,357M). Enterprise value rose 45% while TTM revenue grew only 6% and TTM Adjusted EBITDA grew 14% - this quarter's re-rating was driven almost entirely by the stock-price surge rather than fundamentals, extending the pattern flagged last quarter where EV/Revenue expansion outpaced earnings growth, now considerably more pronounced. Unlike the prior two quarters, EV/Adjusted EBITDA also expanded meaningfully this time (~30x to ~38x) rather than holding flat or compressing, meaning the market is now paying up on both revenue and profitability multiples simultaneously.
A full DCF still isn't attempted here: this is the richest valuation this site has recorded for DoorDash on every multiple tracked, and the unspent buyback authorization plus a still-unresolved Proposition 22 review both leave real open questions about near-term capital allocation and cost structure. The peer-multiple read remains the more honest tool, and it shows a stock that has re-rated faster than its underlying earnings growth for two consecutive quarters now - worth watching for whether the next quarter's fundamentals can catch up to the price, or whether the multiple compresses instead.
DoorDash, Inc.'s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, filed with the SEC in May 2024.