The Deliveroo Deal Closes, Just Outside the Reporting Period
DoorDash's Q2 2025 10-Q disclosed the company's first-ever debt issuance and a proposed £2.8 billion cash acquisition of Deliveroo plc, still pending regulatory approval at quarter-end. This Form 10-Q, covering the quarter ended September 30, 2025 and filed with the SEC in November 2025, reports the resolution as a subsequent event: on October 2, 2025 - two days after the reporting period closed - DoorDash completed the Deliveroo Transaction, converting $3.8 billion of the escrowed cash from U.S. dollars into Pounds Sterling to fund the purchase. None of Deliveroo's results are consolidated in this quarter's financial statements; the acquisition's operational and financial impact will first appear in the Q4 2025 filing.
Within the quarter itself, the Free Cash Flow» concern flagged last quarter resolved as the company said it would: Free Cash Flow rebounded 63% year-over-year to $723 million from $444 million, more than reversing Q2's 21% decline. Adjusted EBITDA» grew 41% to $754 million from $533 million, and net income attributable to DoorDash, Inc. common stockholders grew to $244 million from $162 million. Revenue grew 27% to $3,446 million from $2,706 million - DoorDash's fastest revenue growth rate since Q1 2024.
The Prescription
DoorDash should now begin disclosing pro forma or supplemental figures showing what a combined DoorDash-Deliveroo business would have looked like this quarter, ahead of the Q4 2025 filing where consolidated results first appear. Given that Deliveroo is a business of meaningful scale operating in different markets (primarily Europe and the Middle East) with a different regulatory and competitive backdrop than DoorDash's core US business, investors will benefit from an early, clearly labeled view of what changes and what doesn't once consolidation begins - rather than absorbing a large one-time shift in scale and geography with the Q4 numbers alone.
What it should stop doing: letting nine consecutive months pass with zero use of a $5.0 billion buyback authorization while simultaneously funding a multi-billion-dollar acquisition with a mix of new debt and cash. The juxtaposition is stark this quarter: DoorDash converted $3.8 billion of cash to fund the Deliveroo purchase while its shareholders have seen literally none of the $5.0 billion repurchase authorization used since it was announced in February. Whatever the company's capital-allocation priorities are - acquisitions over buybacks, for instance - it should state them explicitly rather than let a shareholder-facing $5.0 billion number sit unused while cash otherwise moves out the door for other purposes.
Key Financial Metrics
Q3 2025 vs. Q3 2024 - consolidated, reported in USD (DoorDash reports natively in USD, no FX conversion needed)
| Metric | Q3 2025 | Q3 2024 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3,446M | $2,706M | ✅ +27% |
| Adjusted EBITDA» | $754M | $533M | ✅ +41% |
| Income (Loss) from Operations | $258M | $107M | ✅ +141% |
| Net Income (Loss) attributable to common stockholders | $244M | $162M | ✅ +51% |
| Free Cash Flow» | $723M | $444M | ✅ +63% |
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 Sep 2025 vs. Dec 2024
| Balance sheet metric | Sep 2025 | Dec 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $17,971M | $12,845M | ✅ +40% |
| Total Liabilities | $8,463M | $5,035M | ⚠️ +68% |
| Total Stockholders' Equity | $9,495M | $7,803M | ✅ +22% |
Free Cash Flow rebounded to $723 million from $444 million a year earlier, up 63%, on net cash provided by operating activities of $871 million versus $531 million - confirming the company's prior-quarter statement that Q2's working-capital-driven decline would reverse in the second half of 2025. Total cash and marketable securities (cash and cash equivalents of $3,279 million plus short-term marketable securities of $964 million and long-term marketable securities of $849 million, excluding $377 million of funds held at payment processors and $4,080 million of restricted cash) stood at $5,092 million as of September 30, 2025. Nearly all of the restricted cash - $3.9 billion, inclusive of accrued interest - was held in escrow specifically to fund the Deliveroo acquisition; $3.8 billion of it was converted to Pounds Sterling and used to close the deal on October 2, 2025.
DoorDash's Free Cash Flow rebounded 63% year-over-year to $723 million after the prior quarter's decline, with Adjusted EBITDA up 41% to $754 million and net income up to $244 million from $162 million, while the £2.8 billion Deliveroo acquisition closed just two days after quarter-end - and the $5.0 billion buyback remained completely unused through nine full months of 2025.
Key Operational Metrics
Q3 2025 vs. Q3 2024
| Metric | Q3 2025 | Q3 2024 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Orders | 776M | 643M | ✅ +21% |
| Marketplace GOV» | $25,015M | $20,002M | ✅ +25% |
| Contribution Profit» | $1,268M | $930M | ✅ +36% |
| Contribution Profit as a % of Marketplace GOV | 5.1% | 4.6% | ✅ +0.5pp |
| Net Revenue Margin (Revenue ÷ Marketplace GOV) | 13.8% | 13.5% | ✅ +0.3pp |
| GAAP Gross Profit | $1,689M | $1,283M | ✅ +32% |
Contribution Profit grew 36% year-over-year, again outpacing revenue's 27% 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 37%, another new high. Total Orders growth accelerated to 21% from 20% last quarter, and Marketplace GOV growth accelerated to 25% from 23% - the strongest order and GOV growth rates this site has recorded since 2022, continuing the reacceleration flagged last quarter. DoorDash still does not disclose exact merchant, consumer, or Dasher headcounts, or an absolute DashPass subscriber count.
Beyond the Usual
The Deliveroo Transaction Closed October 2, 2025 - Two Days After Quarter-End
DoorDash completed its acquisition of Deliveroo plc on October 2, 2025, at 180 pence per share in cash (approximately £2.8 billion equity value), as disclosed in this filing's subsequent events note. In connection with the close, DoorDash converted $3.8 billion of escrowed cash from U.S. dollars into Pounds Sterling to fund the purchase. Because the closing occurred after September 30, 2025, none of Deliveroo's assets, liabilities, revenue, or expenses are reflected in this quarter's condensed consolidated financial statements - the first quarter with Deliveroo consolidated will be Q4 2025.
Nine Straight Months, Zero Dollars: The $5 Billion Buyback Remains Entirely Unused
DoorDash repurchased zero shares of Class A common stock during the nine months ended September 30, 2025, meaning the $5.0 billion authorization announced in February 2025 has now gone three full quarters without a single dollar spent. Combined with the two dormant quarters preceding it (Q4 2024's zero and the residual from Q1-Q2 2024's near-zero), DoorDash has now spent buyback dollars in exactly one of the last eight quarters this site has tracked - Q3 2024's $222 million.
DoorDash's insurance collateral requirement fell to $607 million outstanding from $692 million at the end of 2024 - the first quarter-over-quarter decrease this site has recorded for this line item, though the filing does not explain the driver. The $800 million revolving credit facility remained fully undrawn. Separately, DoorDash's Bridge Term Loan Credit and Guaranty Agreement (entered into May 6, 2025 alongside the Deliveroo announcement, to provide backup financing certainty for the transaction) remained undrawn as of September 30, 2025, with the acquisition ultimately funded through the convertible notes proceeds and escrowed cash rather than the bridge facility.
Stock Price Since Last Quarter
DoorDash's stock rose again in the third quarter of 2025, from a June 30, 2025 close of $246.51 to a September 30, 2025 close of $271.99 - a 10% gain, a fifth consecutive quarterly gain (DoorDash has not split its stock since its IPO, so these remain actual nominal prices). The stock closed the quarter roughly 32% above its September 2021 IPO-era peak of $205.98, extending the milestone reached last quarter of trading above that prior high for the first time.
Target Valuation Range
~9.1x TTM EV/Revenue, up from ~8.6x 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 valuation multiple expanded further this quarter on continued stock-price appreciation and accelerating fundamentals, extending DoorDash's run of consecutive-quarter multiple expansion to its richest level yet, just before the Deliveroo acquisition is set to reshape the company's scale and geographic mix starting next quarter.
With 406.33 million Class A and roughly 24.66 million Class B shares outstanding (431.00 million total, per the cover page as of October 30, 2025):
| Market cap → enterprise value | Q3 2025 (period-end) |
|---|---|
| Share price (period-end, September 30, 2025 close) | $271.99 |
| Shares outstanding (Class A + B) | 431.00 million |
| Market capitalization | ~$117.2 billion |
| Less: cash and marketable securities | $5.09 billion |
| Plus: convertible notes, net | $2.72 billion |
| Enterprise value | ~$114.8 billion |
| Peer-multiple sanity check (TTM basis) | Q2 2025 (TTM) | Q3 2025 (TTM) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTM Revenue | $11,895M | $12,635M | ✅ up |
| TTM Adjusted EBITDA | $2,344M | $2,565M | ✅ up |
| Enterprise value | ~$102.3 billion | ~$114.8 billion | ✅ up |
| EV/Revenue» | ~8.6x | ~9.1x | ✅ up |
| EV/Adjusted EBITDA» | ~44x | ~45x | ⚠️ up slightly |
TTM Revenue is computed as Q2 2025's TTM minus Q3 2024 plus Q3 2025 ($11,895M − $2,706M + $3,446M = $12,635M); TTM Adjusted EBITDA the same way ($2,344M − $533M + $754M = $2,565M). Enterprise value rose 12% while TTM revenue grew 6% and TTM Adjusted EBITDA grew 9% - the stock's 10% quarterly gain drove most of the multiple expansion, though this quarter's move was more modest than Q2's 35% surge, and the EV/Adjusted EBITDA multiple barely moved (~44x to ~45x) since fundamentals grew nearly as fast as enterprise value on that basis.
A full DCF still isn't attempted here, and this is truer now than in any prior DASH post: the Deliveroo acquisition closed after this quarter's reporting period, meaning the next filing will introduce a genuinely new consolidated entity with different geographic mix, margin profile, and regulatory exposure than anything in this site's DASH model to date. Waiting for at least one full quarter of consolidated Deliveroo results is a prerequisite, not just a preference, before attempting multi-year projections. The peer-multiple read remains the more honest tool for now, and it shows DoorDash trading at its richest valuation on record heading into that transition.
DoorDash, Inc.'s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025, filed with the SEC in November 2025.