TLDR
- DASH is down over 31% year-to-date, far underperforming the S&P 500’s ~4% decline
- DoorDash is expanding into grocery, retail, advertising, and international markets beyond restaurant delivery
- Over 30% of U.S. monthly active users now order outside the restaurant category
- The advertising business has crossed $1 billion in revenue
- DoorDash is now offering gig workers new “tasks” like photographing store shelves and training AI models
DoorDash has had a rough 2026 on the market. The stock is down more than 31% year-to-date, while the broader S&P 500 has only dipped around 4%.
The sell-off is being driven by a few things: investment-heavy guidance weighing on EBITDA, AI-related multiple compression across tech, and investor nerves around the Deliveroo integration.
But underneath the share price pressure, the company is quietly reshaping what it actually does.
More than 30% of U.S. monthly active users are now placing orders outside the restaurant category. Grocery and retail are growing, with newer cohorts showing improving engagement over time.
DoorDash has said it expects U.S. grocery and retail unit economics to turn positive in the second half of 2026. That would mark a key milestone for the company’s push beyond food delivery.
A Growing Side Hustle Economy Within the Platform
On Thursday, DoorDash announced a new program called “tasks” — offering gig workers jobs that go well beyond dropping off burritos.
The new gigs include photographing store shelves to monitor out-of-stock items, helping self-driving delivery vehicles get back on track, and — through a pilot app — training AI by filming everyday activities or recording speech in different languages.
One worker in Texas told Business Insider she completed a shelf-photography task at a grocery store last October. She took around 180 photos across sections like dairy and cereal. It paid about $36 and took roughly 30 minutes.
She went back to regular deliveries after. A grocery order right after paid her $62.
DoorDash isn’t alone here. Instacart piloted a similar shelf-photography feature last year. Uber has also been using gig workers, including those with graduate degrees, to help train AI systems.
Advertising and International Add to the Growth Story
DoorDash’s advertising business has already crossed $1 billion. Most of that revenue still comes from restaurant partners, but as grocery and retail scale, the company expects to attract more consumer packaged goods brands to the platform.
The Deliveroo acquisition raised eyebrows initially due to lower take rates and integration costs. But management has said Deliveroo is running ahead of plan, and organic international operations are expected to reach contribution-profit positive in the second half of this year.
DoorDash is building a unified tech stack across DoorDash, Wolt, and Deliveroo. The near-term cost of that re-platforming is real, but the company expects EBITDA to improve meaningfully in the second half of 2026 once duplicate costs begin to fall away.
Wall Street appears to still see value here. Based on 28 analysts tracked by TipRanks, DoorDash carries a “Strong Buy” consensus with 21 Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings. The average price target sits at $252.76, roughly 58% above the stock’s recent price of $159.98.
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