DoorDash files for its long-awaited IPO
Published Date: 11/13/2020
Source: axios.com
DoorDash filed Friday for its IPO, which is expected to price in the window between Thanksgiving and Christmas.The state of play: There's a lot more noise than signal because of the pandemic.Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are co-leading the offering, with a total of 12 banks listed. DoorDash plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol DASH.There are no equity grants or purchase programs for Dashers. The company did yesterday announce a $200 million workforce development program that will include around $12 million in cash bonuses.DoorDash had raised nearly $3 billion in VC funding, most recently at a $16 billion post-money valuation. Shareholders include: SoftBank Vision Fund (24.9% pre-IPO stake of Class A shares), Sequoia Capital (20.4%), and GIC (10.5%). CEO Tony Xu holds 41.6% of Class B shares. SoftBank Vision Fund has invested at least $680 million.By the numbers: DoorDash reports a $149 million net loss on $1.9 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2020, versus a $533 million net loss on $587 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. It did turn a $23 million profit in Q2 but went back into the red in Q3.For context, rival Uber Eats lost money in Q2 2020.DoorDash's total costs and expenses doubled year over year for the nine-month period, while adjusted EBITDA moved from negative $372 million to positive $95 million.Total orders increased from 181 million to 543 million, while there are over 390,000 merchants and one million "Dashers" on its platform. As Axios' Felix Salmon messaged me via Slack: "Imagine if those people had to be counted as some kind of employees."DoorDash has $1.6 billion of cash on its balance sheet as of Sept. 30. Yes, but: DoorDash acknowledges that COVID-19 lockdowns played a significant role in its year-over-year growth, and says "we expect the growth rates in revenue, total orders, and [marketplace revenue] to decline in future periods."What's next: DoorDash isn't the only food delivery economy company planning to go public. Grocery-focused Instacart just picked Goldman Sachs to lead a 2021 IPO at upwards of a $30 billion valuation, per Reuters.And close on Doordash's heels should be filings from Airbnb, Affirm, Roblox and Wish. The bottom line: The numbers all seem to be moving in the right direction, but we'll need several more quarters before we can see DoorDash clearly through the coronavirus fog.