Digital Channels And AI Will Fuel Grocery Market Expansion

Key Takeaways

• Technology-driven efficiencies and AI innovation are strengthening operational performance, supporting improved margins, higher retention, and ongoing revenue growth.
  
• Expanding enterprise partnerships and diverse ad revenue streams are making the business model more resilient and less dependent on traditional transaction volumes.
  
• Regulatory risk, rising costs, competition, and shifting consumer trends threaten Instacart's margins, revenue growth, and long-term profitability in a rapidly evolving market.

Catalysts

Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, engages in the provision of online grocery shopping services to households in North America.

• Maplebear (Instacart) is positioned to benefit from the continued shift of grocery and essential goods shopping to digital channels and e-commerce, which remains underpenetrated in the grocery sector; this long-term trend expands Instacart's addressable market and is evidenced by strong GTV/order growth, accelerating retention, and increasing Instacart+ penetration-likely driving future increases in top-line revenue.
  
• The company's rapid deployment of AI and automation across fulfillment, inventory prediction, batching, and customer experience continues to deliver operational efficiencies, improve order accuracy, and reduce delivery times by 25% over four years; these technology-driven savings are reinvested (e.g., lower basket sizes, free pickup), aiding customer frequency and retention while structurally supporting higher contribution margins and net margins.
  
• Deepening enterprise partnerships and a growing suite of omnichannel retailer integrations (such as Storefront, Carrot Ads, Caper Carts, Carrot Tags) are increasing stickiness with major retail chains, creating new recurring revenue streams and driving higher-margin, non-transaction-based revenues (e.g., advertising, in-store tech), making the business model less volatile and supporting sustainable margin expansion and earnings resilience.
  
• Accelerating diversification of ad revenue sources-especially strength from mid-sized and emerging brands and new off-platform partnerships (Google, Meta, The Trade Desk)-indicates that Maplebear's retail media segment is increasingly resilient to macro pullbacks from large CPGs, supporting ongoing double-digit advertising revenue growth and greater operating leverage.
  
• Rising demand for convenience and rapid delivery, fueled by demographic shifts like aging populations and busy younger consumers, is driving higher order frequency and larger "big basket" sales; this customer behavior, combined with superior fulfillment speed and reliability, positions Maplebear for robust long-term revenue growth as retailers and consumers gravitate toward digital-first omni-channel solutions.

Maplebear Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming Maplebear's revenue will grow by 9.3% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 13.5% today to 16.7% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach $775.0 million (and earnings per share of $2.74) by about August 2028, up from $479.0 million today. However, there is some disagreement amongst the analysts with the more bearish ones expecting earnings as low as $541.2 million.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 25.7x on those 2028 earnings, up from 24.8x today. This future PE is greater than the current PE for the US Consumer Retailing industry at 22.0x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 1.01% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 6.78%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Maplebear Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• Rising labor costs and potential regulatory changes affecting gig economy work may increase Instacart's cost structure and reduce operational flexibility, which can negatively impact net margins and long-term profitability.
  
• Ongoing macro uncertainty, including pullbacks in ad spend from large CPG advertisers and evolving consumer privacy regulations, could temper Instacart's high-margin advertising revenue growth and overall earnings resilience.
  
• Intensifying competition from both retailer-led delivery solutions and competing third-party platforms, alongside the risk of key retail partner renegotiations or losses, could pressure order volumes, gross revenue, and introduce volatility in topline growth.
  
• Commoditization of same-day delivery and declining barriers to entry from technological advancements may drive price-based competition, causing market-wide margin compression and limiting sustainable profit expansion.
  
• Potential consumer fatigue or reversion to in-store shopping post-pandemic and the possible plateauing of digital grocery penetration could slow active user and order growth, resulting in weaker revenue trajectories over the long term.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of $60.32 for Maplebear based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of $67.0, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just $45.0.
  
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $4.6 billion, earnings will come to $775.0 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 25.7x, assuming you use a discount rate of 6.8%.
  
• Given the current share price of $45.11, the analyst price target of $60.32 is 25.2% higher.
  
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.