Could Groceries Be DoorDash's Next Big Profit Engine?

By Timothy Green – Feb 20, 2026 at 6:15AM ESTKey PointsDoorDash dominates the U.S. restaurant delivery business, and now it's gunning for grocery and retail delivery as well.The company is gaining market share, and the unit economics should turn positive later this year.Success in grocery delivery could accelerate DoorDash's growth, but competition is intense.These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NASDAQ: DASHDoorDashMarket Cap$76BToday's Changeangle-down(1.62%) $2.81Current Price$176.19Price as of February 19, 2026 at 4:00 PM ETThe company is closing in on profitability for its grocery and retail delivery business.Restaurant delivery giant DoorDash (DASH +1.62%) missed analyst expectations with its fourth-quarter report on Wednesday, but growth is accelerating. The number of orders rose 32% year over year to 903 million, marketplace gross order value soared 39% to $29.7 billion, and net income jumped 51%. While the core restaurant delivery business is performing well, DoorDash is on the cusp of turning a profit in its grocery and retail delivery business. The company has been diversifying into new delivery types, absorbing losses as it gains ground in a highly competitive market. With an inflection point coming, non-restaurant delivery could be a major growth driver for DoorDash in the years ahead. Image source: Getty Images. Profitable by the end of the year DoorDash said in its fourth-quarter report that it expects unit economics for its grocery and retail business to turn positive in the second half of the year. Grocery orders are more complex than restaurant orders, but the company is moving closer to making the business contribute to the bottom line rather than detract from it. DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said during the earnings call that roughly 30% of customers are now ordering outside of the restaurant category. In a separate press release on Wednesday, the company disclosed that it had become the top third-party marketplace by order volume in the U.S. for grocery and retail, according to data from YipitData. In 2025, DoorDash partnered with Kroger, Family Dollar, and 33 additional grocery partners, greatly expanding its reach. The goal, according to CFO Ravi Inukonda, is to get 100% of customers ordering outside of the restaurant category. The biggest obstacle is Instacart, owned by Maplebear, but DoorDash is making steady progress in chipping away at that company's lead. According to Wedbush, Instacart's grocery delivery market share dropped to 58% in 2024 from 70% the year before. The shift from losses to profits in the grocery and retail business is the result of many small things moving the numbers in the right direction. Basket sizes are getting bigger, and customers who have been on the platform for longer are ordering more frequently. On DoorDash's end, it's all about efficiency. "There's no one thing which is a step function change. It's continual execution, finding basis points, largely how we operate our entire business," said Inukonda. ExpandNASDAQ: DASHDoorDashToday's Change(1.62%) $2.81Current Price$176.19Key Data PointsMarket Cap$76BDay's Range$175.16 - $185.8952wk Range$155.40 - $285.50Volume6.6KAvg Vol5.3MGross Margin45.43% Another growth engine for DoorDash With DoorDash nearing profitability in its grocery and retail delivery, the company is proving that the business can work at scale. Restaurant delivery is still the core business, but success stealing market share in grocery delivery can help accelerate revenue growth over the next few years. The grocery business is highly competitive, and Amazon recently expanded its same-day grocery delivery service to more than 2,300 cities. Time will tell how competitive pressure will impact DoorDash's business, but for now, grocery and retail delivery represent a major long-term growth opportunity.Read NextFeb 15, 2026 •By Micah ZimmermanShould You Buy Doordash Stock Before Feb. 18?Jan 21, 2026 •By Ben GranDoorDash Could Be One of the Best Stocks for a K-Shaped EconomyJan 12, 2026 •By Ben GranCould This New Partnership Help DoorDash Stave Off Concerns About Affordability?Jan 7, 2026 •By Ben Gran4 Fascinating Things About DoorDash That Investors Should KnowNov 6, 2025 •By Joe TenebrusoWhy DoorDash Stock Dropped TodayAug 8, 2025 •By Motley Fool YouTubeDoorDash: A $100 Billion Delivery Giant Under the MicroscopeAbout the AuthorTim Green is a contributing Motley Fool technology and consumer goods analyst covering companies in AI, cloud computing, retail, and other market sectors.

Before The Motley Fool, Tim was in a doctoral program for computational physics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Rochester Institute of Technology.TMFTimGreenStocks MentionedDoorDashNASDAQ: DASH$176.19 (+1.62%) $+2.81AmazonNASDAQ: AMZN$204.87 (+0.04%) $+0.08InstacartNASDAQ: CART$35.51 (2.20%) $0.80*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.