By Nicholas G. Miller
Instacart reported higher first-quarter revenue and said consumers were continuing to spend in the grocery category, but that a focus on affordability was pushing them to value-focused retailers.
The food-delivery platform, also known as Maplebear, posted net income of $144 million, or 57 cents a share, in line with Wall Street's expectations and up from $106 million, or 37 cents a share, the year prior.
Revenue rose 14% to $1.02 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.01 billion. Gross transaction value increased 13% to $10.29 billion.
The company guided for second-quarter gross transaction value of $10.1 billion to $10.25 billion and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $290 million to $300 million.
"We're actually seeing lots of strength with the consumer," said Chief Executive Chris Rogers in an interview.
"Grocery itself is one of the most resilient categories that's there," he said. "So whether the macro environment is strong or a little bit more uncertain, we tend to remain pretty relevant to people's day-to-day."
Still, Rogers said the company was seeing stronger sales among value-based and club retailers as consumers intensify their focus on affordability. The company is trying to push retailers to offer the same price on Instacart's platform as they do in-store.
Rogers said retailers that use price parity are performing better.
Instacart is deepening its partnerships with grocery stores as part of an attempt to cope with the expansion of Amazon and Walmart into grocery delivery.
Last year, Amazon began offering same-day grocery delivery in more than 2,300 U.S. locations, news that led Maplebear shares to slide and prompted analysts to warn the company could suffer a loss of customers.
Instacart has previously said third-party data show the largest source of Amazon grocery customers were previously in-store customers, presenting competitive risks for retailers. The company is trying to position itself as a partner for these retailers in offering technology and fulfillment services to help them compete.
"Online grocery is just so under-penetrated and there's lots of room for continued adoption, kind of regardless of the macro shifts," Rogers said. "We have seen our role for some time [as] helping to accelerate that adoption with our retail partners."
Write to Nicholas G. Miller at nicholas.miller@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 06, 2026 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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