DoorDash (DASH) began trading on the NYSE on Wed 9 Dec 20

DoorDash, Inc. operates a logistics platform that connects merchants, consumers, and dashers in the United States and internationally. 

• Sector(s): Communication Services
• Industry: Internet Content & Information
• Full Time Employees: 3,279
• Founded in 2013 as Palo Alto Delivery Inc. and changed its name to DoorDash, Inc. in 2015.
• Headquartered in San Francisco, California.
• http://www.doordash.com

• DoorDash (DASH) priced 33 mln share IPO at $102.00 per share, above the revised expected range of $90-95
• Shares opened Wednesday afternoon at $182, 78% above its higher-than-expected initial public offering price.
• The company'sa market value now surpasses the combined worth of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Domino’s Pizza Inc. and Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.
• DoorDash has never turned an annual profit, but a surge in demand during the Covid-19 pandemic has helped to transform it.  DoorDash had 543 million total orders in the first nine months of 2020, tripling from a year ago. It reported a contribution margin—profit after variable costs—of $433 million in the period, versus a $190 million loss a year earlier.

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Physical locations and ghost kitchens

In October 2019, DoorDash opened its first ghost kitchen, DoorDash Kitchen, in Redwood City, California. Ghost kitchens, sometimes called "dark kitchens" or "commissary kitchens", are kitchen facilities that can be used by restaurants and caterers to prepare delivery- and pick-up-only meal orders. The Redwood City location has four restaurants renting out space.

In November 2020, DoorDash announced the opening of its first physical restaurant location, partnering up with Bay Area restaurant Burma Bites to offer delivery and pick-up orders.

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In January 2020, the FT revealed that Uber had been negotiating an acquisition of DoorDash, but the talks came to nothing.

Similarly, Uber tried to acquire Grubhub (NYSE:GRUB) in June, also failing. Grubhub instead opted for a merger with Just Eat Takeaway (OTCPK:TKAYF), whose offer to Grubhub was "dramatically better than Uber's." Grubhub is now trading for more than Uber offered for the company.

Meanwhile, Uber just completed its acquisition of Postmates for $2.65B. While that acquisition looks smart given DoorDash's valuation, Postmates is far smaller than DoorDash.