Grocery Delivery Company Instacart Debuts On Nasdaq After Raising IPO Price

By
Fatima Attarwala
Fatima Attarwala
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Fatima Attarwala is a business news writer and editor with a decade of experience researching, analyzing, and commenting on issues influencing the economy.
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Published September 19, 2023
Instacart website on a laptop computer

Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images

After a blockbuster IPO from British chip designer Arm last week, popular grocery delivery app Instacart set its initial public offering (IPO) price at the top end of its expected range at $30 per share.

The stock is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq today under the symbol "CART." New listings don’t always start trading when markets open, and it can be an hour or more before a new stock becomes available in regular trading, depending on exchange procedures.

Key Takeaways

  • Shares of Instacart are set to start trading on the Nasdaq under ticker "CART" on Tuesday.
  • The grocery delivery company set its IPO price at the top of its range at $30 per share, valuing the company at about $10 billion.
  • Though grocery delivery services represent Instacart's primary business, about one-third of its revenue stems from ads.

Demand for grocery deliveries surged following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, lifting Instacart's valuation to as high as $39 billion in 2021, but as the pandemic boom faded, its valuation fell to $9.3 billion. However, following Arm Holding’s successful debut earlier this month, Instacart boosted its initial range by about 7%, raising its valuation to about $10 billion on a fully diluted basis.

While perhaps best known for its grocery delivery service app, Instacart has also spent years building its data and advertising business, in an effort to monetize the wealth of shopping data it has at its disposal.

In 2016, the grocery-delivery app promoted its partners PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble through ads, and in 2017, it launched Instacart Ads, which allows consumer brands to promote products using coupons.

Instacart's advertising business reportedly generated about 30% of its revenue in 2022, up 29% from 2021, with higher margins than its core business of consumer shopping.

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  1. Instacart. “Instacart Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering.”

  2. Nasdaq. “New IPOs: Why Don't They Start Trading Immediately After the Market Opens?”

  3. CNBC. "Instacart’s valuation doubles to $39 billion."

  4. CNBC. "Instacart prices IPO at $30 a share, valuing grocery-delivery company at about $10 billion."

  5. Bloomberg. "Instacart’s IPO Puts Spotlight on Its Evolution Into Ad Seller."

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