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    Nikhil Devnani • Bernstein

    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Maplebear Inc (CART) leadership

    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Maplebear Inc (CART) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani of Bernstein inquired about the composition of the strong order growth, seeking to understand the breakdown between grocery and restaurants. He also asked if the guided Q3 moderation in order growth is due solely to lapping the Uber Eats partnership or if grocery growth is also moderating.

    Answer

    CFO Emily Reuter emphasized that Instacart views its business as a single ecosystem where restaurants create a flywheel effect, driving more frequent grocery orders. While acknowledging that restaurants and lower basket minimums have been significant drivers of order acceleration, she clarified that the anticipated Q3 moderation is primarily due to lapping the first full quarter of the restaurant contribution. Reuter affirmed that underlying business dynamics, including MAU growth and customer retention, remain strong across the platform.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Maplebear Inc (CART) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani questioned Instacart's long-term advertising strategy for smaller, 'long-tail' brands and followed up on whether the small basket orders are proving to be incremental to the business.

    Answer

    CEO Fidji Simo detailed the strategy for smaller brands, which includes enhanced self-serve tools, AI-driven insights, and discovery-focused ad formats like sponsored recipes and Universal Campaigns. On the follow-up, she confirmed that small basket orders are 'strongly' incremental, driving higher GTV, order frequency, and Instacart+ adoption without cannibalizing larger baskets, particularly in dense urban areas.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Maplebear Inc (CART) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani asked about the unit economics of incremental orders from the reduced free delivery threshold for Instacart+ members and whether Instacart sees an opportunity to become a global enterprise solutions provider, citing the Coles Australia partnership.

    Answer

    CEO Fidji Simo stated that the lower minimum basket is increasing order frequency and total GTV with favorable economics due to order batching and scale. Regarding global enterprise solutions, she confirmed the potential and interest from international retailers but stressed that the primary focus remains on the large U.S. market for now.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Maplebear Inc (CART) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani questioned the durability of the low double-digit GTV growth into 2025 and asked about the rationale for leaning into marketing spend during the quarter.

    Answer

    CEO Fidji Simo expressed confidence in sustainable growth, driven by reinvesting operational efficiencies into key initiatives like affordability, marketing, and new ventures such as restaurants and Caper. CFO Emily Maher specified that the Q3 marketing increase was an opportunistic investment tied to events like the Olympics, reflecting a flexible strategy to allocate capital between paid marketing, incentives, and pricing to achieve the highest returns.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to DoorDash Inc (DASH) leadership

    Nikhil Devnani's questions to DoorDash Inc (DASH) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani questioned the surprising strength and durability of new U.S. customer cohorts and asked about the outlook for net revenue margin expansion in the second half of the year.

    Answer

    CEO & Chair Tony Xu expressed he was not surprised by the new customer growth, citing the vast market of daily consumption occasions and continuous product improvements. He emphasized that DoorDash is still a small percentage of total occasions. CFO Ravi Inukonda added that growth is driven by both larger new and existing cohorts and rising order frequency. On margins, he confirmed the Q2 take rate increase was expected due to seasonal Dasher costs, quality improvements, and ads mix, and projected that the second-half take rate would be higher than the first half.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to DoorDash Inc (DASH) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani questioned how the acquisitions of Deliveroo and 7 Rooms might alter DoorDash's long-term EBITDA algorithm and earnings power for 2025 and 2026, considering the potential for increased investment.

    Answer

    CFO Ravi Inukonda stated that the company's core philosophy of growing the business while increasing profit dollars remains unchanged. He emphasized that DoorDash will continue to invest behind strength to improve unit economics, drive scale, and maximize long-term profit dollar growth, applying the same formula to the new acquisitions.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to DoorDash Inc (DASH) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani inquired about DoorDash's international business, asking if cohort contribution margins are maturing similarly to the U.S. and about the extent of fixed cost leverage achievable across multiple countries.

    Answer

    CEO Tony Xu confirmed that international markets are showing similar positive top-line and bottom-line progress as the U.S. did, driven by a strong product focus on retention and frequency. He also noted that fixed cost leverage is being realized through shared technology and know-how. CFO Ravi Inukonda added that the international business is gross profit positive, gaining share, and that while scale drives leverage, the company is still in an early investment phase for product development.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Lyft Inc (LYFT) leadership

    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Lyft Inc (LYFT) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani inquired about Lyft's investment plans for Europe post-FreeNow and whether Lyft could become part of other large subscription bundles beyond the DoorDash partnership.

    Answer

    CEO David Risher and CFO Erin Brewer reiterated that FreeNow is a growth-focused acquisition that will not require significant capital investment, focusing instead on bringing the large offline taxi market online. On subscriptions, Risher expressed strong interest, stating that Lyft is a natural fit for broader consumer ecosystems. He noted any partnership must be economically beneficial for all parties and provide real value to customers.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Lyft Inc (LYFT) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani from Bernstein asked for more detail on Lyft's Q1 pricing decisions, specifically on the trade-off between retaining market share and protecting margins, and how driver supply flexibility influences this strategy.

    Answer

    CEO David Risher emphasized that Lyft is a scale business and that growing rides is a primary goal as it improves the entire ecosystem. He framed the strategy not as a share retention trade-off but as capitalizing on the best service platform they've ever had. CFO Erin Brewer added that the business is run for the long term, maintaining marketplace balance is key, and the Q1 guidance still reflects approximately 40% year-over-year growth in adjusted EBITDA margin, demonstrating a continued focus on profitability.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to eBay Inc (EBAY) leadership

    Nikhil Devnani's questions to eBay Inc (EBAY) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani of Bernstein asked about the durability of the strong double-digit growth in the trading cards category and whether consistent GMV growth would lead to natural operating leverage and margin expansion.

    Answer

    President & CEO Jamie Iannone explained that trading card growth is not linear and depends on release cycles, but platform improvements support long-term potential. CFO Peggy Alford added that the company focuses on balancing top-line growth and bottom-line margins, noting that GMV growth is the key driver of operating leverage and healthy margins, with a goal of maximizing operating income dollars.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to eBay Inc (EBAY) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani from Bernstein Research asked about the potential impact of tariffs on advertising revenue from China-based merchants and the overall durability of the ad business.

    Answer

    CEO Jamie Iannone stated that there has been no material impact on advertising revenue to date. He emphasized the strong and distributed demand for ad products, with over 3.7 million sellers adopting them and 1.1 billion listings being promoted. Iannone expressed confidence in the ongoing opportunity, citing broad-based strength across various ad products like Promoted Listings General and promoted offsite ads.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to eBay Inc (EBAY) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani asked if the 'healthier trends' observed in Germany were purely top-line or if profitability had also improved. He also inquired about any quantifiable improvements in GMV conversion rates resulting from recent marketplace enhancements.

    Answer

    CEO Jamie Iannone confirmed that the improvements in Germany are related to both top-line growth and profitability, noting that the business has been successfully remonetized through ads and cross-border trade. Regarding conversion, he did not provide a specific metric but reiterated his belief that 'GMV follows CSAT,' pointing to the 20-point CSAT increase in Germany and in focus categories as the leading indicator of improved business health and growth.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) leadership

    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani asked about the expected trajectory of Mobility gross bookings deceleration and questioned if the user frequency opportunity in less dense markets is comparable to that of core urban cities.

    Answer

    CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah advised not to expect a deceleration, as strong trip growth led by new users should continue, with pricing and mix being the main variables. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added that new products like taxi and shared rides extend the growth runway. He conceded that mobility frequency will likely be lower in less dense areas but expects this to be offset by higher pricing and margins from products like Uber Reserve.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani of Bernstein asked about the FX impact on the Q1 EBITDA guidance and challenged whether the push for affordability would become a headwind to Mobility margins, questioning the return on lower-cost rides.

    Answer

    CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah clarified that while FX is a top-line headwind, the company manages its operations to absorb the profit impact and deliver steady margin improvement. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi asserted that most past price increases were pass-throughs for insurance costs and expressed high confidence in meeting the company's three-year growth targets by balancing premium products with lower-cost options to drive both top and bottom-line growth.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani asked for clarification on Uber's 'partner versus buy' framework, what makes an acquisition the preferred path, and how platform diversification fits into current priorities.

    Answer

    CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah reiterated that the top priority is organic investment, followed by returning capital to shareholders via buybacks, with a very high bar for M&A. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi explained that Uber partners when it cannot add unique value or when a partner has a singular focus, like in AV. Uber pursues adjacencies where it can leverage its expertise in real-time logistics, pricing, and matching. He emphasized a preference for building organically first before considering acquisitions.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to ETSY Inc (ETSY) leadership

    Nikhil Devnani's questions to ETSY Inc (ETSY) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani asked if the decline in active buyers was related to the simultaneous decline in active sellers, questioning if marketplace cleanup efforts were negatively impacting network effects.

    Answer

    CEO Josh Silverman clarified the decline in active sellers was an intended result of a new shop setup fee, which has improved the quality and success rate of remaining sellers. He attributed the active buyer decline to macroeconomic pressures on discretionary spending, not a failure of the marketplace, noting buyer count remains near its pandemic-era peak. CFO Lanny Baker added that habitual buyer GMS remains stable at around 42% of total GMS.

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    Nikhil Devnani's questions to ETSY Inc (ETSY) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Nikhil Devnani from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC questioned Etsy's optimal long-term margin level, asking if the company would consider trading margin for growth, citing the successful investment in Depop as a potential model.

    Answer

    CEO Josh Silverman stated the goal is to grow market cap, balancing profitability and growth. He emphasized a data-driven approach, wanting to see ROI from current foundational investments before leaning more into hiring. He also highlighted Depop's strong performance (over 30% GMS growth) as validation of the portfolio strategy.

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