DASH Q2 2025: Ad Revenue Hits $1B Run Rate, DashPass Orders Rise
- Robust Product Improvements & Customer Retention: Significant enhancements in the product—such as increased selection, better personalization, and improved quality—have driven higher order frequency and strong retention across both new and legacy DashPass cohorts. This ongoing focus on product excellence indicates sustained customer loyalty and usage growth.
- Accelerated Growth in New Verticals & International Markets: The company is witnessing fast-growing units in new vertical businesses and international markets, with expanded cohort sizes and all-time high order frequency metrics. These trends suggest substantial upside potential as these areas mature and gain further market share.
- Strength in Advertising Revenue & Strategic Acquisitions: DoorDash’s ads business achieved an annualized revenue run rate of over $1B, and strategic moves—such as the closure of key acquisitions like Seven Rooms and progress on the Deliveroo integration—position the firm to further monetize its platform while enhancing its competitive edge.
- Operational challenges and customer dissatisfaction: The CEO mentioned receiving hundreds of customer emails about even minor issues (like a driver arriving at the wrong parking lot), suggesting that recurring service issues may compound across billions of orders and impact overall customer satisfaction.
- Integration uncertainties with acquisitions: The discussion around the pending Deliveroo deal noted that its closing is subject to regulatory review and timing uncertainties, which may delay or impair the anticipated synergies.
- Risks in nascent new verticals and retail: The retail and new vertical businesses are described as being in a very early stage, requiring significant additional investment and product enhancements, which may pressure margins and delay profitability.
| Metric | Period | Previous Guidance | Current Guidance | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross Order Value (GOV) | Q2 2025 | Guidance mentions an FX impact on YoY growth with no specific figure | No specific guidance provided [N/A] | no current guidance |
EBITDA | Q2 2025 | Guidance provided for EBITDA with the exact figure not disclosed | No specific guidance provided [N/A] | no current guidance |
Take Rate | Q2 2025 | Expected to be higher than Q1 2025 and higher in H2 versus H1 | No specific guidance provided [N/A] | no current guidance |
CapEx | Q2 2025 | Expected to remain at similar levels to Q2 2025 | No specific guidance provided [N/A] | no current guidance |
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Ad Revenue
Q: How is the ad business scaling?
A: Management noted that the ad business quickly reached a $1B annualized run rate, leveraging acquisitions like Symbiosis to enhance consumer experience and unlock further advertiser value. -
DashPass Growth
Q: How is DashPass performance trending?
A: Executives stressed that persistent product improvements are driving robust DashPass membership and order frequency, with both new and mature cohorts showing strong engagement. -
New Verticals & Unit Econ
Q: What drives non-restaurant order growth?
A: Leaders explained that new verticals are growing faster than core restaurant orders, with better unit economics and higher basket sizes coming from expanded selection and affordability improvements. -
AI Integration
Q: How is AI enhancing operations?
A: Management plans to deploy larger AI models to refine search, personalization, and operational workflows, which should boost productivity and drive long-term efficiency. -
Robotics Delivery
Q: What progress is seen in autonomous delivery?
A: The team shared that partnerships with robotics firms, including CocoRobotics, are promising though significant end-to-end challenges remain before full scalability is achieved. -
Retail & Drone Delivery
Q: How are retail and drone initiatives progressing?
A: Retail is in its early stages yet growing fast, while early drone delivery tests and partnerships are yielding encouraging regulatory signals to eventually enhance unit economics. -
OpEx & Cost Discipline
Q: How are operating costs managed?
A: Management highlighted disciplined investments with fixed operating expenses kept around 2% of GOV, supported by targeted headcount growth and automation to drive leverage. -
Customer Experience Challenges
Q: What product challenges persist?
A: Tony acknowledged that despite strong performance metrics, daily feedback points to recurring issues like delivery accuracy, emphasizing a continued, focused effort on constant incremental improvements.
Research analysts covering DoorDash.