I just listened to DoorDash’s Q2 2025 earnings call, and the day before I listened to the Uber‘s call. One thing I want to highlight – both companies keep emphasizing how small of a share of the market they have managed to capture to date and how huge the opportunity ahead still is. And if I were a POS vendor, I’d be really worried right now.
Some notes on DD:
1/ Orders and money: 761 million orders (+20 % YoY). Marketplace GOV $24.2 billion (+23 %). Revenue $3.3 billion (+25 %). Adjusted EBITDA $655 million (+52 %). GAAP profit $285 million after a loss last year.
2/ Restaurant delivery still growing. Bigger DashPass base, faster deliveries and better recommendations keep customers ordering. New customers arrive in larger groups than last year, and existing ones buy more often.
3/ Advertising tops $1 billion (!!!) run‑rate. The team says they care more about a clean app than packing in extra ads. Buying Symbiosis AI should help merchants spend their ad budgets more wisely.
4/ Merchant software expanding. Recently acquired SevenRooms adds reservations, customer management and analytics. Tony Xu wants to drive extra sales for restaurants and let them control the tools. That’s a significant threat to all the POS service providers.
5/ Grocery and convenience gaining ground. These orders are larger and repeat business looks strong. DoorDash hopes to lead both categories within a year.
6/ AI everywhere. The company is using it for recommendations, onboarding restaurants and early tests with drones and robots. No firm rollout dates yet.
7/ Market still large. Xu reminded investors that DoorDash covers only a small share of weekly meals. (And not only that – there is still room to grow in terms of the restaurants’ technology spend)
How this stacks up against Uber’s Q2 2025 numbers (here is my post on it https://lnkd.in/dPpGZ-Qk):
– Revenue growth: DoorDash +25 % vs. Uber +18 % Uber’s revenue ($12.7 billion) is roughly four times DoorDash’s.
– Profitability: DoorDash adjusted EBITDA margin ≈20 %; Uber ≈17 % ($2.1 billion on $12.7 billion).
– Subscriptions: Uber One has 36 million members (+60 % YoY) who spend 3× more than non‑members. DoorDash did not share a DashPass count but said use is at a record high.
– Platform overlap: About 20 % of Uber users both ride and order food. They drive 3× bookings and have 35 % higher retention. Uber merged ride and delivery teams to grow this overlap. DoorDash, focused on delivery, is widening its reach through grocery, convenience and merchant tools.
– GOV margin: DoorDash adjusted EBITDA is ~2.7 % of GOV. Uber doesn’t give a direct match, but both firms are improving margins.