Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Downgraded by Barclays to “Equal Weight”

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) was downgraded by Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $65.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $77.00. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.82% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CART. Benchmark boosted their price target on Maplebear from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Maplebear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Maplebear from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $63.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Maplebear from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Maplebear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.94.

Maplebear Stock Performance

Shares of CART opened at $57.11 on Friday. Maplebear has a twelve month low of $32.73 and a twelve month high of $62.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.23. The firm has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.87.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.03). Maplebear had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 11.97%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Maplebear will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Maplebear

In other news, Director Ravi Gupta sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.61, for a total value of $7,591,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 591,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,936,979.03. This represents a 20.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lisa Blackwood-Kapral sold 3,016 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.58, for a total value of $149,533.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,376.42. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 309,928 shares of company stock worth $16,121,073. Insiders own 24.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Maplebear

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Maplebear during the 3rd quarter worth about $601,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Maplebear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Maplebear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $716,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in Maplebear by 16.9% during the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 97,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,206,000 after buying an additional 14,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its position in Maplebear by 7.3% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.09% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Maplebear

Here are the key news stories impacting Maplebear this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DoorDash agreed to acquire Maplebear in a transaction combining a major restaurant-delivery platform with the leading U.S. grocery-delivery service. The deal could create operating efficiencies, broaden customer reach, and strengthen DoorDash’s position against Amazon and Walmart. The official announcement describes approximately $17 billion in equity value, while some reports refer to the deal as $16 billion. DoorDash to acquire Instacart for $17B
• Positive Sentiment: Instacart’s third-quarter operating results showed continued momentum ahead of the acquisition: gross transaction volume increased 15% year over year, revenue rose 17%, adjusted EBITDA climbed 23% to $342 million, and GAAP net income reached $147 million. Instacart Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: The transaction is not expected to close until late 2027 or the first half of 2028. Consequently, CART may trade below the $65 consideration value as investors weigh regulatory, shareholder-approval, financing, and closing risks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Maplebear reported third-quarter EPS of $0.60, below the roughly $0.63–$0.64 consensus estimate, but revenue of about $1.09 billion exceeded expectations near $1.07 billion. EPS improved from $0.42 a year earlier, tempering the earnings miss. Maplebear Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms are investigating whether Maplebear’s board obtained a fair price and properly handled potential conflicts or competing offers. Separately, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized the merger over possible higher consumer prices and worse worker conditions, highlighting potential antitrust and regulatory scrutiny.

About Maplebear

Maplebear Inc, doing business as Instacart, operates a technology-enabled grocery marketplace that connects consumers with retailers and personal shoppers. Through its website and mobile applications, customers can order groceries and other household products for delivery or pickup from participating supermarkets, specialty food stores, convenience retailers and other merchants.

The company also provides retailers with e-commerce, fulfillment and advertising solutions. Its platform supports online storefronts, order management, delivery logistics, customer engagement and data-driven marketing, allowing retail partners to offer digital shopping services and reach consumers through Instacart’s marketplace.

Founded in 2012, Maplebear serves customers across the United States and Canada.