DoorDash Revenue Triples as Pandemic Drives Diners to Order In

Food delivery has been an expensive logistical undertaking.

Photo: Richard B. Levine/Levine Roberts/Zuma Press

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Updated Feb. 25, 2021 5:22 pm ET

DoorDash Inc.’s DASH -5.36% revenue in the fourth quarter more than tripled from a year ago, as the company continued to benefit from the coronavirus pandemic and the rapid adoption of food delivery throughout the country.

The delivery platform on Thursday said it logged $970 million in revenue over the last three months of 2020, up from nearly $300 million over the same period in 2019.

The results show DoorDash emerging as a high-profile winner from the coronavirus pandemic, even when compared with its rivals in the same sector. DoorDash’s U.S. market share stood at 53% in January, up from 35% a year earlier, according to Edison Trends, taking business from rivals Grubhub Inc. GRUB -2.76% and Uber Technologies Inc.’s Uber Eats.

Demand for food delivery has soared amid the pandemic, but restaurants are struggling to survive. In a fiercely competitive industry, delivery services are fighting to gain market share while facing increased pressure to lower commission fees and provide more protection to their workers. Video/Photo: Jaden Urbi/WSJ

The rapid growth came with a larger-than-expected loss of $312 million, compared with the $202 million that analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting in the eight-year-old company’s first earnings report since its December initial public offering.

In coming months, the company said it expects its financial results to be hit by various regulations around the country, including a measure in California supported by the food delivery company that gives workers some additional benefits.

The company said it expects earnings between zero and $200 million in earnings before accounting for taxes, interest and other costs, compared with analyst projections of $246 million.

The company’s stock traded down more than 7% in early after-hours trading.