Goldman Sachs thinks Instacart could be poised for a comeback. The firm reiterated a buy rating on the grocery delivery stock alongside a $48 per share price target. Goldman’s forecast implies more than 76% upside from Wednesday’s close. Instacart has slipped roughly 13% since going public in September. The company’s initial public offering valued Instacart at roughly $10 billion. That’s well below a pandemic-era high of $39 billion . CART YTD mountain Instacart stock. Instacart reported adjusted EBITDA of $163 million, beating a StreetAccount estimate of $120.5 million. Revenue of $764 million also exceeded expectations. Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan said the long-term view for Instacart remains sound, and the company will benefit from greater adoption of its platform and stronger advertising revenue. “[W]e continue to frame CART as positively exposed to two key secular growth themes in our coverage universe: 1) the potential for delivery platforms to enable the digital transition of the grocery industry as consumers increase their adoption of online channels and 2) the rise of retail media networks as an area of growth within the broader digital advertising industry that can continue to attract greater ad/promotion budgets over time,” Sheridan said. The analyst added that the short-term narrative will likely see investors focus on “elements of consumer demand, competitive intensity, the broader offline to online grocery industry shifts and the mix of stock buyback authorization to offset any pressure from forward lockup expiration.” — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
