DoorDash forecasts quarterly profit below estimates amid spending on tech overhaul

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Food delivery company DoorDash DASH.O forecast first-quarter adjusted profit below Wall Street estimates, hurt by spending on a major overhaul of its technology platform at a time when consumers remain cautious on discretionary purchases.

DoorDash is rebuilding its technology system so all its brands including DoorDash, Wolt and Deliveroo can run on one platform and release new features at the same time. In November, its executives said the company would invest several hundred million dollars in 2026 on these efforts.

The San Francisco, California-based company expects quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) between $675 million and $775 million, below analysts' average estimate of $798.22 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

DoorDash said first-quarter profit will be hurt by lower Deliveroo contributions, which are expected to be under $25 million, compared with more than $45 million in the prior quarter, as well as severe U.S. storms and regulatory costs.

The company also missed expectations for fourth-quarter profit amid persistent inflation and stiff competition.

The online food delivery sector remains highly competitive, with rivals such as Instacart CART.O and Uber Eats UBER.O leaning on heavy promotions.

DoorDash expects marketplace gross order value (GOV), or the total value of orders placed through its platform, in the first-quarter to be in the range of $31 billion to $31.8 billion, above estimates of $29.61 billion.

The company reported earnings of 48 cents per share for the fourth quarter, missing estimate of 59 cents.

Its marketplace GOV for the quarter ended December 31 jumped 39% to $29.68 billion from a year earlier, surpassing estimates of $27.65 billion, boosted by a 32% rise in orders to 903 million.