Online grocery delivery platform Instacart (NASDAQ:CART) reported Q1 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 13.6% year on year to $1.02 billion. Its GAAP profit of $0.57 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Instacart (CART) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $1.02 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.01 billion (13.6% year-on-year growth, 1.2% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $0.57 vs analyst estimates of $0.57 (in line)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $300 million vs analyst estimates of $287.4 million (29.4% margin, 4.4% beat)
- Operating Margin: 17.9%, up from 12.3% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 24.7%, up from 17.3% in the previous quarter
- Market Capitalization: $10.35 billion
"Q1 was a milestone quarter — surpassing $10 billion in GTV and $1 billion in total revenue for the first time. These results prove that our strategy is working. We're the leading grocery technology platform, delivering a best-in-class consumer experience, powering retailers across marketplace and enterprise, and operating a scaled ads ecosystem," said Chris Rogers, CEO.
Company Overview
Powering more than one billion grocery orders since its founding, Instacart (NASDAQ:CART) is an online grocery shopping and delivery platform that partners with retailers to help customers shop from local stores through its app or website.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. Thankfully, Instacart’s 11.3% annualized revenue growth over the last three years was decent. Its growth was slightly above the average consumer internet company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.
This quarter, Instacart reported year-on-year revenue growth of 13.6%, and its $1.02 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.2%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 10.6% over the next 12 months, similar to its three-year rate. This projection is above the sector average and implies its newer products and services will help support its historical top-line performance.
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Cash Is King
If you’ve followed StockStory for a while, you know we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills.
Instacart has shown terrific cash profitability, driven by its lucrative business model and cost-effective customer acquisition strategy that enable it to stay ahead of the competition through investments in new products rather than sales and marketing. The company’s free cash flow margin was among the best in the consumer internet sector, averaging 23.2% over the last two years.
Taking a step back, we can see that Instacart’s margin expanded by 12.5 percentage points over the last few years. This is encouraging because it gives the company more optionality.
Instacart’s free cash flow clocked in at $252 million in Q1, equivalent to a 24.7% margin. The company’s cash profitability regressed as it was 6.5 percentage points lower than in the same quarter last year, but it’s still above its two-year average. We wouldn’t read too much into this quarter’s decline because investment needs can be seasonal, causing short-term swings. Long-term trends trump temporary fluctuations.
Key Takeaways from Instacart’s Q1 Results
We enjoyed seeing Instacart beat analysts’ EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue narrowly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The stock remained flat at $43.78 immediately after reporting.
Instacart may have had a good quarter, but does that mean you should invest right now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).