Bernstein analysts upgraded Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) to Outperform from Market Perform, increasing their price target to $43.00 from $30.00. As a consequence, the company’s shares rose more than 2% intra-day today.
The analysts expressed a more optimistic outlook on the stock following the Q4 earnings, seeing potential for Gross Transaction Value (GTV) growth to outpace consensus expectations. Maplebear is moving past the challenges of EBT SNAP headwinds and diminishing impacts from its 2020/21 COVID-19 cohorts. The Q1 guidance suggests that high single-digit to low double-digit GTV growth is achievable in the near term, contradicting consensus views that have limited Instacart to 5-6% GTV growth indefinitely.
The analysts anticipate that guidance updates in Q2 or Q3 could prompt positive revisions to GTV forecasts. With the stock trading at 10 times adjusted EBITDA, these adjustments could lead to a higher valuation for Instacart.