DoorDash took $80 billion in orders and subscriptions in 2024, but still operated at a loss

Much of the discourse around “private burrito taxi” economics, which crops up every six months when people get really bored on Twitter, suggests that the companies bringing us our expensive (but convenient) goods must be making a fortune from our everything-now appetites. In DoorDash’s case, though, profit has proved tricky to deliver.

In the last quarter alone, DoorDash took almost $21.3 billion in subscription fees and deliveries — from essentials picked at the local grocery store to booze and take-out burgers — bringing its gross order value for the year to ~$80.2 billion.

After the restaurants, shops, and drivers took their share of the total order figure, DoorDash posted some $10.7 billion in revenues in 2024, but still operated at a $38 million loss through the year. Even in Q4 specifically, when the company did turn an operating profit, it was pretty miniscule, at just over 4% of revenues. All of this begs the question: who, or what, is devouring DoorDash’s profits?

Big bites

Sales & Marketing was one of DoorDash’s biggest outlays in 2024, at more than $2 billion for the year and some $541 million in Q4 (those 30-second Super Bowl ad slots don’t come cheap), while the company also racked up ~$100 million Research & Development spend each month as it upped efforts to increase the range of stuff you can get directly to your door. 

While the bottom line understandably remains a key concern for DoorDash investors, with total operating losses in the region of $3.25 billion over the last five years, the absence of enormous profits isn’t hurting the stock this morning — shares are up about 2% in early trading, thanks to its better-than-expected Q4.

Interestingly, DoorDash delivery drivers who worked the Super Bowl shift earned over $50 million across the US this year, with Philly-based Dashers alone taking $390,000, per data shared with Axios.