DoorDash shares jump 17% on $8 billion deal, earnings beat

DoorDash Inc.’s shares soared 17% as the market opened on Wednesday, after the biggest meal-delivery service in the U.S. said it’s buying Finnish food-delivery startup Wolt Enterprises Oy for about $8 billion.

The all-stock deal is DoorDash’s biggest purchase to date, eclipsing the acquisition of Caviar in 2019. It’s the latest merger in the quickly consolidating food-delivery market, which has benefited handsomely during the pandemic, but where profits are elusive. Last year saw Europe’s Just Eat Takeaway.com NV buy Grubhub for $7.3 billion while Uber Technologies Inc. snapped up Postmates Inc. for $2.65 billion.