The food delivery name expects orders to slow down as the vaccine rollout picks up
The shares of DoorDash Inc (NYSE:DASH) are down 3.3% at $161.19 this morning, after the food delivery concern announced its first quarterly report since going public in December. The company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter losses, despite revenue growing 226% year-over-year to $970 million. Also hurting the security was its latest forecast, which anticipates slowing orders for the second half of the year, as the vaccine rollout accelerates and people feel emboldened to go back to restaurants and cafes. Nonetheless, DoorDash still believes delivery habits will endure beyond the pandemic.
The results are drawing mixed reactions from the brokerage bunch. The security earned two price-target hikes from Mizuho and Piper Sandler to $170 and $159, respectively, as well as a price-target cut from Truist Securities to $180. Analysts are mostly bearish on the equity, with 12 of the 17 in coverage calling DASH a tepid "hold."
DoorDash stock hasn't been around for very long, but it has already experienced its fair share of ups and downs on the charts. An impressive bull gap pushed the security to a Jan. 27, all-time high of $256.09, though the equity was ultimately unable to sustain it. Now, the $185 level seems to be emerging as a potential site of resistance, despite a 13.2% year-to-date lead.
Meanwhile, short sellers have been hitting the exits. Short interest fell 10.7% over the last two reporting periods, but the the 8.76 million shares sold short still make up roughly 9% of the security's available float, or nearly three days' worth of pent-up buying power.
As far as options are concerned, more than 15,000 puts have crossed the tape so far, which is four times what is typically seen at this point. Most popular is the weekly 3/05 160-strike put, followed by the 150-strike put in the same series, with new positions being opened at both.