Instacart initiated with a Hold at Needham

Needham initiated coverage of Instacart (CART) with a Hold rating and no price target. Given slowing growth in the years following a pandemic-driven demand surge and Instacart’s “already scaled” advertising business, the firm sees a balanced risk reward following the company’s IPO, the analyst tells investors. The firm’s expectations for post-pandemic online grocery sales in the U.S. are “likely going to be below consensus,” adds the analyst, who sees structural headwinds against adoption as well as competition on the rise with Uber (UBER) and DoorDash (DASH) increasingly investing in their grocery platforms.