Maplebear Inc at JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : <_ALACRA_META_ABSTRACT>All right. Instacart had a little bit of news last week about Fidji Simo, CEO, your CEO stepping down from her role. Can you talk about that and what that means for Instacart?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, great. That's very helpful. So I mentioned that you've been in the CFO seat for about a year now. What are some of those key learnings that you've had over the past year, and what are your top priorities going forward?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, great. We certainly had a lot of noise in general just around macro, due to tariffs and inflation. We think about grocery as somewhat more resilient. But can you talk about how Instacart operates in a recessionary environment and then have you seen any indications that customers are changing their behavior at all?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay. So GTV grew about 10% in '24. And one of the key investor questions is just around sustainability of the double digit GTV growth. Maybe you can talk about some of the keys to driving that double-digit GTV level over the next few years?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, great. Let's go back to the Uber partnership for a minute. So you've called out the positive impact that it's had in the last couple of quarters that you can just dig a little bit deeper into that virtuous cycle, the positive effects there, and just what you anticipate as you lap the launch in June.

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, great. You mentioned the $10 basket for Instacart+ users. Let's talk more about that recent introduction. I guess a key question that we've been getting is just how do you make the economics work on a $10 basket? And what kind of batching is needed and other kind of efficiencies to really make that work on the economics?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay. Transaction revenue, you've been reinvesting shopper efficiencies to drive top-line growth. How much more room do you see to drive further efficiencies there? What are some of the key areas that you're investing back into?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, when you put all that together, how should we think about transaction take rate going forward?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, all right, clear. Let's talk about advertising a little bit. You got it to 2Q, add another revenue growing modestly faster than GTV. You've also called out hearing some caution from brands. How should we think about the drivers of sustainable add dollar growth and then the path to long-term add another investment rates of 4% to 5% of GTV?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, great. Let's shift gears, talk about margins. You've talked about EBITDA continuing to improve through the rest of the year. How should we think about overall margin expansion just in the context of some of the new growth initiatives having lower margin contribution?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay. And what does that mean for incremental margins through the remainder of the year and kind of longer term?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay. All right. On Gen AI, you've been a leader in implementing across the platform. Maybe you can just talk about some of the main initiatives that you've been focused on and what you're thinking about going forward?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay, capital allocation. You've done significant buybacks since the IPO. Just as you continue to grow profitability, and you're on track to do $3 billion plus in free cash flow over the next three years, how should we think about capital returns as a consistent philosophy versus being opportunistic?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - J.P. Morgan - Analyst : Okay. All right, we're going to leave it there. Thank you, Emily.