CART vs UBER: How Instacart (Maplebear) and Uber Technologies Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: CART is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CART and UBER share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CART and UBER exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Maplebear Inc., which does business as Instacart, runs the largest dedicated online grocery marketplace in North America. Customers order from more than a thousand retail banners, independent contractors called shoppers pick and deliver the items, and Instacart takes fees from both sides plus a cut from the retailer. The company reports gross transaction value (GTV) as its headline volume metric, and revenue arrives in two buckets: transaction revenue (delivery fees, service fees, and retailer economics) and advertising and other revenue, which is a retail media network selling placement to consumer packaged goods brands inside the app. A third leg, the enterprise technology business, licenses Instacart's software back to grocers: Storefront Pro for retailer-branded e-commerce, Carrot Ads so retailers can run their own ad networks, FoodStorm for prepared foods, and AI-equipped Caper smart carts for in-store shopping. Chris Rogers took over as chief executive in 2025 after Fidji Simo left for OpenAI.

Full CART guide

Uber Technologies operates a global platform connecting riders, drivers, eaters, restaurants, and shippers across three segments: Mobility (ride-hailing), Delivery (Uber Eats and grocery), and Freight (logistics brokerage). As of Q1 2026 the platform served roughly 199 million monthly active consumers and processed about 3.6 billion trips in the quarter, with gross bookings running near $54 billion per quarter and about $193 billion for full-year 2025. Membership (Uber One), advertising, and cross-selling between rides and delivery are core to its network-effect flywheel.

Full UBER guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CART drivers: Advertising is the profit engine, and it is outgrowing the marketplace; Enterprise technology turns competitors into customers.
• UBER drivers: Profitable marketplace scale; Free cash flow and capital returns.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The clearest risk is share loss in a category everyone wants: Amazon, Walmart, DoorDash and Uber are all pushing into grocery delivery with deeper balance sheets, and outside estimates put Instacart's intermediary share at roughly 58% versus about 70% two years earlier. For UBER, uber's autonomous strategy is partner-dependent, and the June 2026 end of its Waymo robotaxi pilot in Phoenix underscored the risk that AV operators build their own consumer apps and distribution instead of routing through Uber.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CART if you believe its drivers more; UBER if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CART and UBER guides.

CART. Instacart's total take rate lands near ~10% of GTV, split between ~7.2% transaction revenue and ~2.9% advertising, and the transaction portion has been notably stable while the ad portion climbs. The valuation is undemanding relative to the growth rate, with enterprise value of roughly ~$11.0 billion against trailing adjusted EBITDA that annualizes above $1.2 billion, largely because the market discounts the durability of the share position rather than the quality of the current numbers. Third quarter 2026 guidance calls for GTV of ~$10.3 billion to ~$10.55 billion and adjusted EBITDA of ~$320 million to ~$340 million.

UBER. As of early July 2026 Uber traded near $73 per share for a market cap around $152 billion, with a trailing P/E near 18x, well below its multi-year historical average as profits have scaled. Trailing net income of roughly $8.5 billion is flattered by gains on equity investments, so free cash flow (about $10 billion in 2025) is often viewed as a cleaner measure of underlying earnings power.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CART shows revenue (ttm) ~$3.99B, gtv (ttm) ~$40B, with Q2 2026 at ~$10.35B, up ~14%, advertising and other revenue (q2 2026) ~$297M, up ~16%, or ~2.9% of GTV, adjusted ebitda (q2 2026) ~$313M, up ~19%, ~30% margin on revenue; UBER shows revenue (ttm) ~$53.7B, net income (ttm) ~$8.5B, q1 2026 gross bookings ~$53.7B, fy2025 free cash flow ~$10B.

CART and UBER are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CART and UBER exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.