BUZZ-Instacart rises after BTIG upgrade, Mizuho initiation

Shares of grocery delivery firm Instacart CART.O, formally known as Maplebear, up as much as 5.2% at a nearly two-month high of $46.82 in early trade

BTIG upgrades stock to "buy" from "neutral" and initiates a PT of $58, cites data that points to strong order growth helping Q4 and 2025, and a "not particularly challenging" valuation of stock

Mizuho initiates coverage on stock with "outperform" and PT of $55, sees CART defending its leading market share, expects advertising income to fund further growth investments that drives market penetration

Brokerage Bernstein raises PT by $3 to $55, sees hope from expanding grocery e-commerce sector and sees less threat from peers Uber UBER.N, DoorDash DASH.O owing to long merchant sales cycles being in favor of CART

18 of 34 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 16 "hold"; with a median PT of $52- data compiled by LSEG

CART rose ~76% in 2024

(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru)

((Neil.JKanatt@thomsonreuters.com;))