Three platform businesses are quietly putting up numbers that would make most growth investors jealous. The market hasn’t noticed yet. Instacart (NASDAQ:CART | CART Price Prediction), Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG), and Grindr (NYSE:GRND) are all down meaningfully year-to-date despite delivering real revenue growth, expanding margins, and beating estimates. Here’s how they rank.
#3: Instacart (CART)
Instacart is essentially the operating system for online grocery. Retailers plug into its platform, consumers order through it, and advertisers pay to reach those shoppers at the exact moment they’re deciding what to buy. That ads business is what makes this more than a delivery company.
In its most recent quarter, Instacart posted revenue of $939M, beating estimates of $933.3M. Orders grew 14% year-over-year to 83.4M, and gross transaction value hit $9.17B, up 10% YoY. Net income rose 22% YoY to $144M, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 22% to $278M.
New CEO Chris Rogers framed the path forward clearly: “Our strategy to accelerate online grocery adoption is working. We’re deepening customer and retailer relationships, expanding our ads ecosystem, and launching innovative AI-powered tools across all aspects of our business — all while driving profitable growth.”
The AI angle is real. Instacart’s Cart Assistant and Catalog Engine are early but meaningful steps toward making the platform smarter for both shoppers and retailers. Partnerships with Grubhub and United MileagePlus expand the ecosystem. The company also authorized a $1.5B share repurchase increase.
The risk worth watching: EBT SNAP funding uncertainty could pressure lower-income user engagement. The stock is down about 15.6% year-to-date, sitting well below its analyst target price of $49.52. At a forward P/E around 16x, the valuation is relatively modest compared to its revenue growth rate.
#2: Booking Holdings (BKNG)
Booking is the global travel platform most people use without realizing it. Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable — it owns the full stack of travel discovery and booking, and it’s getting better at monetizing that stack.
Q4 2025 results were strong. Revenue came in at $6.35B, beating estimates of $6.14B by 3.49%. Room nights grew 9% year-over-year, and merchant revenues surged 27.4% to $4.25B. Free cash flow nearly doubled, rising 119.53% YoY to $1.42B in Q4.
For the full year, Booking generated $26.92B in revenue, up 13.39% YoY, and $9.09B in free cash flow. The company returned $6.44B to shareholders via repurchases in 2025, with $21.8B remaining in its buyback authorization.
CEO Glenn Fogel put it plainly: “We are pleased to report strong results for 2025, delivering double-digit revenue growth, expanding Adjusted EBITDA margin by 193 basis points, and accelerating room night growth in every quarter.”
A 25-to-1 stock split takes effect April 2, 2026 should broaden the retail investor base. The stock is down about 18% year-to-date despite those results. A $457M KAYAK goodwill impairment and $1.38B in FX losses weighed on reported net income, but the operating engine is firing.
#1: Grindr (GRND)
Grindr is the world’s largest LGBTQ+ social networking platform, with over 15M monthly active users across 190+ countries. What makes it a platform play worth studying is the monetization trajectory, not just the user count.
In Q3 2025, Grindr posted revenue of $116M, up 30% year-over-year. EPS came in at $0.16, beating the $0.12 estimate by 33%. Adjusted EBITDA margin hit 47%. That’s a margin profile most mature SaaS businesses would envy.
The ad business is accelerating fast. Indirect (ad) revenue grew 56% YoY to $19M, while direct revenue grew 25% to $96M. The company is testing a new premium AI tier that could add another monetization layer on top of an already high-margin subscription base.
CEO George Arison kept it direct: “Grindr delivered an outstanding third quarter, setting up the Company for another great year of financial performance in 2025.”
The stock is down about 12% year-to-date and trades well below the analyst consensus target of $18. With a trailing P/E around 27x and 29% quarterly revenue growth, the gap between the analyst consensus target and current price is notable. The main risk is regulatory compliance across its global footprint, which is manageable for a company generating this level of free cash flow.
The Common Thread
All three businesses share the same DNA: network effects, recurring revenue, and expanding margins. They’re all down meaningfully this year despite beating estimates and guiding higher. Whether it’s Instacart building the rails for grocery commerce, Booking compounding its travel flywheel, or Grindr quietly printing 47% EBITDA margins on 30% revenue growth, the fundamentals contrast with the year-to-date price declines across all three names – a dynamic worth monitoring as earnings seasons continue.
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