Is CART a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Instacart (Maplebear Inc.) on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how CART compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Instacart (Maplebear Inc.)'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to CART based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes CART a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

CART - Instacart (Maplebear Inc.)

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $52.30 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

F 30.0 / 100 pillar composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

⚠ 2 of the last 5 fiscal years showed negative net income — AlphaQuality will not grade above F for persistent unprofitability in a stable earnings power business.

Grade overrides the 30.0 pillar composite because hard gates always win. Use the pillar breakdown below to see where the underlying numbers sit.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

D- 30.0

5yr Avg ROIC -7.4% 0/100
Operating Margin Trend +4.80 pp/yr 100/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

F 23.6

5yr Avg ROE -2.9% 4/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 0.3% 60/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

A+ 99.6

5yr Revenue CAGR 19.5% 99/100
5yr EPS CAGR 78.8% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

A- 83.0

5yr FCF Margin 11.5% 74/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.33x 94/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

A+ 100.0

Net Debt / EBITDA -1.09x 100/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 30.00x 100/100
Altman Z-Score 6.35 100/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

C 52.9

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.66 18/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

3 of 4 gurus held; 3 trimmed; 2 full exits.

Holders: 3 -1
Avg Δ position: -37.3%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 2

Halvorsen sold -100%
Dalio sold -100%
Wood decreased -65%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.