Instacart files for long-awaited IPO; Blockbusters boosting economy 

Instacart has filed papers to go public with an IPO expected to happen as soon as in a few weeks. (Herald file photo)

Grocery delivery company Instacart is going public. The San Francisco-based company filed paperwork Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The IPO is expected to happen in the next few weeks.

Instacart said it plans to trade on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the stock symbol “CART.”

The number of shares and the price haven’t yet been determined, the company said. PepsiCo has agreed to buy $175 million in convertible preferred stock in a private placement, Instacart said.

In a letter to investors, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo said online grocery has tremendous potential.

The U.S. grocery market is a $1.1 trillion industry, but only 12% of sales are made online. She expects that to at least double over time.

“We have demonstrated our ability to help our retail partners drive strong growth and stay competitive in a complex and increasingly digital industry,” Simo wrote.

Blockbusters boosting economy

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and “Barbenheimer” fever are giving a serious boost to the U.S. economy.

The megastars’ tours and blockbuster films are expected to add up to $8.5 billion to U.S. growth in the third quarter, according to Bloomberg Economics. The nearly 50 U.S. concerts the artists have scheduled could add $5.4 billion to gross domestic product, while the films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are projected to add about $3.1 billion in consumer spending and exports from international ticket sales.

Taken together, that would raise annualized real personal consumption expenditures and GDP by 0.7 and 0.5 percentage points, respectively, in the July-through-September period, economists Anna Wong and Eliza Winger wrote in a note last week.

The economists nearly doubled their forecast for growth in the July-to-September period, partly as a result of the spending gains.