Key Takeaways
- McDonald’s named Uber the preferred delivery partner for orders placed in its own app, as part of a multi-year expansion across 14 markets for a McDelivery business that brings in more than $20 billion a year.
- The deal comes days after another big-brand delivery deal, so Uber has now signed two of the biggest consumer brands while DoorDash works through its deal to buy Instacart.
- DoorDash still took 59% of delivery-app spending last quarter and keeps its McDonald’s listings, so Uber is gaining ground from far behind.
- Uber made $9.8 billion of free cash flow in 2025, so it can afford to pay up for deals like this, and its early-February report will show whether they’re helping its delivery business grow.
McDonald’s (MCD) just handed Uber Technologies (UBER) the delivery orders placed in its own app. It comes only days after Amazon brought Uber Eats to Prime.
That’s two of the biggest consumer brands around picking Uber in a single week. And it lands on DoorDash (DASH) while it’s busy with its deal to buy Instacart, which it announced late last month.
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What exactly happened
On Monday, the two companies announced a multi-year expansion of a partnership that goes back to 2017. Uber will be the “preferred delivery partner” for orders placed in the McDonald’s app. The deal has three parts:
- In markets including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France and Germany, McDonald’s app orders will mostly be delivered through Uber Direct, Uber’s white-label delivery service. Customers never leave the McDonald’s app.
- Uber becomes McDonald’s exclusive delivery and rideshare rewards partner in those markets. Starting this month, MyMcDonald’s Rewards members in select markets can use their points for discounts on Uber rides.
- Later, customers will also be able to earn McDonald’s points on McDonald’s orders placed through Uber Eats.
In all, the expansion covers 14 markets, from the U.S. and Canada to Poland and New Zealand. McDonald’s says McDelivery has grown into a business of more than $20 billion a year. Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s president and chief operating officer, called it “our broadest expansion with McDonald’s to date.”
Uber keeps landing the big brands
Last Thursday’s Amazon deal works the same way. U.S. Prime members get a $0 delivery fee on Uber Eats restaurant orders of $25 or more, placed right on Amazon. In both deals the customer never opens the Uber Eats app: Amazon and McDonald’s keep the relationship, and Uber supplies the couriers.
The rewards link adds something DoorDash can’t match on its own. Order a McFlurry in the McDonald’s app and an Uber courier brings it. Then use your McDonald’s points to take a few dollars off your next Uber ride. DoorDash has no rides to offer, which is why Lyft’s new Lyft Go membership, tied to DashPass, gives credits for both rides and DoorDash orders.
The deal also follows a strong third quarter. Uber’s gross bookings grew 20% to $59.8 billion, near the top of its own guidance. Analysts expect revenue to keep climbing, from $52.0 billion in 2025 to $76.7 billion in 2028.
McDonald’s on its own shouldn’t move those estimates much. It has been on Uber Eats since 2017, and neither company disclosed the terms. But wins like this one make the numbers easier to hit.
DoorDash is still the one to catch
Uber is still well behind. DoorDash took 59% of delivery-app spending in the third quarter, against 18% for Uber Eats, according to Consumer Edge card data. McDonald’s also keeps its listings on both Uber Eats and DoorDash. Mason Smoot, McDonald’s senior vice president of global franchising and delivery, said the company is “continuing to give our fans choice in how they order McDonald’s.”
So the orders moving to Uber are the ones placed in McDonald’s own app. Even so, investors are pricing DoorDash as if it has a real fight on its hands. It trades at 26x forward earnings, close to the five-year low of 25x it hit on Oct. 29, and well below its three-year average of 39x. I suspect the Instacart deal will take up a lot of management’s attention just as Uber is out signing brands.
Uber can afford to pay up
My guess is McDonald’s didn’t hand over its app orders without getting a good rate, since preferred-partner deals usually come with a lower take rate. Uber has room for that. Its Delivery segment’s Adjusted EBITDA rose to 3.9% of bookings in 2025 from 3.3% in 2024, helped by $568 million more in advertising revenue. Free cash flow has gone from negative $740 million in 2021 to $9.8 billion in 2025:
And it’s still growing: free cash flow was $2.5 billion in the third quarter, up from $2.2 billion a year earlier.
The way I see it, the DoorDash fight is widening, and right now Uber is winning the deals that matter most. Big brands want to keep their customers and borrow someone else’s couriers, and Uber is the one they’re picking. DoorDash’s lead in spending is huge and won’t disappear over one partnership. But with Amazon, McDonald’s and a rides network that DoorDash can only reach through Lyft, Uber has a real edge here, and I think DoorDash’s discount may stick around. Of course, neither deal shows up in the numbers yet. Uber’s fourth-quarter report in early February will be the first look at whether Prime and McDonald’s are lifting its Delivery bookings.
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