Investing.com -- Raymond James upgraded Maplebear, the parent company of Instacart, to outperform with a $50 price target in a note to clients on Thursday, arguing that the formal launch of its Cart Assistant tool marks an underappreciated inflection point for the online grocery platform.

Analyst Josh Beck said grocery represents one of the most complex and under-penetrated e-commerce categories, with online penetration of roughly 13% compared to 40% or more in apparel, electronics and home goods.

Beck argued that agentic shopping experiences, including improved list building via natural language, tailored recommendations and deal-seeking tools, will drive a meaningful step-up in conversion and order values.

"The formal launch of Cart Assistant is an underappreciated tailwind coming to Instacart web/app and enterprise partners like Kroger in months/quarters ahead," Beck wrote.

Raymond James currently estimates Instacart's conversion rate at approximately 13% based on third-party traffic data, and sees room for improvement as Cart Assistant rolls out.

The firm also flagged that third-party agentic platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Meta AI could bring in new monthly active orderers beyond Instacart's existing base of 10 million.

On the competitive threat from Amazon, Beck said his analysis of a test basket in Valdosta, Georgia found that while Amazon-Winn-Dixie offered roughly a $50 discount on a large order, Instacart's fulfillment window of one to two hours compared favorably to Amazon's three to five hour range, pointing to structurally different markets.

Raymond James raised its GTV estimates to $42.1 billion and $47.7 billion for 2026 and 2027 respectively, placing the firm at the top of Street estimates.

A bull case of $65 is premised on approximately $5 of EPS power and 13x price-to-earnings.