May 1 (Reuters) - Instacart forecast

second-quarter core profit above Wall Street estimates on

Thursday, betting on resilient demand for grocery and food on

its delivery platform as more people shop online.

The company, also known as Maplebear ( CART ), has been attracting

customers amid a highly competitive environment with its wide

retailer and shopper partner network and options for customers

to save on delivery fees through its Instacart+ membership.

Instacart had also slashed its minimum order value for

members to avail free delivery to $10 from $35 for all retailers

except Costco earlier in March. It also offers delivery for

non-members with a delivery fee starting at $3.99.

The company has been bolstering advertising on its platform,

incorporating AI-powered features, including its new Universal

Campaigns that help brands create one campaign with a single

budget that optimizes across multiple ad formats.

Instacart expects core profit for its second quarter to be

between $240 million and $250 million, above analysts' estimate

of $237.2 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company expects gross transaction value, a key metric

that shows the value of products sold based on prices shown on

Instacart, to grow between $8.85 billion and $9.00 billion in

the second quarter, the midpoint of which is slightly below

analysts' expectations of $8.94 billion.

For the first quarter ended March 31, Instacart posted a

core profit of $244 million, beating estimates of $229.4

million.

Its advertisement revenues rose 14% in the reported quarter

after increasing 9% in the year-ago quarter.

Gross transaction value for the reported quarter was $9.12

billion, almost in line with estimates of $9.11 billion, while

revenue rose 9% to $897 million, compared with analysts'

expectations of $898 million.