** U.S. meal delivery firm DoorDash DASH.O to buy Deliveroo ROO.L in a deal valuing the British rival at about 2.9 billion pounds ($3.85 billion)

** DoorDash also forecast Q2 core profit largely below estimates; says it would spend ~$1.2 billion to buy SevenRooms, a hospitality-related software co

** Average rating of 41 analysts on the DASH stock is "buy"; with a median PT of $220- LSEG data

** At least nine brokerages cut and two raise PT on stock

LEANING INTO OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

** Raymond James ("outperform"; PT: $215) says the logic of bringing DASH operational excellence to non-overlapping European/ international markets is compelling

** Truist ("buy"; PT: $230) says Deliveroo acquisition should broaden DASH's footprint and materially grow its scale, while SevenRooms should strengthen its commerce platform capabilities

** UBS ("neutral"; PT: $196) says beyond immediate near term, there is rising potential for accretion to be slower-than-expected as new cost centers come online if the new transactions close

** BofA ("buy"; PT: $230) says the sentiment on acquisitions can improve from here, sees accelerating growth despite soft macro conditions

(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru)

((Neil.JKanatt@thomsonreuters.com;))