Uber Technologies reported a surge in third-quarter revenue and profit on Tuesday, outpacing Wall Street expectations as trip volumes and user activity hit record levels.
However, its shares dropped nearly 4.5% during pre-market trading after the ride-hailing firm’s forecast for fourth-quarter adjusted profit came in marginally below analyst estimates.
The company posted a quarterly profit of $6.62 billion, a sharp rise from $2.61 billion a year earlier, while earnings stood at $3.11 per share, comfortably above the $0.69 per share projected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue climbed 20% to $13.47 billion, exceeding Wall Street’s estimate of $13.28 billion.
“This was our strongest growth since the end of 2023 and the largest trip volume increase in Uber’s history outside the post-Covid rebound,” wrote CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in prepared remarks.
Marginal miss in fourth-quarter profit guidance prompts stock slip
For the December quarter, Uber forecast adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the range of $2.41 billion to $2.51 billion, with the midpoint slightly below analyst expectations of $2.48 billion.
The softer guidance tempered investor enthusiasm following the strong revenue performance.
Khosrowshahi said Uber’s growth momentum was accelerating, driven by innovation, affordability, and expanding services.
“We’re building on that momentum by investing in lifelong customer relationships, leaning into our local commerce strategy and harnessing the transformative potential of AI and autonomy,” Khosrowshahi said.
Record trip volumes and user growth
The company recorded 3.5 billion trips during the quarter, a 22% increase from the same period last year, while monthly active platform consumers grew 17% to 189 million.
Gross bookings rose 21% to $49.7 billion.
Uber’s mobility segment reported gross bookings of $25.11 billion, up 20% year on year, while delivery bookings climbed 25% to $23.32 billion.
Mobility revenue rose to $7.68 billion, marginally above StreetAccount estimates, and delivery revenue came in at $4.48 billion, also ahead of projections.
The company’s net income included a $4.9 billion tax valuation release and a $1.5 billion pre-tax benefit from revaluation of equity investments.
Uber leans on memberships and diversification
Looking ahead, Uber expects strong demand through the holiday season, driven by its membership program, Uber One, which encourages users to book more food and grocery deliveries in addition to rides.
As a gig-economy platform, Uber continues to grow by expanding the range of services on its app and increasing commission rates.
Analysts at StockStory noted that Uber’s monthly active consumers have grown 14.7% annually over the past two years, one of the fastest rates among consumer internet companies.
“It was great to see Uber increase its number of users this quarter. We were also happy its number of monthly active platform consumers outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its EBITDA slightly missed. Overall, this print was mixed,” the analysts said.
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