Uber
Technologies shares were falling Tuesday after the ride-hailing company posted its first-ever quarterly operating profit but revenue fell short of expectations. Better-than-expected guidance failed to drive momentum for the stock, which has nearly doubled this year.
Uber
(ticker: UBER) reported earnings of 18 cents a share for the second quarter, compared with a per-share loss of $1.33 for the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose to $9.23 billion from $8.07 billion a year earlier.
Uber was expected to report adjusted earnings of 16 cents a share on revenue of $9.34 billion, according to a FactSet poll.
“Robust demand, new growth initiatives, and continued cost discipline resulted in an excellent quarter, with trips up 22% and a GAAP operating profit, for the first time in Uber’s history,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, in a company statement.
Uber has gone from burning through billions in cash to targeting its first annual profit since its 2019 listing, benefiting from market share gains at the expense of rival
Lyft
(LYFT) and controlling costs by measures such as keeping its head count stable and cutting spending on incentives for drivers.
Shares in Uber were down 3.2% in early trading to $47.87, reversing gains in the premarket. The stock price has almost doubled this year as Wall Street analysts have turned increasingly positive on its prospects. Lyft shares were down 1%.
Gross bookings—the value of transactions made on the Uber app—came to $33.6 billion, up 18% from the prior year on a constant currency basis. Uber’s growth was powered by its ride-hailing, or Mobility, segment—in which gross bookings climbed 28% to $16.7 billion. Delivery gross bookings were up 14% to $15.6 billion.
Uber said that for the third quarter it expects gross bookings of between $34 billion and $35.0 billion and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $975 million to $1.03 billion.
Analysts had forecast gross bookings of $34.1 billion and Ebitda of $927 million for the third quarter, according to FactSet.
“With another strong quarter of healthy growth and cost discipline, we believe [Uber’s] path to $5 billion+ adj. EBITDA in 2024E and significant positive free cash flow is becoming increasingly clear,” Wedbush’s Daniel Ives wrote in a research note on Tuesday.
Uber said separately that Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai plans to leave the company effective Jan. 5. It is searching for his replacement.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]
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