Uber on Tuesday reported second-quarter earnings results that topped Wall Street estimates. The stock rose about 6% at the market open.
Here’s how the company did for the period ending June 30, compared with what Wall Street was expecting based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 47 cents vs. 31 cents expected
- Revenue: $10.7 billion vs. $10.57 billion expected
Revenue increased 16% from $9.23 billion a year earlier, Uber said in a press release. The company’s mobility unit reported a 23% increase in gross bookings to $20.6 billion. Gross bookings rose 16% in delivery to $18.1 billion, and were flat in the freight unit at $1.27 billion.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had said the company expected around 20% growth for the second quarter, based on anticipated continued expansion in its core mobility business, and rising frequency of orders for food and trips through its membership subscribers.
For the third quarter, Uber expects bookings of $40.25 billion to $41.75 billion. The middle of the range, $41 billion, fell shy of the $41.18 billion average estimate, according to StreetAccount. The company expects adjusted earnings of $1.58 billion to $1.68 billion, with the middle of the range just above the $1.62 billion average estimate.
Uber’s “monthly active platform consumers,” or MAPCs, reached 156 million in the second quarter with 2.77 billion trips via the Uber platform. This compares with 137 million MAPCs and 2.28 billion trips during the same period a year ago.
Uber also reported $1.02 billion in net income for the quarter, which included a $333 million pretax benefit from “revaluations of Uber’s equity investments.”
In May, the company announced a partnership with Instacart that would add a “restaurants” tab to the grocery delivery app, enabling its users to order from restaurants and have deliveries fulfilled by Uber Eats.
In July, Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD and Uber announced a partnership to bring around 100,000 EVs to Uber drivers starting in Europe and Latin America. The companies also plan “to collaborate on future BYD autonomous-capable vehicles to be deployed on the Uber platform,” Uber said Tuesday.
While BYD vehicles aren’t sold or available for lease in the U.S., Uber has a range of other incentives and options in place to motivate drivers to use Tesla and other battery-electric vehicles, rather than gas-powered cars.
Analysts on the earnings call asked Khosrowshahi about Uber’s experience with autonomous vehicles, including its partnerships and long-term strategy for the market. Uber and Waymo partner in Arizona to let Uber users book driverless rides and food deliveries as an option.
Khosrowshahi didn’t disclose specifics about Waymo, but said broadly, “AV players” experience much higher utilization with Uber than they do “without a network on a first-party basis.” He said Uber “will continue to have the most liquid and largest marketplace” and that there will be a “pretty long hybrid period as autonomous is developing and regulators are trying to figure out exactly how to regulate it.”
“We don’t think this will be a winner take all market,” Khosrowshahi said.
Uber shares were down 5% for the year as of Monday’s close, but are now up slightly after Tuesday’s rally.
