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Uber revenue rises amid strong US consumer spending

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Uber’s revenue rose 20 percent in the third quarter as in-app ride bookings and food deliveries continued to grow amid strong consumer spending in the Americas and Northern Europe.

However, Uber shares, which have risen more than 80 percent in the past 12 months, fell about 5 percent in premarket trading after its forecast for customer spending on its platform was off. slightly below Wall Street estimates.

Revenue of $11.2 billion for the three months through September was just above analyst expectations and up from $9.3 billion in the same three-month period a year earlier, the headquartered company said Thursday. in San Francisco.

Operating income rose to $1.1 billion from $394 million, well above the average estimate, as bookings rose 16 percent and its monthly users reached 161 million, up from 142 million last year.

In its outlook, Uber said it expected gross bookings – a measure of total customer spending across all of its business units – to be between $42.75 billion and $44.25 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $43.7 billion in the fourth quarter. analysts had predicted, according to Visible Alpha. data.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted “strong results in our core business along with substantial progress in our new product portfolio and autonomous strategy.”

He was referring to recent partnerships with Google’s self-driving taxi service Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise, and new initiatives such as teen accounts, motorcycle rentals and the ability to reserve cars in advance.

In recent years, Uber has expanded from its ride-sharing roots to train and flight bookings, food delivery, corporate logistics and advertising as it seeks to transform itself into a consumer “super app” that takes an increasing share of consumer spending and the resulting commissions.

Buoyed by its stock rise this year and more than $9 billion in cash, Uber recently explored a bid for U.S. travel booking website Expedia, valued at $20 billion, the Financial Times reported. reported this month. Khosrowshahi ran Expedia for 12 years before Uber and current CEO Barry Diller is his mentor.

Chief Financial Officer Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah said the company was still “selectively evaluating acquisition opportunities” but had “the bar set very high for any M&A.”

Uber’s financial performance is the latest sign of strong consumer spending in the United States, despite inflationary pressures and the potential upheaval of a closely contested presidential election. The American economy grew 2.8 percent in the third quarter, continuing a streak, and added more jobs than expected in September.

Bookings on Uber’s main transportation service grew by 24 percent, particularly in the United Kingdom. Argentina and Germany, while food and grocery deliveries increased 17 percent, driven by its main markets in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Cargo bookings grew much more slowly, at 2 percent.

Khosrowshahi maintained there was still room for growth. “It’s a common misconception that almost everyone already uses Uber,” he said. “We are taking a more active approach to unlocking less dense suburban and secondary markets, both in the United States and abroad.”

The company disclosed that it had generated $6 billion of free cash flow in the trailing 12 months and had cash and short-term investments of $9.1 billion at the end of the quarter.

Uber also reported $1.7 billion in unrealized gains on the book value of its $7.9 billion equity investment portfolio, which includes autonomous vehicle company Aurora, Chinese ride-hailing group DiDi and ride-hailing services. food delivery Grab and Delivery Hero. This caused its net income to increase almost 12-fold to $2.6 billion from $219 million.

Looking ahead, Uber said it expected its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (its preferred profit measure) to be between $1.78 billion and $1.88 billion in the current quarter through the end of December. Analysts expected $1.84 billion, according to estimates collected by Visible Alpha.

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