Uber shares drop after revenue miss, despite first operating profit

Shares of Uber fell more than 5% on Tuesday after the company reported second-quarter results that missed analysts’ expectations for revenue but offered rosy guidance.

Here’s how the company did:

• Earnings per share: 18 cents vs. 1 cent loss expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $9.23 billion vs. $9.33 billion expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue for the quarter was up 14% from the same quarter last year.

Uber reported net income of $394 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $2.6 billion, or $1.33 per share, in the same quarter last year. That includes a $386 million net benefit from revaluations of Uber’s equity investments.

In a prepared statement, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the ride-hailing company achieved two major milestones during the quarter: its first quarter of free cash flow over $1 billion and its first GAAP operating profit. He added in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday that the company plans to be profitable every quarter going forward.

“Both of these milestones were achieved through a combination of disciplined execution, record audience and strong engagement,” Khosrowshahi said in the statement.

Khosrowshahi said during the quarterly call with investors Tuesday that CFO Nelson Chai will depart the company in January 2024. Chai has served as Uber’s CFO since 2018, and he helped the company go public in 2019. Uber said it has launched a search for his successor.

Uber reported adjusted EBITDA of $916 million, up 152% year over year. Gross bookings for the quarter came in at $33.6 billion, up 16% year over year.

For the third quarter of 2023, Uber said it expects to report gross bookings between $34 billion and $35 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $975 million to $1.025 billion, both ahead of analysts’ expectations, according to StreetAccount.

Here’s how Uber’s largest business segments performed:

Mobility (gross bookings): $16.73 billion, up 25% year-over-year

Delivery (gross bookings): $15.60 billion, up 12% year-over-year

Uber’s mobility segment reported $4.89 billion in revenue, compared with delivery’s $3.06 billion. Its freight business booked $1.28 billion in sales for the quarter, down from the $1.83 billion it reported for the same quarter last year.

Khosrowshahi told CNBC freight has remained a challenging spot for Uber since consumers are spending more on services than on shipping goods. He said services spend ultimately benefits the company’s mobility and delivery businesses, but that Uber is adjusting costs for freight.

The number of Uber’s monthly active platform consumers reached 137 million in the second quarter, up 12% year over year. There were 2.3 billion trips completed on the platform during the period, up 22% year over year.