Uber beat estimates for sales and earnings and posted an unexpected one-time gain in the second quarter.
The shares lost more than 6% in after-hours trading.
Here’s how Uber fared compared to expectations:
- Earnings per share: 58 cents compared to an expected loss of 51 cents, according to the consensus of the analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
- Revenue: $ 3.93 billion versus an expected $ 3.75 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Uber reported net income of $ 1.1 billion for the quarter. This was mainly due to unrealized gains of $ 1.4 billion at Didi and $ 471 million at Aurora. Didi’s shares are down about 37% last month, but that cut Uber’s stake in the company by $ 2 billion last week. Uber’s operating loss was still $ 1.19 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA loss was $ 509 million, down $ 150 million from the previous quarter, but an improvement of $ 328 million year over year. EBITDA relates to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Uber reiterated its expectation of achieving profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis by the end of this year.
“As we make progress toward this important milestone, we expect our adjusted EBITDA loss to improve to less than $ 100 million in the third quarter on top of record gross bookings of between $ 22 billion and $ 24 billion,” said CFO Nelson Chai in a letter to investors.
So far, Uber’s Eats segment has strengthened the company to withstand many of the Covid headwinds. When people stopped traveling, they turned to food and goods deliveries. Uber added that its delivery business remained strong even as Covid restrictions were eased around the world.
Here’s how Uber’s largest businesses performed in the second quarter of 2021:
- Mobility (gross bookings): $ 8.6 billion, 184% more than a year ago
- Delivery (gross postings): $ 12.9 billion, 85% more than a year ago
Delivery revenue continued to outperform the core ride-hailing business at $ 1.96 billion versus $ 1.62 billion. In an update to shareholders, the company announced that delivery vendors had exceeded 750,000.
The company struggled with supply and demand imbalances due to the pandemic, leading to price hikes and longer waiting times.
“In the second quarter, we invested in the recovery by investing in drivers and we have made strong progress, with monthly active drivers and couriers in the US increasing by nearly 420,000 from February to July,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement.
The company didn’t provide an exact number of drivers, but said its drivers and couriers made a total of $ 7.9 billion in the quarter.
Uber reported 1.51 billion trips on the platform, 4% more than in the first quarter and 105% more than a year ago.
Uber’s largest American competitor Lyft also announced its financial results this week. The company reported its first quarterly adjusted EBITDA profit of $ 23.8 million, a quarter earlier than expected. It also beat Wall Street guidance on both sales and earnings.
This is a developing story. Please update for updates.
