UBER beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue and core profit on Tuesday (Aug 6), helped by steady demand for its ride-sharing and food-delivery services.
With more people returning to offices and stepping out of their homes, ride-sharing demand has got a boost over the past several months benefiting companies such as Uber and rival Lyft .
“Mobility had a standout second quarter … growth was consistent across use cases and geographic strength was led by LatAm and APAC, in particular Brazil, Australia and India,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.
Improvements in airport rides and initiatives such as Uber Shuttle, discounted subscriptions for students and pre-scheduled shared rides also helped drive bookings, Khosrowshahi added.
The company’s revenue rose 16 per cent to US$10.70 billion in the second quarter ending June, while gross bookings increased 19 per cent to US$39.95 billion. Analysts had expected US$10.57 billion and US$39.68 billion, respectively, according to LSEG data.
On an adjusted basis, Uber reported core earnings of US$1.60 billion, beating estimates of US$1.51 billion.
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Revenue from the company’s ride-sharing segment, its largest, rose 25 per cent to US$6.13 billion, above expectations of US$5.94 billion. Uber’s delivery business reported revenue of US$3.29 billion, compared with estimates of US$3.32 billion.
“While there have been some concerns about consumer spend on restaurants and delivery, we are not seeing any impact today,” Khosrowshahi said, adding that a greater push on groceries through expanded partnerships with Instacart and Costco Wholesale was boosting deliveries.
Uber, however, forecast third-quarter gross bookings – which include its mobility, delivery and freight segments – between US$40.25 billion and US$41.75 billion, the midpoint of which was below analysts’ estimates of US$41.26 billion.
The company said it expects adjusted core earnings between US$1.58 billion and US$1.68 billion in the third quarter, compared with estimates of US$1.62 billion.
Lyft is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on Wednesday. REUTERS
