Uber shares fell 5.3% in Wednesday trading after the company reported second-quarter results that largely met expectations but offered third-quarter guidance for both bookings and profit that fell short of analyst forecasts.
Second-quarter earnings per share came in at $0.81, matching the LSEG consensus estimate, while revenue of $14.19 billion slightly missed the anticipated $14.24 billion. Revenue grew 12% year-over-year, and net income rose to $2.39 billion, or $1.17 per share, up from $1.35 billion, or $0.63 per share, in the same period last year.
Core mobility generated $7.36 billion in revenue, while the delivery segment contributed $5.25 billion. Mobility gross bookings surged 22% year-over-year to $28.99 billion, and delivery bookings increased 26% to $27.46 billion. Total company gross bookings reached $58 billion, above the StreetAccount average estimate of $57.23 billion.
For the third quarter, Uber forecasted median bookings of $59.25 billion, below the StreetAccount average expectation of $59.33 billion. The company also guided earnings per share in a range of $0.84 to $0.88, which is lower than the LSEG average estimate of $0.89.
As of Tuesday's close, Uber shares have fallen 12% year-to-date, while the Nasdaq Composite Index has risen 14% over the same period.
On the business front, Uber is expanding its delivery footprint. Last month, the company announced a $14.8 billion acquisition of German delivery platform Delivery Hero, which will significantly broaden its food and grocery delivery reach across markets.
At the same time, Uber continues to heavily invest in autonomous driving. The company said it plans to spend more than $10 billion over the next several years to accelerate the large-scale deployment of self-driving vehicles. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated that as the industry moves from technology validation to commercialization at scale, Uber is building "one of the most valuable positions in the autonomous ecosystem."
However, early partner Waymo appears to be pulling away. The companies recently announced they will end their exclusive partnership in Atlanta and Austin, Texas, by early 2028. Uber also announced on Wednesday progress in its partnership with British autonomous driving company Wayve to offer self-driving rides in London. Transport for London has granted Wayve a private hire vehicle license, with plans to begin operations with a safety driver on board this summer. Uber said more than 100,000 people have signed up to be among the first passengers.
Khosrowshahi said on the earnings call that the company does not want to rely too heavily on a single autonomous driving partner and praised Waymo's product as "impressive." In markets where autonomous ride-hailing is already widely available, such as Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, Uber's trip growth accelerated compared to the first quarter. He revealed that autonomous trips currently account for less than 0.5% of Uber's roughly 300 million weekly trips.
When asked by analysts how Uber's AV Lab complements its partners, Khosrowshahi explained that the lab is focused on accelerating the development and training of autonomous driving technology to make it more suitable for ride-hailing scenarios. It also collects a "superset" of data from the ride-hailing environment, which can be used by the entire industry for system training.
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