Uber's Second-Quarter Revenue Beats on Ride-Sharing Demand

Aug 6 (Reuters) - Uber beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue and core profit on Tuesday, helped by steady demand for its ride-sharing and food-delivery services.

The shares gained 3.5% in premarket trading.

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% to $10.70 billion in the second quarter ending June, while gross bookings increased 19% to $39.95 billion. Analysts had expected $10.57 billion and $39.68 billion, respectively, according to LSEG data.

On an adjusted basis, Uber reported core earnings of $1.60 billion, beating estimates of $1.51 billion.

Revenue from the company's ride-sharing segment, its largest, rose 25% to $6.13 billion, above expectations of $5.94 billion. Uber's delivery business reported revenue of $3.29 billion, compared with estimates of $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 $40.25 billion and $41.75 billion, the midpoint of which was below analysts' estimates of $41.26 billion.

The company said it expects adjusted core earnings between $1.58 billion and $1.68 billion in the third quarter, compared with estimates of $1.62 billion.

Lyft is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on Wednesday.