Uber's bookings grow 20 percent as stake losses cut net income

What happened

Uber reported on Wednesday 4 November that gross bookings, the total value of rides, orders and freight on its platform, were $59.8 billion in the third quarter, 20 percent more than a year earlier. ^{[1, 2]}

Trips were up 16 percent to 4.1 billion, and monthly active platform consumers numbered 215 million, against 189 million a year earlier. Revenue was $14.8 billion, 10 percent higher. The company said a change to how it runs rides in parts of the UK took $1.1 billion off revenue. ^{[1, 2, 3]}

Net income attributable to Uber was $512 million, against $6.6 billion a year earlier. The quarter carried a $476 million loss before tax from revaluing stakes in other companies, chiefly $354 million on Grab and $239 million on Aurora, partly offset by a $161 million gain on Didi. The year-earlier figure included a $4.9 billion tax benefit and a $1.5 billion gain on such stakes, the release said. ^{[1, 2]}

Why it matters

Every business grew its bookings: Mobility was up 18 percent to $29.5 billion, Delivery 22 percent to $28.5 billion and Freight 35 percent to $1.8 billion. Mobility's segment operating income was $2.4 billion, up 27 percent, and Delivery's $1.1 billion, up 30 percent, while Freight lost $33 million. Income from operations, the profit of the businesses before interest, stakes and tax, was $1.4 billion, 30 percent higher. ^{[1, 2]}

Drivers, fuel and robotaxis

Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement that 'elevated fuel prices and tighter driver availability weighed on supply growth in several international markets,' CNBC and Yahoo Finance reported. Yahoo Finance reported the company said the Middle East conflict was a drag of 75 basis points, hundredths of a percentage point, on Mobility bookings, and could be 100 in the fourth quarter. ^{[3, 4]}

Khosrowshahi said in the release that Uber expects about 700 fully driverless vehicles on its platform by year-end and over 2,000 in 2027. CNBC reported that half of the 2027 fleet would run in the US and that he put Uber's commitment to such partnerships at about $10 billion. Zoox and Motional robotaxis join its Las Vegas service this quarter, CNBC reported. ^{[1, 4]}

The deals on file

The quarterly report lists Uber's takeover offer for Delivery Hero, the Berlin food delivery group, as pending, at an equity value of $14.8 billion for the whole company. Uber arranged a bridge loan of up to 14.2 billion euros on Thursday 16 July and had drawn none of it by 30 September. ^[2]

In the quarter Uber bought Getir's food delivery business in Turkey for $361 million and the chauffeur service Blacklane for $554 million. On Monday 5 October it agreed to buy ezCater, a US catering platform, for about $2.3 billion in cash. ^[2]

What settles it next

The acceptance period of the Delivery Hero offer ends at midnight Frankfurt time on Thursday 5 November, and the offer needs 50 percent plus one share. Uber expects the deal to close in the second half of 2027. ^{[2, 5]}

For the fourth quarter, Uber said it anticipates gross bookings of $63.25 billion to $65.25 billion, growth of 18 to 22 percent at constant currency, and adjusted EBITDA of $3.13 billion to $3.23 billion. Jill Hazelbaker, president and chief corporate affairs officer, steps down on Monday 30 November, the 8-K said. ^{[1, 6]}

Who it reaches

Uber (UBER) is direct: the results are its own filings. Grab (GRAB) and Aurora (AUR) are adjacent: Uber's stakes in them made the quarter's largest revaluation losses. ^[2]

Amazon (AMZN) is adjacent: its Zoox robotaxis join Uber's Las Vegas service this quarter, CNBC reported. ^[4]