Uber beats revenue expectations, stock soars despite $2.6B loss

Uber (UBER) announced its Q2 earnings ahead of the opening bell Tuesday, beating analysts’ expectations on revenue, while reporting a huge $2.6 billion loss.

Here are the most important numbers from the announcement compared to what Wall Street was expecting, as compiled by Bloomberg.

Gross bookings: $29.1 billion versus $28.8 billion expected
Mobility gross bookings: $13.4 billion versus $12.5 billion expected
Delivery gross bookings $13.9 billion versus $14.4 billion expected
Earnings per share: -$1.33 versus -$0.25 expected

Uber said its gross bookings rose 33% year-over-year in the quarter, powered by a 55% jump in its mobility bookings and a 7% boost from its delivery businesses. Total revenue came in at $8.1 billion, a massive 105% year-over-year increase.

The company’s stark rise in revenue cam as a result of what it said where changes to its business model in its U.K. mobility business and the acquisition of Transplace by Uber Freight.

Shares of Uber were up more than 10% in pre-market trading.

Uber said $1.7 billion of its loss came from a pre-tax headwind related to revaluations of its stakes in Aurora, Zomato, and Grab. Uber previously owned all or part of those businesses, before selling them and taking positions in them.

“We became a free cash flow generator in Q2, as we continued to scale our asset-light platform, and we will continue to build on that momentum,” said Nelson Chai, CFO. “This marks a new phase for Uber, self-funding future growth with disciplined capital allocation, while maximizing long-term returns for shareholders.”

Uber’s revenue has been on an upward trajectory for the last two years, even though the pandemic hammered its ride-sharing business. At the time, Uber invested heavily into its delivery arm, ensuring customers could order food from a litany of restaurants and corner stores.

The move buoyed the business when the number of riders and drivers was collapsing as a result of COVID lockdowns.

But inflation — and the steep rise in gas prices — is hitting consumers and drivers in their wallets. Riders looking to save cash may turn to alternatives including mass transit, while other consumers may not order so much delivery from Uber Eats.

Esta fotografía muestra un letrero de Uber dentro de un automóvil el jueves 10 de febrero de 2022, en Palatine, Illinois. (AP Foto/Nam Y. Huh) — Uber will report its Q2 earnings before the bell Monday. (AP Foto/Nam Y. Huh)

Drivers meanwhile, have been stung by high-flying fuel costs, though they’ve come back down from their peaks. In March, to offset the cost of fuel, Uber implemented gas surcharges on both Uber rides and orders through Uber Eats.

In June, the company also reintroduced its UberX Share service that provides riders with a discount for sharing rides with other users. The company initially suspended the service at the onset of the pandemic.

More recently, Uber has been struck by backlash from an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists into the company’s behavior prior to the tenure of current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. In response to the investigation, Uber released a statement indicating the changes that it has since made to the business including investing in safety and pledging to run a zero-emissions fleet.

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