Uber Revenue Up 14% Despite Economic Worries
Uber appears to be powering through the tumult of the global economy, despite fears that consumers are skimping on rides and deliveries.
The company said on Wednesday that it had $11.5 billion in revenue in its most recent quarter, up 14 percent from a year earlier and slightly below Wall Street investors’ expectations. Its total bookings also grew 14 percent, to $42.8 billion, which was in line with expectations.
Investors have been eager to see how President Trump’s latest round of tariffs might affect Uber’s growth. While the company’s direct business has little exposure to tariffs, a hampered economy could make customers less willing to spend on rides and deliveries.
But Uber predicted that its bookings would increase 16 to 20 percent in the current quarter, which was higher than Wall Street estimates of 14 percent. In a statement, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, said that against “a dizzying backdrop of headlines on trade and economic policy,” the company’s start to the year was still strong.
“The categories that we operate in — these are restaurants, transportation, grocery — tend to be categories that are quite consistent even during periods of macro uncertainty,” Mr. Khosrowshahi told investors on a call.
Uber’s stock price fell as much as 5 percent in the hours after the report.
Uber’s profit for the quarter was $1.8 billion, an improvement from last year’s first-quarter loss of $654 million, which it attributed to a $721 million hit from revaluations of its investments.
Uber also announced a handful of new autonomous vehicle partnerships in the first four months of the year, all part of the company’s larger strategy to co-opt the growth of robot taxi companies that could be seen as its competitors.
In March, Uber began an exclusive partnership in Austin, Texas, with the autonomous vehicle company Waymo, and the arrangement will soon expand to Atlanta. As of May, Uber had 18 active autonomous vehicle partnerships.
Still, investors peppered Mr. Khosrowshahi on the earnings call with questions about Uber’s market share in cities that Waymo operated in.
“In terms of San Francisco and L.A., the competitive environment is pretty stable,” Mr. Khosrowshahi told investors. “We are not seeing any changes there.” Uber also saw relief from rising auto-insurance costs that have been cutting into its drivers’ earnings. The company increased its short-term, and long-term, insurance reserves in comparison to a year ago.
