Uber experienced an over 8% stock surge despite missing first-quarter revenue estimates, as the ride-hailing and delivery giant provided a bookings outlook for the current period that significantly exceeded analysts’ expectations. While a $1.5 billion hit from equity revaluations impacted net income, strong growth in its delivery segment and optimistic CEO comments on consumer spending provided a positive outlook. 
Uber stock experienced a significant jump of over 8% after the company, despite missing first-quarter revenue estimates, delivered a second-quarter bookings forecast that comfortably surpassed Wall Street’s expectations.
Key Points
- Uber reported a 14% increase in first-quarter revenue, narrowly missing analysts' projections.
- The company projects gross bookings for the current period to range between $56.25 billion and $57.75 billion, a figure higher than analysts anticipated.
- Uber's net income for Q1 was impacted by a $1.5 billion reduction due to the revaluation of equity investments.
For the first quarter, Uber reported earnings per share of 13 cents against an expected 70 cents, and revenue of $13.2 billion, just shy of the $13.29 billion anticipated by LSEG. However, on a non-GAAP basis, earnings per share stood at 72 cents.
The ride-hailing and delivery giant confirmed that a $1.5 billion impairment from the revaluation of its equity investments in Asian companies like Didi and Grab significantly affected its net income, which fell to $263 million from $1.78 billion a year prior. Despite this, overall revenue grew 14% from $11.5 billion in the same quarter last year.
Uber's delivery segment proved to be a powerhouse, recording a robust 34% revenue growth to $5.07 billion, outperforming analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. This growth was particularly strong in Australia, Japan, and the U.K.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted in an interview with CNBC, "The consumer is spending, they're spending locally, and we don't see any signs of that weakening at this point."
Conversely, the mobility (ride-hailing) business saw sales increase by 5% year-over-year to $6.8 billion, falling short of the $7.11 billion analysts had expected.
Khosrowshahi acknowledged a "complex macro backdrop marked by weather disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and gas price volatility," particularly referencing the rise in gas prices following U.S. combat operations in Iran. To support its drivers, Uber rolled out fuel discounts and other incentives, set to run until late May.
Despite these challenges, Uber reported 3.6 billion trips in Q1, with gross bookings rising 25% to $53.7 billion, surpassing the average estimate of $52.8 billion. Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company anticipates gross bookings between $56.25 billion and $57.75 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate of $56.17 billion.
Uber continues its strategic investments in autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, planning to acquire AVs from partners like Waabi, Wayve, Rivian, and Nuro once they meet safety standards for unsupervised operation. Its partnerships also extend to robotaxi service providers such as Alphabet's Waymo and China's WeRide, integrating their self-driving vehicles into the Uber app.
On an earnings call, Khosrowshahi highlighted the acceleration of Uber's mobility business and projected continued tailwinds, aiming for Waymo services to be available in 15 cities by the end of 2026. He views the AV market as a "trillion-dollar [total addressable market]" that won't be dominated by a single player.
Internally, Uber is leveraging artificial intelligence to boost engineering productivity and personalize the user experience, with 95% of its engineers using AI coding tools monthly. The company estimates that over 10% of its code is now "written autonomously by AI coding agents." These AI algorithms also predict three-quarters of the rides on its platform.
