Uber Records Second Consecutive Quarterly Profit Amidst Record Ridership But Misses Analysts' Expectations

Record growth in gross bookings drives substantial increase in Uber's cash flow, however lower-than-expected revenue growth, attributed to an accounting change with Uber Eats, and ongoing challenges in the freight business dampen investor sentiment.

Uber reported its second consecutive quarterly net profit of $221 million with a total revenue of $9.3 billion. However, the numbers fell short of analysts' expectations, with earnings per share at 10 cents against the expected 12 cents.
A significant driver of cash flow was the record growth in gross bookings, resulting in the company's free cash flow doubling to $905 million in Q3.
Lower-than-expected revenue growth was attributed to an accounting change with Uber Eats, which reclassified certain incentive spends for promotions and price cuts from marketing expenses to contra revenue.
Despite major profits in ride-hailing and food delivery segments, Uber's freight business experienced ongoing challenges, with a 27% drop in gross bookings and revenue. This is attributed to lower revenue per load, volume, and the challenging freight market cycle.
Aiming for a strong Q4, Uber projects gross bookings between $36.5 billion to $37.5 billion, driven by holiday demand for its ride-hailing and food-delivery services.
Uber's ride-hailing bookings were up by 31% year over year, bringing in $17.9 billion. The delivery bookings saw an 18% increase year over year, contributing $16.1 billion.