Uber shares tank as revenue falls short of expectations

Investing.com -- Uber Technologies, Inc. reported first-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates, but shares fell more than 6% after the market open as revenue fell short of expectations.

The ride-hailing and food delivery giant reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.83, surpassing the analyst consensus of $0.51. However, revenue for the quarter came in at $11.53 billion, missing the $11.62 billion estimate.

Uber (NYSE:UBER)’s gross bookings grew 14% YoY to $42.8 billion, or 18% on a constant currency basis. The company saw trips increase 18% YoY to 3.0 billion, driven by a 14% growth in Monthly Active Platform Consumers.

"We kicked off the year with yet another quarter of profitable growth at scale, with trips up 18% and even stronger user retention," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber.

Despite the revenue miss, Uber’s adjusted EBITDA grew 35% YoY to $1.9 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 4.4% of gross bookings, up from 3.7% in Q1 2024.

CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah stated, "We delivered over $2 billion of quarterly free cash flow, with multiple levers in our control to generate industry-leading cash flow growth."

For the second quarter, Uber anticipates gross bookings between $45.75 billion and $47.25 billion, representing 16% to 20% YoY growth on a constant currency basis. The company expects adjusted EBITDA of $2.02 billion to $2.12 billion, a 29% to 35% YoY increase.

According to BTIG, Uber’s guidance is "in-line (pretty typical)," with the broker raising 2025 estimates and the price target to $100 from $90.

"UBER has been telling us for a year that it guides to what it expects and that is exactly what we got," analyst Jake Fuller said in a note.

"We continue to see rideshare-delivery as a pocket of relative strength in a period of macro uncertainty with a kicker as the autonomous vehicle (AV) narrative continues to tilt in UBER’s favor," he noted.

Sam Boughedda contributed to this report.