Uber Sees ‘Tailwinds’ Propelling It in Q4 | Business Travel News

Ride-hailing giant Uber reported third-quarter gross bookings up 32 percent year over year, and $516 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization—“an all-time high”—the company announced Tuesday.

Tailwind trends for the company, as outlined by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on an earnings call, include that “cities are reopening, travel is booming, and, more broadly, [there is] a continued shift of consumer spending from retail back to services,” he said. “We’ve seen these trends continue into the fourth quarter with October tracking to be our best month ever for mobility and total company gross bookings.”

The company did not mention Uber for Business other than Khosrowshahi noting that Uber was continuing to “invest in U4B high-capacity vehicles.”

Uber third-quarter gross bookings were $29.12 billion, with $13.68 billion attributed each to mobility and delivery. Revenue was $8.34 billion, up 72 percent year over year, with the increase primarily driven by a $1.1 billion benefit related to a U.K. business-model change that classifies most driver payments and incentives as cost of revenue, according to the company. Uber reported a net loss of $1.21 billion, about half of its loss from a year prior. 

The number of trips during the quarter was 1.95 billion, up 19 percent from Q3 2021, and up 4 percent quarter over quarter. There were 124 million monthly active platform consumers, up 14 percent year over year from 109 million. 

The United States and Canada accounted for 60 percent of revenue at $5 billion, up 89 percent year over year. Europe, the Middle East and Africa followed with nearly 23 percent at $1.88 billion, a 77 percent increase from Q3 2021. Latin America revenue was up 33 percent to $518 million, while Asia-Pacific revenue was $947 million, up 27 percent from a year prior.

The company projects fourth-quarter gross bookings to grow 23 percent to 27 percent year over year. 

During the third quarter, Uber announced the end of Uber Rewards as of Nov. 1. It also added sustainability data to its Uber for Business dashboard.

In addition, the company announced a partnership with electric vehicle provider Moove to bring 10,000 EVs to London by 2025 and a deal with Splend in Australia to bring 500 premium EVs to drivers in New South Wales. Uber also announced a national expansion of Comfort Electric to 24 cities across the U.S. in addition to Vancouver. It also launched Uber Taxi in new markets including New York, Paris, Tokyo, Okinawa, Brussels and Mendoza, Argentina.

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