Uber beats on revenue, announces $20 billion stock buyback

Uber reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that beat on revenue and announced the authorization of a $20 billion stock buyback.

Here’s how the company did versus analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

Uber’s revenue increased 18% from $10.7 billion a year earlier. For the quarter ending June 30, net income rose to $1.36 billion, or 63 cents per share, from $1.02 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year ago.

Gross bookings rose 17% to $46.8 billion, and the company reported adjusted earnings of $2.12 billion.
“At this point, we’re not seeing weakness in the consumer,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday. “It’s steady as she goes, and for Uber, that’s great news.”

Uber’s “monthly active platform consumers” increased 15% to 180 million in the second quarter. The company said users booked around 3.3 billion trips during the period, up 18% from a year earlier.

In the second quarter, Uber launched Senior Accounts, including an “app experience” that features larger text and icons, and other features that allow family organizers to book and manage rides for others.

The company also recently started testing a new feature in the U.S. that allows women riders or drivers to avoid being paired with men in their ride when possible.

In some international markets, Uber Eats’ food delivery service is more popular than ride hailing, and the company is working to increase “cross-platform activity” to drive sales growth, Khosrowshahi said in a release.

Autonomous rides
Uber does not break out the portion of trips or deliveries it is now conducting via autonomous vehicles, but the push into artificial intelligence is now a major focus for the company.

“This is physical world AI, and we think it’s going to be a huge trend going forward,” Khosrowshahi said Wednesday.

The ride-hailing company said it has partnerships with 20 companies involved in autonomous mobility, delivery and freight services, and is offering autonomous services in 12 different cities already. Its partners range from robotaxi leaders Waymo and Apollo Go, to venture-backed startups like May Mobility, Nuro and Wayve.

Uber and Alphabet-owned Waymo began commercial robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in March, months ahead of Elon Musk’s automaker Tesla

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“It’s great to see Tesla in the market. They’re taking their time and they are making sure they are expanding in a safe way,” Khosrowshahi said Wednesday.

“All of this competition in autonomous is going to create safer streets, and we’re going to be a big part of that,” he added.

Uber shares were up 48% this year as of Tuesday’s close, while the Nasdaq has gained about 8% over that stretch.

Executives will go over results and the company’s outlook on a call with analysts at 8 a.m. ET.

By CNBC