Uber earnings: Stock drops despite upbeat current quarter guidance

Updated Wed, May 7, 2025, 5:09 AM 3 min read

Uber (UBER) reported mixed first quarter results but forecast a strong current quarter outlook indicating its business was still going strong in light of concerns over the overall economy, though shares were still lower in pre-market trade.

Uber reported Q1 Gross Bookings of $42.8 billion vs $43.14 billion per Bloomberg consensus, up 18% on a constant currency basis. Adjusted EBITDA (adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), came in at $1.9 billion vs. $1.84 billion estimated, up 35% year over year.

Uber's closely watched outlook was better than expected, with Gross Bookings for the 2nd quarter expected in a range of $45.75 billion to $47.25 billion, with analysts expecting $45.85 billion. Uber forecast Q2 adjusted EBITDA of $2.02 billion to $2.12 billion, compared to $2.05 billion.

Uber shares dropped in early trade as investors may have been expecting better projections.

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

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

Uber said its Q1 Monthly Active Platform Consumers (MPACs) grew 14% to 170 million, and saw revenue growth in its core ride-hailng (up 15%) and delivery (18%) segments, though freight fell 2%.

Though Uber did not indicate President Trump's trade wars and other economic policies were going to affect growth, the larger concern is a weaker consumer may not be willing to partake in Uber's offerings like ride-hailing and delivery. Khosrowshahi added in his prepared remarks that against “a dizzying backdrop of headlines on trade and economic policy,” Uber delivered a "strong start to the year."

Uber is focused on future initiatives as well, including driverless offerings.

"Supported by the consistent strength of our core business, we continue to build towards the future, including five new autonomous vehicle announcements in just the last week,” Khosrowshahi said

In addition to its Uber-Waymo partnership that the company is offering in Atlanta and Austin, the company inked two other deals of note.

Uber and WeRide announced a significant expansion of their previously announced strategic partnership on Monday, adding 15 additional cities globally over the next five years, including in Europe. The partnership began with rides in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.