Uber's stock saw a notable dip in early trading after the company's first-quarter profit projections fell short of analyst expectations, yet CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed strong confidence in the vast potential of autonomous vehicle technology. This period also marks a significant leadership transition with the announcement of a new Chief Financial Officer.
The ride-hailing giant presented its first-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) forecast, ranging from $0.65 to $0.72, which did not meet the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $0.77. Similarly, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, projected to be between $2.37 billion and $2.47 billion, also missed the median analyst prediction. In a related development, Uber confirmed that Balaji Krishnamurthy would assume the role of CFO, succeeding Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, who is scheduled to depart on February 16.
Despite the immediate market reaction, Uber's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, conveyed a bullish perspective on the future during an earnings call, leading to a partial recovery of the stock. He articulated a belief that autonomous vehicles, or AVs, represent a 'multi-trillion-dollar' opportunity for Uber, based on the company's experiences with AV deployments.
Uber is actively expanding its autonomous service offerings, with plans to introduce robotaxis in over ten markets by the close of 2026. The company recently formed alliances with Lucid to develop a robotaxi fleet utilizing Nuru's autonomous software. Additionally, Uber has collaborated with Joby Aviation's Blade to integrate helicopter services onto its platform, with future aspirations to include electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.
Khosrowshahi championed Uber's 'hybrid' operational model, which integrates both autonomous and human-driven vehicles, as the most effective approach for addressing the fluctuating demand in diverse urban environments. He suggested that this model offers a distinct advantage over competitors like Waymo, which operate with a fixed fleet of vehicles. The CEO further highlighted the synergistic benefits of Uber's comprehensive network, which includes Uber Eats and freight services. These diverse offerings enable higher utilization rates for its vehicles, positioning Uber with a 'structural advantage' in the logistics domain.
Beyond autonomous ride-hailing, Khosrowshahi also pointed to Uber Eats as another burgeoning 'trillion-dollar opportunity,' with upcoming announcements anticipated in this sector. For the fourth quarter, Uber reported a 22% increase in total gross bookings, reaching $54.1 billion. The adjusted EBITDA surged by 35% to $2.5 billion, accompanied by record operating cash flow of $2.9 billion and free cash flow of $2.8 billion.