Uber reported fourth-quarter 2022 earnings that beat analysts’ expectations for revenue and profit. Shares rose more than 7 percent in pre-market trading. Uber’s fourth-quarter revenue was $8.6 billion (currently about 58.394 RMB billion), up 49 percent year-over-year, according to the report. Net income attributable to Uber was $595 million (currently about RMB 4.04 billion), compared with a net income of $892 million (currently about RMB 6.057 billion) a year ago.
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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said Uber ended 2022 with its “strongest quarter ever,” capping off its “strongest year. Uber said it expects total orders to grow 20 to 24 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023 on a constant currency basis.
Uber’s CEO said the impact of the outbreak on the company’s mobile business is “now fully behind us” and that active drivers hit an all-time high in the quarter. He noted that the company also reached a new milestone, making 2 billion trips in a single quarter for the first time, averaging about 1 million trips per hour.
Uber reported earnings per share of 29 cents, compared to analysts’ estimates of an 18-cent loss; Uber’s revenue was $8.6 billion, compared to analysts’ estimates of $8.49 billion. Revenue for the quarter was up 49 percent year-over-year. The 29 cents per share included a significant investment gain, and Uber noted net income of $595 million for the quarter, of which $756 million was a net gain due to unrealized gains on equity investments.
Uber reported adjusted EBITDA (earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization) of $665 million, above analysts’ expectations of $620 million. Total orders for the quarter were $30.7 billion, up 19 percent year-over-year.
On a constant currency basis, Uber said it expects total order volume to grow 20 to 24 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023, with adjusted EBITDA of $660 million to $700 million.
Here’s how Uber’s largest business units performed during the quarter.
Mobile (total orders): $14.9 billion actual vs. analysts’ expectations of $14.8 billion
Delivery (total orders): $14.3 billion actual, compared to analyst estimates of $14.3 billion.
Uber relied heavily on its Eats delivery business for growth during the epidemic, but its mobile division outpaced Eats delivery revenue in the first, second and third quarters of 2022 as riders began to travel more. This trend continued in the fourth quarter as the company’s mobile division reported revenue of $4.1 billion compared to $2.9 billion reported for deliveries.
Uber’s freight business reported sales of $1.5 billion for the quarter.
Uber’s monthly active platform consumers climbed to 131 million in the fourth quarter, up 11 percent year-over-year. During this period, the platform completed 2.1 billion trips, up 19 percent year-over-year.
