FX.co ★ Uber Q4 Profit Soars On Huge Tax Benefit; Revenues Top Estimates

Uber Technologies, Inc., a prominent ride-hailing and delivery platform, announced a remarkable increase in net profit for the fourth quarter, nearly five times higher than the previous year. This significant rise was principally due to a substantial tax valuation release benefit, and the quarterly revenues surpassed analysts’ expectations.

In early market trading on Wednesday, Uber's shares on the NYSE were valued at $66.18, marking a decline of $3.57 or 5.12 percent.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's CEO, remarked, "Uber concluded 2024 with our most successful quarter ever, with accelerated growth in Monthly Active Platform Consumers (MAPCs), trips, and Gross Bookings."

For the fourth quarter, Uber's net income surged to $6.88 billion, or $3.21 per share, compared to $1.43 billion, or $0.66 per share, in the same quarter of the previous year. The latest results benefited from a $6.4 billion tax valuation release and a pre-tax gain of $556 million related to Uber’s equity investments' revaluation. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had anticipated the company to report earnings of $0.48 per share for the quarter, typically excluding special items from their estimates.

The adjusted EBITDA saw a 44 percent increase, reaching $1.84 billion, with an improved adjusted EBITDA margin of 4.2 percent of Gross Bookings, up from 3.4 percent the previous year.

Quarterly revenue rose by 20 percent to $11.96 billion from $9.94 billion in the same period last year, also showing a 21 percent increase on a constant currency basis. Revenue forecasts from analysts were set at $11.77 billion for this quarter.

The combined Mobility and Delivery divisions generated a 23 percent revenue increase, reaching $10.7 billion, or a 24 percent rise on a constant currency basis.

Mobility segment revenues climbed 25 percent to $6.91 billion, and Delivery segment revenues increased by 21 percent to $3.77 billion. In contrast, Freight revenues remained steady at $1.28 billion.

Gross Bookings grew by 18 percent to $44.20 billion, or 21 percent on a constant currency basis, compared to the previous year. Mobility gross bookings reached $22.80 billion, reflecting an 18 percent increase, while Delivery bookings rose by 18 percent to $20.13 billion. Freight bookings were unchanged at $1.27 billion.

The number of trips during the quarter climbed 18 percent to 3.07 billion, averaging approximately 33 million trips per day, with Monthly Active Platform Consumers (MAPCs) increasing by 18 percent to 171 million year-over-year.

Looking forward to the first quarter of fiscal 2025, Uber estimates an adjusted EBITDA between $1.79 billion and $1.89 billion and anticipates gross bookings ranging from $42.0 billion to $43.5 billion, with a projected growth of 17 to 21 percent on a constant currency basis.