Uber stock tumbles on gross bookings miss; company still 'well positioned,' analyst says

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Uber stock (UBER) tanked on Thursday after the ride-hailing giant missed on the all-important gross bookings metric.

For the third quarter, Uber reported revenue of $11.2 billion, topping estimates of $10.99 billion, as compiled by Bloomberg, and up 22% compared to a year ago on a constant currency basis. But gross bookings, a metric tracking total revenue before fees and deductions, such as driver pay, came in at $41 billion, up 16% from a year ago but missing estimates of $41.24 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) came in at $1.7 billion, topping estimates of $1.65 billion, per Bloomberg.

Uber shares dropped over 11% on Thursday. Previously, the stock had been up over 25% year to date.

"We delivered yet another record quarter of profitable growth at a global scale, reflecting the strength of our platform, which now has over 25 million Uber One members," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.

Added CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah: "We hit another important milestone this quarter, delivering over $1 billion in GAAP operating income for the first time in our company's history, and are on track to deliver 20% gross bookings growth on a constant currency basis for the full year.”

Uber said it projects Q4 gross bookings coming in at $42.75 billion to $44.25 billion, which would be a 16% to 20% year-over-year growth rate on a constant currency basis. Uber expects EBITDA to come in at $1.78 billion to $1.88 billion

While the 20% goal for gross bookings for the year is intact, the 16% reached this quarter wasn’t enough for investors.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 08: Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber speaks onstage during Uber’s GO-GET Zero event at the Science Museum on October 08, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Uber)
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, speaks onstage during Uber’s GO-GET Zero event at the Science Museum on Oct. 8, 2024, in London, England. (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Uber) · Tim P. Whitby via Getty Images

“Shares are down [intraday] reflecting slightly slower bookings growth and adj. EBITDA guidance that likely did not clear investor expectations despite being in line with consensus at the midpoint of the guide,” Dan Ives of Wedbush wrote in a note to investors. “Still, we think Uber is well positioned to deliver mid-teens bookings growth over the intermediate term with rising margins and strong FCF (free cash flow) conversion (~90% of adj. EBITDA).”

Ives maintained his Outperform rating and $86 price target.

Looking ahead, JPMorgan highlighted bullishness in Uber’s delivery business.

“We believe UBER can continue to grow the Delivery category profitably as it looks to improve network efficiencies, scales advertising, and strengthens marketing and incentive optimization,” analyst Doug Anmuth wrote shortly after the release.

Uber reported its delivery gross bookings rose 17% year over year to $18.66 billion. Anmuth noted that Uber also grew its Uber One subscription business to 25 million members, up 70% year over year.