UBER 2Q26 First Take: Q2 results were broadly in line, neither a beat nor a miss. With the Robotaxi threat still looming, the market wanted an upside surprise to get more conviction. In this setup, no good news effectively reads as bad news. Specifically:

1) Rides: gross bookings ex-FX grew 20% YoY, flat vs. last quarter and roughly in line with Street. Revenue rose just 1%, which looks soft at first glance. But similar to last quarter, management cut prices, redeploying insurance savings and using subsidies to offset higher fuel, so both bookings and Adj. profit of $2.22bn (7.6% margin) met or slightly beat.

The only blemish: Rides margin dipped 10bps QoQ due to deliberate price/take-rate cuts. While a proactive choice, it can also be read as a preemptive move amid the Robotaxi competitive overhang.

2) Delivery outperformed again. Gross bookings ex-FX rose 25% YoY, accelerating by 200bps QoQ. Revenue grew 27%, while Adj. OP rose 38%, showing clearer operating leverage.

One small miss: Delivery margin reached 3.8%, up YoY and QoQ, but a touch below the Street at 3.9%.

3) Total revenue was up 12% YoY, slightly below due to Rides. Since most Rides subsidies were funded by lower insurance costs, GP, which better reflects underlying performance, rose 27% YoY, above overall bookings growth and above the Street at +22%.

Also, GAAP OP came in just $140mn below expectations on higher opex, but that was driven by a roughly $480mn one-off accrual. On a like-for-like basis, Adj. OP was slightly better than expected.

4) Overall, no major blemishes this quarter; both volume and profit delivered. 20%+ bookings growth and ~40% Adj. OP growth are solid.

The main gap is in the outlook: management guides next-quarter bookings growth to 18–20%, a likely low-single-digit decel vs. this quarter but broadly in line with sell-side. Adj. EBITDA growth of 29% is above Street, yet below the ~33% actually achieved this quarter, implying slower volume and profit growth ahead. That said, UBER often outperforms its own guide, so next quarter will likely resemble this one. $Uber Tech(UBER.US)