Uber beats fourth-quarter revenue expectations but offers soft guidance

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2025.Gerry Miller | CNBCUber shares fell around 7% in premarket trading Wednesday after the ride-sharing company reported fourth-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations for revenue but offered soft guidance.Here's how the company did:Earnings per share: $3.21. That does not compare with the 50 cents expected by LSEG.Revenue: $11.96 billion vs. $11.77 billion expected by LSEG.Uber's revenue grew 20% in its fourth quarter from $9.9 billion a year prior.The company reported a net income of $6.9 billion, or $3.21 per share, up from $1.4 billion billion, or 66 cents per share, in the same period last year. Uber said its net income includes a $6.4 billion benefit from a tax valuation release, as well as a $556 million pre-tax benefit thanks to gains from revaluations of its equity investments.The company reported $44.2 billion in gross bookings for the period, which was above the $43.49 billion expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount. Uber said adjusted EBITDA for its fourth quarter was $1.84 billion, up 44% year over year and in line with the $1.84 billion expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount.For its first quarter, Uber said it expects gross bookings between $42 billion to $43.5 billion, compared with StreetAccount estimates of $43.51 billion. Uber anticipates adjusted EBITDA of $1.79 billion to $1.89 billion, compared with the $1.85 billion expected by analysts."Our performance has been powered by rapid innovation and execution across multiple priorities, including the massive opportunity presented by autonomous vehicles," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a release. "We enter 2025 with clear momentum and will continue to be relentless against our long-term strategy."Uber on Wednesday announced it is gearing up for the public launch of robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas through its partnership with Alphabet's Waymo.Starting Wednesday, customers in the city can open the Uber app and join the "interest list" to increase their chances of being paired with a Waymo at launch, the company said. Uber and Waymo first announced their plans to bring the robotaxis to Austin in September.There were 3.1 billion trips completed on the platform during Uber's fourth quarter, up 18% year over year. The number of Uber's monthly active platform consumers reached 171 million in its fourth quarter, up 14% year over year from 150 million.Here's how Uber's largest business segments performed:Mobility (gross bookings): $22.8 billion, up 18% year over yearDelivery (gross bookings): $20.1 billion, up 18% year over yearUber's mobility segment reported $6.91 billion in revenue, up 25% from a year earlier. StreetAccount analysts were expecting $6.77 billion. The company's delivery segment reported $3.77 billion in revenue, up 21% from the year prior. Analysts were expecting $3.66 billion, according to StreetAccount.The company's freight business reported $1.28 billion in revenue for the quarter, in line with the $1.28 billion it reported during the same period last year. StreetAccount analysts were expecting $1.31 billion. Khosrowshahi has repeatedly pointed to freight as a challenging segment for Uber since consumers are spending more on services than on shipping goods following the pandemic.Uber will hold its quarterly call with investors at 8 a.m. ET.