Uber Technologies Inc.’s second-quarter results were boosted by resilient demand from customers who continued to hail rides and order takeout food despite rising inflation.
Revenue more than doubled to $8.1 billion in the second quarter, the company said Tuesday in a statement.
“Last quarter I challenged our team to meet our profitability commitments even faster than planned — and they delivered,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the statement.
In the three months ended June 30, Uber reported gross bookings, which encompass ride hailing, food delivery and freight, increased 33 percent to an all-time high of $29.1 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose $873 million to $364 million, far exceeding Wall Street expectations.
The company said it posted a net loss of $2.6 billion compared with net income of $1.1 billion during the same quarter last year. About $1.7 billion of the second-quarter loss was related to losses from Uber’s equity investments.
Uber reported 122 million people used the platform monthly, surpassing the 120.5 million analysts expected. Khosrowshahi said the number of consumers and earners using Uber are both now at a record.
Uber and gig-economy peers like Lyft Inc. and DoorDash Inc. are confronting inflation levels that are the highest in four decades and the specter of an economic downturn that could damp demand, just as it was starting to recover after the rocky months of Covid shutdowns. At the same time, aggressive interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve have made unprofitable companies like these very much out of favor with investors.
Khosrowshahi said in May the company is “recession resistant,” but it has still taken steps to keep costs in check, by treating “hiring as a privilege.” Lyft also said it plans to significantly slow hiring and cut expenses.
