Ride-hailing and delivery platform Uber Technologies, Inc. reported Wednesday weak profit in its fourth quarter, while adjusted EBITDA surged from last year with strong revenue growth above market view. Gross bookings increased and the company projects higher gross bookings in the first quarter.
Nelson Chai, CFO, said the company significantly exceeded profitability outlook in 2022, and that it sees yet another record year.
In pre-market activity on the NYSE, Uber shares were gaining around 8 percent to trade at $37.60.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, said, “We ended 2022 with our strongest quarter ever, with robust demand and record margins. Our global scale and unique platform advantages position us well to accelerate this momentum into 2023.”
For the first quarter, the company anticipates adjusted EBITDA of $660 million to $700 million, and gross bookings to grow 20 percent to 24 percent year-over-year on a constant currency basis, translating to a range of $31.0 billion to $32.0 billion.
In its fourth quarter, net income attributable was $595 million, down 33 percent from prior year’s $892 million. Earnings per share were $0.29, down from last year’s $0.44.
The latest results included a $756 million net benefit (pre-tax) primarily due to net unrealized gains related to the revaluation of Uber’s equity investments.
On average, 33 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.18 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.
Adjusted EBITDA surged to $665 million from $86 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin as a percentage of Gross Bookings was 2.2 percent, up from 0.3 percent in 2021.
Revenue grew 49 percent to $8.61 billion from $5.78 billion last year. Revenue grew 59 percent on a constant currency basis. Analysts expected revenues of $8.48 billion for the quarter.
Mobility revenues climbed 82 percent to $4.14 billion and Delivery revenues went up 21 percent to $2.93 billion. Freight revenues also climbed 43 percent.
Revenue growth significantly outpaced Gross Bookings growth due to a change in the business model for UK Mobility business and the acquisition of Transplace by Uber Freight.
In the quarter, gross bookings grew 19 percent year-over-year to $30.75 billion, or 26 percent on a constant currency basis.
Gross bookings in Mobility of $14.89 billion climbed 31 percent, and Delivery gross bookings of $14.3 billion went up 6 percent from last year.
Trips during the quarter grew 19 percent year-over-year to 2.1 billion, an all-time quarterly high, or approximately 23 million trips per day on average.
Monthly Active Platform Consumers or MAPCs reached 131 million, a growth of 11 percent from last year.
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