Daily newsletter · Thu 5 Nov 2026
Uber's delivery arm grew 22% while its ride-hailing revenue went backwards
Uber shares closed at US$69.89 on Wednesday, up almost 5%. Gross bookings reached US$59.8 billion for the September quarter, up 20%, and adjusted earnings of 88 US cents a share beat the 86 cents expected.
Mobility is where the trouble sits. Bookings in the ride-hailing division rose 18% to US$29.5 billion, and yet the revenue Uber booked from them fell 2% to US$7.5 billion.
Drivers are the reason. Supply has not kept up with demand in India and Brazil, and tighter immigration has squeezed it in Canada. Dara Khosrowshahi told analysts the company is taking money out of rider discounts and spending it on driver incentives instead.
Delivery did the work. Food and grocery bookings rose 22% to US$28.5 billion, and the revenue from them grew 23% to US$5.5 billion. Free cash flow for the quarter was US$2.5 billion.
the December-quarter forecast is the soft spot. Uber guided adjusted earnings to between 95 and 99 US cents a share, against the US$1.06 analysts expected. I'd want to see mobility revenue growing again before treating the driver shortage as one bad quarter.
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