Uber Technologies Inc. posted strong second-quarter results on Wednesday, exceeding revenue expectations and authorizing a $20 billion stock buyback as global demand for mobility and delivery services remained robust. Gross bookings rose 17% year-over-year to $46.8 billion, while the number of trips surged 18% to a record 3.3 billion.
Revenue climbed to $12.65 billion for the quarter ended June 30, up 18% from $10.7 billion a year earlier, and ahead of the $12.46 billion consensus estimate from analysts surveyed by LSEG. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) jumped 35% to $2.12 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 4.5%, up from 3.9% a year earlier.
Net income rose to $1.36 billion, or 63 cents per share, compared with $1.02 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year ago. Uber ended the quarter with $7.4 billion in unrestricted cash and equivalents, generating $2.5 billion in free cash flow.
"It's steady as she goes, and for Uber, that's great news," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box. "At this point, we're not seeing weakness in the consumer."
Monthly active platform consumers grew 15% to 180 million, and revenue from both core business segments posted double-digit gains. Mobility revenue increased 19% to $7.3 billion, and delivery revenue jumped 25% to $4.1 billion. Freight revenue declined 1% to $1.3 billion.
Uber also outlined several initiatives aimed at expanding its customer base and increasing platform engagement. During the quarter, the company launched Senior Accounts with simplified user interfaces, and began testing a feature allowing women riders and drivers in the U.S. to avoid being matched with male counterparts when possible.
Internationally, Uber Eats outperformed the ride-hailing business in several markets. The company continues to push cross-platform integration to grow both user frequency and order volume.
Autonomous driving remains a strategic priority, with Uber now partnering with 20 companies worldwide, including Waymo, Apollo Go, May Mobility, Nuro, and Wayve. Uber and Waymo launched a commercial robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, earlier this year-preceding the rollout of autonomous vehicles by Tesla.
"This is physical world AI, and we think it's going to be a huge trend going forward," Khosrowshahi said. "All of this competition in autonomous is going to create safer streets, and we're going to be a big part of that."
For the third quarter, Uber forecast gross bookings between $48.25 billion and $49.25 billion, implying 17% to 21% growth. It expects adjusted EBITDA to range from $2.19 billion to $2.29 billion, representing growth of up to 36% over the prior year.
Despite the strong results, Uber shares were down 2.47% in early trading Wednesday to $87.18. The stock is up 48% year-to-date, outperforming the Nasdaq, which has risen approximately 8% over the same period.
