Uber Technologies year-on-year profit before tax increase to $770 million for the three months ending December 31, 2024, an 18 percent uptick, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion.
The San Francisco-based ride-hailing and food delivery company continued its expansion last quarter, with a strong focus on infrastructure investment to support the introduction of autonomous robotaxis.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company achieved record highs in trips, gross bookings, and adjusted earnings in Q4. To sustain growth in 2025, Uber plans to offer customers competitive pricing by limiting fare hikes, particularly on insurance-related costs.
“To maximize demand, we remain committed to keeping prices as low as possible, passing through only the insurance cost increases to consumers,” Khosrowshahi said, adding that U.S. UberX fares are expected to rise only marginally in 2025.
Uber’s gross bookings, which measure total customer spending across its platforms, hit a record $44.2 billion, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $43.5 billion. This figure includes a 5.5 percentage point impact from a strong U.S. dollar.
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As Uber continues to expand its services and invest in autonomous technology, the company is positioning itself for long-term growth in an evolving mobility landscape.
Ahead of earnings statement, Uber said it would begin rolling out services offered by Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving taxi subsidiary, in Austin, Texas, with customers charged the same price as a human-driven vehicle.
The companies had struck the deal in September. However, the ride-hailing company will face stiff competition from Tesla, which will begin trialling its autonomous Cybercabs in Austin in June.
A year ago, Uber sought to step up returns to shareholders and announced an inaugural $7bn share buyback programme, but its stock fell 2 per cent in 2024 as investors fretted that autonomous vehicles would undercut the company’s driver-focused business model.
The ride hailing platform reported its first annual operating profit in 2023 and repeated the feat in 2024 with a $2.8bn figure.
