Uber Stock Surges 9% as Strong Bookings Outlook Offsets Revenue Miss

Uber Technologies Inc. shares climbed approximately 9 percent on Wednesday after the company reported first-quarter 2026 earnings that missed Wall Street revenue expectations but exceeded forecasts for gross bookings and offered a stronger-than-expected outlook for the current quarter, according to CNBC.

The Details

Uber reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.2 billion, an increase of 14 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, but falling short of the $13.29 billion average analyst estimate compiled by LSEG, per CNBC. The company posted GAAP earnings per share of 13 cents, well below the 70 cents analysts had expected. Uber’s non-GAAP earnings per share came in at 72 cents, according to the company’s official earnings release. Net income for the quarter fell sharply to $263 million from $1.78 billion a year earlier. Uber attributed the decline primarily to a $1.5 billion pre-tax headwind stemming from the revaluation of its equity investments in Didi and Grab, per the company’s official Q1 2026 earnings release. Gross bookings in the quarter reached $53.7 billion, a 25 percent increase year over year and above the $52.8 billion average analyst estimate from StreetAccount, as reported by CNBC. Uber recorded 3.6 billion trips during the quarter, per CNBC. The company’s delivery segment, which includes food delivery and other goods, generated revenue of $5.07 billion in the quarter, a 34 percent increase year over year that topped the $4.89 billion estimate from StreetAccount. Growth was particularly strong in Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom, according to CNBC. The mobility segment, which includes ride-hailing, posted revenue of $6.8 billion, a 5 percent increase year over year but below the $7.11 billion analyst estimate from StreetAccount. Uber’s subscription program, Uber One, surpassed 50 million members globally, and members contributed more than 50 percent of gross bookings in both the mobility and delivery segments, according to the company’s prepared remarks. Following the report, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC, "The consumer is spending, they're spending locally, and we don't see any signs of that weakening at this point." During the company’s earnings call, Khosrowshahi also discussed the autonomous vehicle market, stating, "This is, we think, another trillion-dollar [total addressable market], and we don't see this as being a winner-takes-all market."

Context

In late March 2026, Uber unveiled fuel discounts and driver relief measures that are set to last through late May, responding to a roughly 50 percent jump in U.S. gas prices since U.S. combat operations began in Iran in February, according to CNBC. The price increase has created additional cost pressure for drivers, who generally pay for their own fuel. During the quarter, Uber announced 10 new and expanded autonomous vehicle partnerships and launched a new business unit called Uber Autonomous Solutions, which sells services including custom insurance, operations and maintenance, and training data to the autonomous vehicle industry, according to the company’s prepared remarks. Uber is targeting Waymo robotaxi services in 15 cities by the end of 2026, per CNBC. The company disclosed that more than 95 percent of its engineers now use AI coding tools on a monthly basis, and that over 10 percent of its production-ready code is written autonomously by AI coding agents.

What's Next

For the second quarter of 2026, Uber guided gross bookings in a range of $56.25 billion to $57.75 billion, exceeding the $56.17 billion consensus analyst estimate. The stronger bookings outlook appeared to outweigh the revenue and mobility-segment misses, sending Uber stock up approximately 9 percent following the earnings release.