Uber beats estimates as revenue and bookings see double-digit growth

Published

2 years ago

February 7, 2024

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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi looks on during the APEC CEO Summit at Moscone West on November 15, 2023 in San Francisco, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Uber reported fourth-quarter results Wednesday that beat analysts’ estimates on top and bottom lines.

Shares fell about 3% in premarket trading.

Here’s how the company did:

Earnings per share: 66 cents vs. 17 cents expected by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv.
Revenue: $9.94 billion vs. $9.76 billion expected by LSEG.

Uber reported net income of $1.4 billion, or 66 cents per share, compared with a net income of $595 million, or 29 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Uber’s net income includes a $1 billion net tailwind thanks to “unrealized gains” from revaluations of its equity investments, according to a release.

The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15% from the same quarter last year. Uber’s gross bookings came in at $37.6 billion, up 22% year over year.

In a prepared statement, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said 2023 marked a year of “sustainable, profitable growth for Uber” as consumer spending continues to shift from retail to services.

“I’m energized by the pace of innovation and the momentum I’m seeing across the company,” he wrote.

Uber reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.28 billion, up 93% year over year, which is slightly above the $1.23 billion expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount. Uber’s adjusted EBITDA also came in above the company’s guidance of $1.18 billion to $1.24 billion.

For the first quarter of 2024, Uber said it expects to report gross bookings between $37 billion and $38.5 billion, compared with StreetAccount estimates of $37.43 billion. Uber anticipates an adjusted EBITDA of $1.26 billion to $1.34 billion, compared to the $1.26 billion expected by analysts.

The number of Uber’s monthly active platform consumers reached 150 million in its fourth quarter, up 15% year over year from 131 million. There were 2.6 billion trips completed on the platform during the period, up 24% year over year.

Here’s how Uber’s largest business segments performed:

Mobility (gross bookings): $19.3 billion, up 29% year over year

Delivery (gross bookings): $17.0 billion, up 19% year over year

Uber’s mobility segment reported $5.5 billion in revenue, up 34% from the year earlier, while its delivery segment reported $3.1 billion, up 6% from the year prior.

The company’s freight business booked $1.28 billion in sales for the quarter, a 17% decline year over year. Freight continues to be a sticking point for Uber since consumers are spending more on services than on shipping goods following the pandemic. Last quarter, Uber’s freight business also reported $1.28 billion in revenue, which marked a 27% decline year over year.

“We are seeing some glimmers of light in terms of spot freight rates, but it’s far too soon to assume the glimmer will turn into a trend,” Khosrowshahi said in his prepared remarks.

Uber will host its quarterly call with investors at 8 a.m. ET.

Technology

Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that startup’s robots could ‘fracture a human skull’

Published

2 hours ago

November 21, 2025

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$Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that startup's robots could 'fracture a human skull'$

Startup Figure AI is developing general-purpose humanoid robots.

Figure AI

Figure AI, an Nvidia-backed developer of humanoid robots, was sued by the startup’s former head of product safety who alleged that he was wrongfully terminated after warning top executives that the company’s robots “were powerful enough to fracture a human skull.”

Robert Gruendel, a principal robotic safety engineer, is the plaintiff in the suit filed Friday in a federal court in the Northern District of California. Gruendel’s attorneys describe their client as a whistleblower who was fired in September, days after lodging his “most direct and documented safety complaints.”

The suit lands two months after Figure was valued at $39 billion in a funding round led by Parkway Venture Capital. That’s a 15-fold increase in valuation from early 2024, when the company raised a round from investors including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft.

In the complaint, Gruendel’s lawyers say the plaintiff warned Figure CEO Brett Adcock and Kyle Edelberg, chief engineer, about the robot’s lethal capabilities, and said one “had already carved a ¼-inch gash into a steel refrigerator door during a malfunction.”

The complaint also says Gruendel warned company leaders not to “downgrade” a “safety road map” that he had been asked to present to two prospective investors who ended up funding the company.

Gruendel worried that a “product safety plan which contributed to their decision to invest” had been “gutted” the same month Figure closed the investment round, a move that “could be interpreted as fraudulent,” the suit says.

The plaintiff’s concerns were “treated as obstacles, not obligations,” and the company cited a “vague ‘change in business direction’ as the pretext” for his termination, according to the suit.

Gruendel is seeking economic, compensatory and punitive damages and demanding a jury trial.

Figure didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did attorneys for Gruendel.

The humanoid robot market remains nascent today, with companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics pursuing futuristic offerings, alongside Figure, while China’s Unitree Robotics is preparing for an IPO. Morgan Stanley said in a report in May that adoption is “likely to accelerate in the 2030s” and could top $5 trillion by 2050.

Read the filing here: