MW Uber's stock surges as deliveries business shows surprising strength

By William Gavin

A long streak of disappointing earnings is snapped, as profit rises above expectations

Uber is attempting to broaden the scope of its business, most recently with a deal with Expedia.

Uber Technologies shares surged on Wednesday, heading toward their biggest gain in nearly a year, after the company issued upbeat guidance, despite an expected drag from the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

The results snapped a six-quarter streak in which Uber's stock (UBER) fell on the day earnings were reported.

First-quarter revenue grew 14% from a year ago to $13.2 billion, slightly below the FactSet consensus, even as gross bookings came in above expectations, up 25% year-over-year to $53.7 billion. Adjusted earnings per share climbed to 72 cents from 50 cents. The top end of Uber's guidance previously provided for the current quarter and above the FactSet consensus of 69 cents.

In prepared remarks, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company's strong gross bookings were "particularly impressive" due to the combination of poor weather in the U.S. and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The company said those issues created an overall hit of 70 basis points (0.7 percentage points) to first-quarter gross bookings.

Uber's stock ran up 6.8% in recent morning trading, putting it on track for its biggest gain since jumping 7.5% on June 24, 2025. It was also headed for the first one-day postearnings gain since the company reported second-quarter results in 2024.

Uber's delivery business was its fastest-growing segment, with gross bookings up 28% to $25.99 billion. Deliveries revenue climbed 34.2% to $5.07 billion, above expectations of $4.88 billion.

The mobility business, still the company's largest, grew gross bookings 25% to $26.39 billion, while revenue rose 5% to $6.8 billion. Uber Freight also returned to growth for the first time in nearly two years, Uber said, as bookings rose 6% to $1.33 billion.

Uber noted that strong delivery demand in international markets has helped drive growth. Additionally, the company said it now has more than 10 million global drivers and couriers, with active drivers up 21% from a year ago, despite higher gas prices.

See more: The secret to lowering gas prices in the U.S.? Selling American oil overseas.

For the second quarter, Uber expects to continue its growth. It guided gross bookings of between $56.25 billion and $57.75 billion, or growth of up to 22% compared with the year-ago period. That accounts for a 60-basis-point headwind due to the Iran conflict.

The company also guided to adjusted EPS of 78 cents to 82 cents, or growth of up to 38% year-over-year. The current FactSet consensus is for EPS of 78 cents.

Meanwhile, Uber's stock was still down 4.6% in 2026, while the S&P 500 index SPX has gained 6.9%.

That's despite the company's efforts to excite investors by broadening its business through partnerships and embracing new technology. Uber recently said it would work with Expedia (EXPE) to allow customers to directly book hotels in the Uber app and in March acquired a chauffeur-service company to boost its premium travel offerings.

"These innovations are designed to deepen the everyday utility of our services and to build engagement and loyalty," Khosrowshahi said. In 2017, he left his job as Expedia's CEO to lead Uber.

Uber is also continuing its embrace of artificial intelligence after introducing a slew of AI tools last quarter. Khosrowshahi on Wednesday said AI is helping create "employees with superpowers."

Additionally, the company is pursuing leadership in the race to offer ride-hail services using self-driving vehicles, or robotaxis. It aims to offer robotaxi services in 15 cities worldwide by the end of the year.

Last quarter, Uber partnered with Zoox, a robotaxi startup owned by Amazon (AMZN) and Rivian Automotive (RIVN). It also launched commercial robotaxi operations in Dubai with partner WeRide (WRD). Just last week, it made a deal with Hertz Global $(HTZ)$ to support its U.S. fleet.

Uber in April said it expects to buy at least 35,000 robotaxis from partner Lucid $(LCID)$, which aims to launch commercial ride-hail operations later this year. On Tuesday, the automaker pulled its full-year guidance, citing a need for review from its new CEO.

"Obviously, we continue to expand the number of partners that we have and our partnerships are very, very broad ... and we think they'll continue to broaden," Khosrowshahi told investors on Wednesday.

"The blockers are that we just need more cars on the road," and that the technology is safe, he said about the issues keeping Uber from scaling more quickly. Winning over regulators, Khosrowshahi said, is also a timely process.

Read more: A new CEO and a deal with Uber aren't enough to lift this EV maker's struggling stock

-William Gavin

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May 06, 2026 10:03 ET (14:03 GMT)

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