Uber Reports First Operating Profit Since 2009

Uber has announced its first operating profit since its founding. This marks a significant milestone in its development, as it has accumulated operating losses totaling $31.5 billion since 2014, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The results are for the first quarter of 2023 and were achieved due to steady growth in both of Uber's core business segments. Ride-hailing in the US and Canada surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time, and demand for food delivery remained high even after restaurants resumed normal operations.

Uber reported a profit of $394 million for the quarter, or 18 cents per share, compared to a loss of $2.6 billion recorded a year ago. This is an impressive turnaround, especially considering that analysts had expected a loss of 1 cent per share during this period.

Moreover, this quarter marked the first time since its founding in 2009 that Uber announced profitability in its core operations. According to The Wall Street Journal, from 2016 until the first quarter of this year, Uber had accumulated a total of approximately $30 billion in operating losses.

During discussions with analysts, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's CEO, pointed out: "Profitability wasn't the first thing that came to mind for much of our history when you asked about Uber. In fact, for many years, many observers confidently claimed that we would never make money."

In the past, Uber had reported quarterly net profits on four occasions, but these results were associated with investment gains that outweighed the losses from core operations.

Uber began cutting costs as early as 2019, but then the pandemic hit, negatively impacting the ride-hailing service. However, Uber's food delivery division became a lifeline for the company. During the pandemic, the company reduced its workforce and divested from non-core activities, such as autonomous vehicles. These cost-saving measures helped Uber weather the recent economic downturn.

Uber has also provided a stronger forecast for the current quarter than expected. According to the projections, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) will range from $975 to $1.025 billion, compared to Wall Street's estimate of $915 billion.