• Ehailing giant Uber has reported its first-ever operating profit after 14 years of operations.
• It saw an income of $326 million for the second quarter of 2023, compared to a nearly billion-dollar loss the same period the year prior.
• All three of its operating segments are seeing growth, with its mobility business raking in nearly $5 billion.

After its initial launch 14 years ago in March 2009, the first ride-sharing platform in the world has finally turned a profit. On Tuesday, Uber posted its second quarter of 2023 results, and while its gains were modest compared to other firms in the tech world, such as Meta for example, the company has crossed a crucial threshold.

That being the ability to make money. Uber announced that it made an income for the quarter of $326 million, compared to a loss of $713 million the previous quarter. It now has this keen advantage over rivals like Lyft which has yet to post its own operating profit after five years of service.

These profits stem from an increase in revenues of over a billion dollars, coming in at $9.2 billion in the three months ended 30th June. “Gross bookings” which translates to the value of transactions made on Uber apps increased to $33.6 billion.

Worldwide Uber operates in approximately 72 countries and around 10 500 cities, including many in South Africa. In the last three months, Uber said it has 137 million monthly active users and made 2.3 billion trips worldwide. An average of 25 million trips per day.

In 2022 it was revealed that for Sub-Saharan Africa alone, around 30 million users have used an Uber app, performed over 1 billion trips and served over 30 million users with Uber Eats.

“Robust demand, new growth initiatives, and continued cost discipline resulted in an excellent quarter, with trips up 22 percent and a GAAP operating profit, for the first time in Uber’s history,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive at the platform.

“These results also translated into strong driver and courier engagement, with 6 million drivers and couriers earning a record $15.1 billion during the quarter.

Its freight and delivery arms pulled in $1.3 billion and $3 billion respectively in the quarter. The largest chunk of monies was made from its mobility business ie ride-sharing and ehailing, which made $4.9 billion, a 38 percent increase from the previous quarter.

Most revenues were from its United States and Canada market, followed by its Europe, Middle East and Africa market, which accrued $2.4 billion.

Its worst-performing market was Latin America, which made $627 million.

According to Barron’s, Uber reported earnings per share of 18 cents, compared to a prior loss of $1.33 for the same period last year.

“The unique power of the Uber platform and the team’s relentless focus on profitable growth was on full display in Q2, with record profitability and over $1 billion of quarterly free cash flow,” said Nelson Chai, CFO.

We now live in a world where Uber, one of the biggest companies in the world, is finally making money. Who would have thunk it?

You can read the full financial results below:

[Image – Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash]