What You Need To Know Ahead of Uber's Earnings Report Wednesday

Uber Technologies (UBER) is set to report earnings Wednesday before markets open, with investors likely to watching whether the ridesharing company will continue to increase its revenue and booking numbers.

Analysts expect Uber's revenue to rise year-over-year to $10.1 billion from the $8.82 billion the company reported in the first quarter of 2023, breaking through the $10 billion mark for the first time.

In contrast to the $157 million net loss Uber posted last year, which equates to a loss of 8 cents per share, analysts anticipate Uber could report a $477.2 million net profit or earnings per share (EPS) of 22 cents, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Jefferies analysts earlier this month raised the firm's target price for Uber to $100 from $95, about 40% above the $71.51 level the stock closed at Monday. The analysts said that Uber's revenue could benefit from increased adoption of some of its newer services, including a feature that allows users to reserve rides up to 90 days in advance.

Key Metrics: Bookings, Monthly Active Users

In addition to record revenue, analysts also expect Uber to post record gross booking numbers across its Mobility business, which encompasses the ridesharing portion of the business, and the Deliveries segment, which includes the Uber Eats delivery app, along with the smallest segment, Freight. The company is projected to set another record quarter with $38.03 billion in gross bookings, up from the $31.41 billion it reported in the first quarter of 2023.

In the year-ago quarter, Mobility and Deliveries were roughly equal, with about $15 billion in bookings total for the quarter. Another important figure for app-based companies is the number of monthly active users, and Uber's user base grew to 150 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 from the 131 million it reported in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Business Spotlight: Competition

Bank of America Securities analysts wrote in an April 29 note that they will be looking for Uber executives to comment on how the company plans to respond to a potential competitive threat from autonomous vehicles and taxis from companies like Waymo and Tesla after Elon Musk said they were a focus of Tesla's plans in the company's earnings call in late April. BofA analysts also hope to hear what Uber thinks of competition in the ridesharing space by addressing its market share compared with rivals like Lyft.

Despite the analysts saying the industry is likely "years away" from fully autonomous vehicles being a "viable and reliable nationwide rides solution," they noted that Tesla's planned robotaxi event in August could have a negative impact on Uber's stock if Tesla announces its own ridesharing app then.

Shares of Uber have gained about 16% so far this year, at $71.51 as of Monday's close.