Uber has delivered its first profitable quarter as a public company, announcing adjusted EBITDA of US$8 million for Q3 2021, up $517 million on the previous quarter and up $633 million on Covid-hit 2020.
During the company’s Q3 earnings call, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, “Reaching total company adjusted EBITDA profitability is an important milestone. And one that's even more impressive when you consider where we were as a company just 18 months ago.”
Gross bookings for its mobility services, as opposed to food delivery, grew 63 per cent year on year to $9.9 billion; in Q3 the company notes “strong growth” in the US and Canada, EMEA and Latin America, partially offset by a decline in APAC as a result of lockdowns in Australia and New Zealand.
The company said that booking levels in a number of markets around the world, including the UK, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Taiwan and Hong Kong, are up against 2019.
Gross bookings through its Uber for Business platform were up 115 per cent in Q3 on 2020 and were also higher than the same quarter in 2019.
Airport bookings are ahead of the growth curve at the company, growing 203 per cent year on year; such trips now represent 12 per cent of all mobility bookings, although much of this growth is coming in the US market. The company has recently launched Uber Reserve which offers curbside pickup based on flight tracking and Ready When You Are, a new feature that allows riders to request a ride once they land but only be picked up when they are ready.
The company says it has moved swiftly to ensure it has enough drivers to cope with increasing demand.
Khosrowshahi said in the call, “When we first saw demand beginning to outstrip supply in Q2, we made a conscious decision to invest fast and to invest aggressively in attracting drivers back to Uber with a focus on the US.
“The results are clear, we've seen ten consecutive weeks of active driver growth in the US, resulting in a far better rider experience. The number of active drivers is up more than 65 per cent since January, and more than 20 per cent since June. As a result, the incidence of surge pricing has fallen by nearly half and wait times are now below the magic five-minute mark on average.”