For the first time ever, Uber turns a profit for the full year

[zohaibahd]

In the black: The days of Uber burning venture capital in a race for global rideshare supremacy appear to be over, with the first annual profit on the books. Uber now seems set on a path to sustained profitability. Will the company be able to kick off a streak?

Ride-sharing giant Uber reached a significant milestone this week. The company reported a full-year profit of $1.8 billion for 2023, marking the first year Uber has posted in the black since going public in 2019.

The profit comes after years of heavy losses as Uber pursued rapid global growth at all costs. The company has trimmed expenses, laid off thousands of workers, and made strategic acquisitions to strengthen its core ride-share and delivery businesses following mounting investor pressure to show a path to profitability in recent years.

In the fourth quarter alone, Uber generated $9.94 billion in revenue, with $1.8 billion in profit. Those numbers mark a 140% increase in profit over the same period last year, beating Wall Street expectations. Gross bookings for rides, food delivery, and other services surged 22 percent to $37.6 billion.

The results suggest Uber may have reached an inflection point, transitioning from a money-losing growth machine to a company capable of generating and sustaining profit. In 2022, Uber's net income was $-9.141 billion, so 2023's figures come as a monumental jump.

"2023 was an inflection point for Uber, proving that we can continue to generate strong, profitable growth at scale," said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Uber stock hit an all-time high of $71.90 following the earnings beat. The results validate Khosrowshahi's strategy since taking over as CEO in 2017. He inherited a company with a win-at-all-costs culture that flouted regulations and lost billions chasing global domination of rideshare and food delivery.

Khosrowshahi cleaned house, putting profitability and corporate responsibility ahead of unchecked expansion. Uber has exited several costly overseas markets, cut subsidies to attract drivers and customers, and doubled down on core businesses like ride-hailing, food delivery, and freight. Last month, it announced plans to shutter the alcohol delivery service Drizly – only a couple of years following its acquisition – to concentrate resources on Uber Eats.

Labor practices remain a challenge, though. With pressure to boost driver pay in cities like Seattle, Uber has resorted to limiting driver hours in some markets rather than raising wages. However, the profit milestone suggests the company may have finally figured out how to make its model work financially. We'll have to wait and see how things play out this year.

Image credit: Viktor Avdeev

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[Arionic]

Because they are hiking up fares and keeping more from their drivers. I've been driving for Lyft and Uber for the past 6 months and the percentages they keep are getting more and more ridiculous.

During a surge, I can get a $4 ride with an 8$ surge for a total of $12, just to find out the passenger is paying $95. The driver and passenger reddit accounts are blowing up and there are protests starting tomorrow nationwide. Long distance rides are even worse. Being paid $80 for a 3.5 hour drive one way then learning that the passanger is paying $325. If you account for the drive back and a tank of gas, thats $40 for 8 hours of driving.

They turned a profit because they are a horrible company and steal from the drivers and passengers, then they hide their dirty work with upfront fares which have to be unveiled via communication between the driver and passenger or third party apps that track the ride statistics.

There is also surge bating, where they create a surge to lure in drivers then remove it just before you reach the area. Their driver bonuses, challenges and perks are horrible and sometimes unobtainable. When aiming to reach a goal, drivers have reported their apps gltching out as they get closer to completion.

There are also accounts of new drivers going to create an account just to find out that they already have one, which leads to the discovery that their identity has been stolen and some illegal immigrant has signed up and passed the background check.

One day soon you will be writing an article about their downturn or their replacement. Look into Wridz for a better business model or rideshare app.

 

[lonetac]

Uber is a horrible company. They treat their drivers like crap and they steal from their consumers.

I actually boycotted this company many years ago. When using uber eats, if you order food and have 3 items and your bill is $35. Say you ordered a cheeseburger ($20), fries ($8) and a side salad (7$) (just example).

If they dont deliver the cheeseburger, when you complain you get a $5 credit. Nothing more. You do not get compensated for the full cheeseburger and you loose $15. This happened to me twice at nice NYC delivery places and it fumed me so much I took to twitter and they still tell you to piss off. $5 is the max compensation regardless how expensive the item that wasnt delivered is. You could order a $60 steak, not get it and be compensated $5. Its criminal.

Literally theft. You pay for goods and they dont deliver. Is it on the restaurant? Yes, but Uber is charging the business and keeping the money for something you dont get.

Seamless, when they forget something, you file a refund and its processed immediately, no questions asked. Full refund for the item not received.

Uber can go rot in the cesspool where it belongs. I wont even get started on some of the stories the drivers have told me.