Rising inflation had little impact on Uber Technologies in the second quarter. The company saw revenue more than double to $8.1 billion as customers continued to hail rides and order takeout food.
Revenue from the company’s services, which include ride hailing, food delivery and freight, increased 33% to an all-time high of $29.1 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose $873 million to $364 million.
Still, the company reported a net loss of $2.6 billion compared with net income of $1.1 billion during the same quarter last year. The company cited losses from its equity investments as the reason for the $1.7 billion of the second-quarter loss.
Uber reports 122 million people use the platform monthly, surpassing the 120.5 million analysts expected. The number of consumers and earners using Uber has hit record highs, Khosrowshahi said.
Khosrowshahi reported in May that the company is “recession resistant,” but it must still take steps to keep costs in check, by treating “hiring as a privilege.” It’s rival, Lyft, also has announced plans to significantly slow hiring and cut expenses.
Uber offered bonuses and incentives to lure people to drive for them but has since had to gradually decrease this extra spending.
The company instead has worked to improve its app. Now drivers can see a fare and a person’s destination in the app. A shortage of drivers has led to longer wait times and higher fares for customers. Rising fuel prices also have prompted drivers to trim the hours they are on the road.
Khosrowshashi reported Tuesday that the company saw an acceleration in active and new driver growth in the second quarter. In fact, the global driver and courier base grew 31% from 2021 to almost 5 million.
Uber Eats boomed during the pandemic as ride-hailing demand cratered. In the second quarter Uber Eats saw bookings increase 7% from 2021 to $13.9 billion. This is less than the $14.4 billion analysts were expecting.
Khosrowshahi reported the company expects delivery bookings to remain “roughly flat” in the current period compared to the second quarter.
Uber projects gross bookings of $29 billion to $30 billion in the third quarter and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $440 million to $470 million.
