Uber posted a strong first quarter, but Wall Street hasn’t been impressed. The stock is down about 14.7% over the past year, trading near its 52-week low, even as the broader S&P 500 returned 26.7% including dividends in the same period.
The stock currently trades around $73.65, well off its 52-week high of $101.99. It did pop roughly 8.5% after Q1 earnings on May 6, closing at $79.17, but has given back most of those gains since.
Q1 numbers were solid across the board. Gross bookings hit $53.7 billion, up 25% year over year. Mobility bookings grew 25%, delivery grew 28%. Revenue came in at $13.2 billion — up 10% on a currency-adjusted basis — and GAAP operating income jumped 57% to $1.9 billion.
Mobility remains Uber’s biggest revenue driver at 56% of Q1 top-line revenue. Delivery accounts for another 33%. Both divisions are pulling their weight.
On June 24, Uber Eats announced an expansion into retail delivery, bringing FedEx Office, Kiehl’s, and Academy Sports + Outdoors onto the platform. It’s a push beyond restaurant food into broader on-demand commerce, and the stock moved higher on the news.
Analysts note that Uber’s free cash flow and scale give it the financial room to keep investing in new delivery categories without needing to raise fresh capital.
The flip side is that lower-margin retail and grocery delivery could weigh on profitability if costs run high.
Uber launched Uber Autonomous Solutions, a unit aimed at helping partners build and commercialize AV fleets that run on Uber’s network. The company also holds an equity stake in Lucid Motors as part of its self-driving push.
On June 2, Uber and WeRide announced Spain’s first commercial robotaxi pilot in the Madrid region — the fourth of 15 cities outlined in their partnership agreement. Another 11 cities are expected by 2030, all bookable through the Uber app.
Rothschild & Co Redburn, which lowered its Uber price target from $120 to $112 on June 17, maintained its Buy rating. The firm said AVs will expand the ride-hailing market long-term and that Uber and Lyft are well-positioned to connect riders with AV operators.
But the AV bet carries real costs and uncertain timing. Apple walked away from its self-driving car program after years of investment. Alphabet’s Waymo is still limited to select markets. Getting this right is hard, and the market appears to be pricing in that uncertainty.
Cost of revenue — which includes driver payments — is Uber’s largest expense. Eliminating or reducing that cost is the core AV pitch for investors.
Uber is trading near its 52-week low of $67.19, with institutional interest picking up according to recent market data.
The post Uber Stock: Robotaxi Launch, Retail Eats Expansion and Analyst Targets appeared first on CoinCentral.
