Uber三季度预订指引仅符合预期，巴西竞争拖累订单增长

Uber Technologies Inc. issued a bookings outlook that just met analyst estimates and said fierce competition in the key Brazil market weighed on trips volume, compounding concerns from investors about the company’s ability to evolve in the robotaxi era.

Total gross bookings — a key metric that includes ride hails, delivery orders and driver and merchant earnings but not tips — will be $58.25 billion to $60.25 billion for the quarter ending in September, the company said Wednesday. Analysts, on average, were looking for $59.3 billion, according to Bloomberg-compiled estimates. The company blamed currency headwinds, which it said shaved off roughly one percentage point from reported growth for the gross bookings guidance. Uber sees third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 84 cents to 88 cents, also in line with analyst projections.

Meanwhile, trips — which includes ridesharing and deliveries — grew 18% to 3.87 billion in the second quarter, compared with an analyst estimate of 3.9 billion. The company said the moderation in trips growth was “entirely attributable to Brazil,” its highest-volume market globally. Competition in the region has increased as Chinese rivals like Didi Global Inc. and Meituan have boosted their investments in the country and ratcheted up competition for local delivery bikers. Adjusted earnings per share for the period were also in line with estimates.

An outlook for Uber’s core business that merely met expectations is unlikely to impress investors who have been seeking assurance that Uber can maintain growth as robotaxis become more commonplace. Those concerns have sent the stock down 12% so far this year in the lead-up to Wednesday’s report. The shares fell 1.4% in premarket trading after the results were released.

The lukewarm reaction overshadowed $58 billion in second-quarter gross bookings, fueled in part by significant demand spikes during the World Cup. Wall Street had been expecting $57.2 billion in bookings for the period.

The earnings report will set expectations for the broader ride-hailing and food-delivery industries. Delivery rival DoorDash Inc. is scheduled to release earnings on Wednesday afternoon, while Lyft Inc. and Instacart will report on Thursday.

Robotaxi Progress

Uber earlier on Wednesday announced it will launch robotaxis with UK startup Wayve Technologies Ltd. in London in the coming weeks, putting it ahead of planned rollouts by Baidu Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo. But the Wayve vehicles will still have a safety driver aboard monitoring the ride. That’s because the companies have opted to provide their services under a regular private-hire vehicle license. A different kind of license that allows for truly driverless operations would require further regulatory approvals.

Uber has said it plans to commit more than $10 billion in such robotaxi partnerships over the coming years. Executives at the company have made it clear that most of its autonomous-vehicle pacts, which were announced in rapid succession last year, will take years to bear fruit. But that has not stopped some investors from casting doubt about its future, particularly as Waymo, the leading robotaxi provider in the US and one of Uber’s first autonomous partners, has forged ahead to launch its driverless vehicles in more US cities on its own app rather than on the Uber app.

Read More: Waymo Plans End of Uber Robotaxi Tie-Up, Stepping Up Rivalry

Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi sought to reassure investors in prepared remarks on Wednesday, reiterating the argument that Uber is well positioned to become the leading commercialization platform for robotaxis.

“Building a great autonomous driver is one part of building a successful autonomous business,” he said. “Commercial success also requires marketplace demand aggregation and intelligent dispatch, vehicle integration and fleet operations, charging infrastructure, financing, insurance, and deep engagement with regulators and local communities.”

Khosrowshahi said Uber is still on track to have robotaxis in as many as 15 cities by the end of the year, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Zurich, Madrid and Tokyo. It already has autonomous vehicles in seven cities globally, though those deployments are limited in scale.