Uber stock drops as bookings guidance disappoints; CEO bets on robotaxi push to grow overall business
Pras Subramanian· Senior Reporter
Wed, August 5, 2026 at 8:37 PM GMT+5:30
3 min read
Uber (UBER) reportedsecond quarter results on Wednesday that beat on bookings and profit, but shares fell as the ride-hailing giant’s bookings guidance missed analyst projections. Uber says its robotaxi push is still well underway, with investments set to grow
Uber sees third quarter gross bookings of $58.25 billion to $60.25 billion, with a midpoint of $59.25 billion that missed the $59.32 billion analyst consensus, per Bloomberg. Gross bookings measure the total dollar value of rides and orders, like Uber Eats deliveries, on the platform
Uber shares slipped more than 6% on Wednesday
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67.21-4.78(-6.64%)
As of 1:45:09 PM EDT. Market Open.
Uber CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy blamed an approximate “1 percentage-point currency headwind” that is expected to impact year-over-year growth
For the quarter, Uber reported gross bookings of $58.0 billion versus $57.17 billion expected, up 24% year over year. Uber posted adjusted EPS of $0.81 that matched estimates, with adjusted EBITDA coming in at $2.82 billion versus $2.79 billion consensus, up 33%
“Uber’s platform advantage continues to compound: record consumers and engagement, and profitable growth across our business,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement, adding that Uber is investing “from a position of strength” as it works to “build the world’s largest platform for autonomous vehicles.”
That autonomous push is increasingly becoming a big part of the Uber story, with the company positioning itself as a top demand-matching platform for robotaxis rather than building the technology itself. Instead, it routes self-driving supply from partners onto its network as fleets scale across more cities.
Earlier today, Uber announced that its partnership with autonomous software company Wayve reached a new milestone, with London granting licenses for the partnership to begin testing in the summer
Uber once counted Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo as a partner on its platform, though the two companies are now unwinding the relationship. This may be why Khosrowshahi and Uber are working with Lucid (LCID), Ri, and Nissan to build their own robotaxi networks too. Uber has said it plans to commit more than $10 billion to such robotaxi partnerships over the coming years
Khosrowshahi said Uber is on track to have robotaxis in as many as 15 cities by the end of the year, and he believes investments in autonomous vehicles and robotaxis actually enhance the overall “flywheel” effect on Uber’s platform.
“We’re also seeing strong evidence that AV deployments are likely to drive incremental growth for the entire category. Importantly, in more mature AV markets including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix, Uber’s category share, both citywide and in AV operating zones, is higher today than it was a year ago,” Khosrowshahi said during the earnings conference call
