Uber Delivery Gross Bookings Surge 33% YoY As Ordering Online is ‘Ingrained Habit’

Uber Technologies posted fourth-quarter results that showed continued traction in its delivery and freight segments, even as the core ride-hailing business recovered — evidence that the great digital shift is here to stay.

Revenues in the quarter surged by 83% in the period, boosted by a rebound in its core delivery business. As has been seen in past quarters, the tailwinds for food delivery continued, even amid widespread re-openings of local economies.

At a high level, the firm’s consolidated top line stood at $5.8 billion, topping the $5.4 billion that analysts had expected. Supplemental materials released by the company show that the core ride-hailing bookings were up 67% in the quarter to $11.3 billion.

“Delivery is increasingly an ingrained habit,” Uber said in its presentation.

As of the end of the quarter, Uber said that it had 118 million monthly active platform consumers (MAPC) across the platform, compared to 93 million a year ago, up 27%. Trips taken were up 23% to 1.8 billion.

Additionally, the firm said that advertising revenues are at an annualized $225 million rate, exceeding targets.

Drilling down into the delivery segment, revenues were up 77%, to $2.4 billion, and gross bookings surged 33% to $13.4 billion.

Uber Freight revenues were $1 billion, up 245% over last year, though the latest reading showed the impact of the Transplace acquisition. The segment is at a quarterly run rate of $1 billion, management said.

During the conference call with analysts, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that “our results continue to demonstrate both how eager people are to move around their cities as restrictions ease up — and how delivery has become an important part of their daily lives.”

Omicron Impact  

With a nod to the pandemic’s impact, Khosrowshahi noted, “Omicron also arrived at a time of year when we usually see seasonal declines. So while Mobility Gross Bookings decreased 21% from December to January, that’s only about 10 [percentage] points worse than what we typically see at this time of year.”

Management said on the call that nearly 325,000 people started to work across the company’s platform in the quarter, bringing its global active earner base to 4.4 million people — the largest tally since the second quarter of 2020.

Uber’s New Verticals business, which includes grocery, alcohol, convenience and other non-restaurant efforts, grew nearly 10% quarter over quarter in Q4, the CEO said. Management added that in reference to drivers, onboarding rates are improving.

“As a result, earners can start earning much faster on our platform,” said Khosrowshahi. “So, we’re seeing a lot of positive input into the platform.

“It’s my strong instinct that our marketplace has gotten more efficient. That’s because we are now cross dispatching between driving people and driving ‘things’ that creates higher utilization for earners and makes for a more efficient marketplace.”