Uber (UBER) - Q3 2025 Earnings Call
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Call Details
Call Title: Uber Q3 2025 Earnings Call
Date held: November 4, 2025
Management team members present:
Dara Khosrowshahi - CEO
Prashant Mahindra Raja - CFO
Balaji Crafton-Murphy - VP, Strategic Finance, Investor Relations
Call Summary
Financial Performance
Uber achieved a remarkable 22% growth in trips compared to the previous year, marked as the fastest growth since 2023. This performance was bolstered by strong demand across both mobility and delivery services.
Total gross bookings grew by 21%, yet average pricing remained stable, indicating that demand increased without a corresponding rise in prices. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted, “This translated into record adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.”
In Q3 2025 alone, Uber generated more than $2 billion in gross bookings over the Halloween weekend, underscoring the strength of their operational capabilities during peak times.
Adjusted EBITDA reached an all-time high, with margins improving to 4.5% of gross bookings, marking a significant increase of approximately 40 basis points year-over-year.
CFO Prashant Mahindra Raja emphasized their ability to drive profitable growth: “Our EBITDA was up 33% year-over-year, which indicates robust performance across our lines of business.”
The company reported nearly $9 billion in trailing 12-month cash generation, allowing them to reduce share count effectively.
Despite strong growth, management highlighted that driving profitability while expanding was essential, indicating a strategic focus on maintaining balance in financial metrics.
Guidance
Looking ahead, Uber expects another quarter of high-teens gross bookings growth in Q4, indicating confidence in sustaining their strong performance trajectory.
Management projects growth in adjusted EBITDA margins despite the intention to invest substantially in strategic initiatives. Prashant remarked, “We are tracking exactly where we want to be against our three-year framework.”
Uber anticipates delivering value through strategic investments aimed at long-term growth, focusing particularly on cross-platform engagement and local commerce initiatives.
With competitive pressures intensifying, management indicated ongoing vigilance in capturing market share, particularly emphasizing their leading position and strategies as they look toward 2026.
Capital Allocation
Uber plans to allocate significant capital toward technological investments and partnerships, particularly in autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies and AI solutions.
CFO Prashant indicated, “We will lean in with our balance sheet early on to kind of establish the economics of these fleets,” highlighting the necessary financial commitment towards AV fleets.
The company plans to utilize cash generation not just for operations but also for share buybacks, indicating a prioritization of returning capital to shareholders.
Investment in partnerships with tech leaders like NVIDIA is a focal point, enhancing their capabilities in AI and autonomous functionality, which will support longer-term growth ambitions.
Uber is adopting a barbell strategy to balance between premium and low-cost offerings, ensuring that profitability is maintained while pursuing innovative growth opportunities.
Macro & Demand Trends
CEO Dara shared insights that both lines of business, mobility and delivery, saw accelerating demand driven by favourable macro conditions, indicating a revival in consumer behavior and spending.
US markets showed significant growth, especially in urban areas, which experienced a trip growth rate exceeding 21%, reflective of effective strategies focusing on urban mobility.
International expansions continued to gain traction, with strong growth in LATAM and APAC aiding in boosting overall performance.
Promotions and user engagement strategies are being refined to encourage cross-platform usage among consumers, which has proven to increase spending per user.
Dara noted, “The average cross-platform consumer is spending three times more than single-product users,” showcasing the benefits of enhanced user engagement strategies.
International Trends
Uber’s international operations are thriving, with particularly strong performance noted in markets like Australia, where penetration rates for mobility and delivery are higher, thus enhancing cross-platform engagement.
The European market demonstrated solid footing, with Dara noting that Uber has become the leading food delivery service in both the UK and France, highlighting successful strategies allowing growth in competitive landscapes.
Strategic partnerships internationally are expected to enhance market share, such as the collaboration with Toast to streamline operations for restaurant partners and improve the user experience.
Local commerce is becoming an essential area of focus, with grocery and retail deliveries now achieving a run rate of approximately $12 billion, signaling a shift towards diversified service offerings.
AI and Competition Trends
Uber is embedding generative AI across operations to enhance productivity and optimize services, striving to deliver personalized experiences that appeal to a broader consumer base.
Khosrowshahi emphasized the alignment with NVIDIA on autonomy, stating, “If there’s one ally you want in the world in terms of AI… it’s NVIDIA.” Such partnerships will be crucial for enhancing their tech edge in autonomous driving.
Uber is diversifying its offerings in AI with projects focused on reputation management, video annotation, and data collection, positioning itself to leverage AI for operational efficiency and new revenue streams.
Despite impending competition, especially in delivery, Dara reassured investors with Uber’s extensive ecosystem, suggesting that “We have been a category gainer for some period of time.” This competitive advantage is expected to translate into sustained market position and profitability.
NOTABLE QUOTES
“Trips grew 22%, marking our fastest growth since 2023.” - Dara Khosrowshahi
“This translated into record adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.” - Dara Khosrowshahi
“The average cross-platform consumer is spending three times more than single-product users.” - Dara Khosrowshahi
“We are very, very excited about the partnership [with NVIDIA].” - Dara Khosrowshahi
“We hit an all-time high for margins at 4.5% of GBs.” - Prashant Mahindra Raja
“We continue to see great opportunity to penetrate the TAM.” - Prashant Mahindra Raja
“We expect that we’re going to see hundreds of millions of dollars of savings.” - Prashant Mahindra Raja
“Our partnership with Waymo continues to be excellent from an operational standpoint.” - Dara Khosrowshahi
“We’re expanding rapidly into grocery and retail.” - Dara Khosrowshahi
“AV is not profitable today… but we expect that AV won’t be profitable for a few years.” - Dara Khosrowshahi
Q&A SUMMARY
Q: Doug Anmes (JP Morgan), can you discuss cross-platform usage and the NVIDIA partnership specifics?
A: Dara explained that only 20% of consumers currently use both mobility and delivery services, emphasizing efforts to improve this with targeted programs. On NVIDIA, he discussed the importance of their collaboration in developing autonomous technology and the future landscape of L4-ready vehicles.
Q: Eric Sheridan (Goldman Sachs), can you elaborate on delivery growth and AV impacts on demand?
A: Prashant highlighted that delivery is experiencing the fastest growth in four years, driven by new product offerings, while Dara noted that markets with AV operations show healthier driver earnings and indicate improved demand.
Q: Brian Nowak (Morgan Stanley), could you elaborate on mobility strategies in urban vs. suburban areas?
A: Prashant responded, stating that sparse geography strategies are yielding growth at more than 1.5 times the rate of denser markets, with urban areas benefiting from increased adoption of core products.
Q: Justin Post (Bank of America), what is the margin outlook, and how are investments affecting mobility margins?
A: Prashant mentioned the 33% year-on-year EBITDA growth and reaffirmed guidance for continued profitability, while Dara pointed out that new products typically start unprofitable but grow in profitability over time.
Q: Ron Josie (Citi), what are your thoughts on the Uber One benefits and impact on trip growth?
A: Dara noted that Uber One is showing strong growth, with membership contributing significantly to gross bookings across both delivery and mobility businesses, indicating positive retention and profitability trends.
Q: Nikhil Devnani (Bernstein), how are real-world data and driver supply influencing mobility growth?
A: Prashant highlighted effective product innovation and marketplace trends, as Dara discussed the benefits of collecting ride-share specific data to enhance AV performance and demand.
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