Shares in Uber Technologies Inc. dropped in after-hours trading today after the ride-hailing giant missed analysts’ predictions for its fourth-quarter earnings.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Uber reported gross bookings of $17.2 billion, down 5% year-over-year on revenue of $3.17 billion. Analysts had predicted a figure of $3.58 billion. Uber booked a loss of $968 million in the quarter or 54 cents per share, an improvement over a loss of $1.1 billion or 64 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The story of Uber in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic has been its shift from primarily being a ride-hailing company to being a food delivery company and in the fourth quarter, after the company’s acquisition of Postmates Inc., food delivery continues to prop up its bottom line.

Uber booked gross delivery bookings of $10.05 billion in the quarter, up 130% year-over-year. Its mobility division, which includes ride-hailing, fell 50% from a year ago, to $6.789 billion. Uber’s burgeoning freight business grew 43%, to $313 million.

Mobility revenue fell 52%, to $1.1471 billion, while delivery shot up 224%, to $1.356 billion. For the fiscal year, Uber booked $57.9 billion in gross bookings, down 11% over last year, while revenue fell 14%, to $11.1 billion.

Like rival Lyft Inc., which reported its earnings yesterday, Uber once again declined to provide estimates for the quarter ahead due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the flat figures and yet another loss, Uber remained upbeat about its prospects. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said on an earnings call that the company sees “many opportunities” in the mobility segment as different regions recover from the pandemic.

Khosrowshahi did add that the timing of that recovery is highly dependent on when cities open up again. Interestingly, he also said on the earnings call that he was concerned that Uber may have an issue in finding enough drivers to meet demand once the pandemic wanes.

EMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom told RTL that the year ahead has the potential to be a “banner year” for Uber as vaccination programs get people back to summoning rides and the company expands its delivery of alcohol and groceries as well as takeaway meals. The reference to alcohol delivery relates to Uber’s acquisition of Drizly for $1.1 billion in stock and cash deal Feb. 2.

Weaker-than-expected figures combined with another quarter of no guidance did not impress investors. Uber’s share price dropped 4.8% in after-hours trading.

Photo: Yuya Tamai/Flickr