Shares of Uber Technologies Inc. closed 2.5% lower today after it posted mixed financial results for its first quarter.

The company generated net income of $1.78 billion in the three months ended March 31, or 83 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Analysts were expecting 50 cents a share. The same time a year earlier, Uber logged a $654 million loss because some of its investments had declined in value.

While the company’s profitability improved at a faster rate than analysts had anticipated, its sales missed expectations. Uber’s revenue grew 14% year-over-year, to $11.53 billion. Analysts were expecting a fraction of a point more.

In the first three months of 2025, Uber users spent $21.18 billion on 3 billion trips. The company generated $6.49 billion in revenue from those transactions, or 15% more than a year earlier. The company’s strategy for maintaining this growth emphasizes markets where it has currently a limited number of drivers, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi told investors.

In the longer term, Uber is looking to autonomous vehicles to boost its mobility business. Khosrowshahi disclosed that the company will start piloting autonomous vehicles from Volkswagen and two other partners this summer. Uber already provides access to Waymo taxis in some U.S. cities.

The company’s second largest business, its delivery unit, grew sales 18% year-over-year, to $3.77 billion. Uber detailed that its Uber One membership program is driving 60% of delivery bookings. The program, which offers users access to discounts and other benefits in change for a monthly fee, is the focus of a new lawsuit from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Uber’s advertising service is also contributing to the growth of its delivery unit. The service, which enables businesses to promote their merchandise via the company’s apps, surpassed $1.5 billion in annualized recurring revenue during the first quarter. Uber says restaurants boosted their ad spending by 60%.

To keep up the momentum, the company last month partnered with rival food delivery provider Instacart Inc. to connect the latter company’s advertising service with its own. The integration will make it easier for about 7,000 companies to advertise through Uber Ads.

“By partnering with third parties for our G&R adtech platform, we have been able to prioritize investments in restaurant delivery and our nascent mobility ads business,” Khosrowshahi said.

For the current quarter, Uber is projecting gross bookings of $45.75 billion to $47.25 billion. That would represent year-over-year growth of 20% on the high end of the range. Uber expects adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of up to $2.12 billion. 

Photo: Uber