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May 6, 2021
6 minutes read

Analysis: Uber Drops Q1′ 21 Earnings Report

Ride-hailing giant Uber has unveiled its earnings report for the first quarter of this year 2021 shortly after its rival…

Ride-hailing giant Uber has unveiled its earnings report for the first quarter of this year 2021 shortly after its rival Lyft did the same. As expected, the earnings report gives great insight into how Uber’s business has fared as it gradually recovers from the effects of the Covid pandemic.

By the numbers:

Uber made $2.9bn in revenue in Q1. Its delivery business brought in the bulk of revenue with $1.7bn while its ride-hailing business brought in $853mn. It’s an unusual turn, as Uber’s ride-hailing business usually brought in the majority of its revenues while deliveries brought in a minority, but that switched over during the pandemic.

Uber reported a Q1 net loss of $108mn which’s a record low for the company. The unusually small net loss on Uber’s scale was due to a $1.6bn gain recorded from the divesture of its self-driving business rather than a phenomenal feat from its core ride-hailing and delivery businesses.

Gross bookings of Uber’s platform in Q1 was $19.6bn. 1.4 billion trips were made on its platform in the quarter.

Year-Over-Year Comparison:

Uber’s overall revenue of $2.9bn was down 11% year-over-year. However, delivery revenues was an outlier that shot up 230% over the year.

Uber’s gross bookings of $19.6b was up 24% year-over-year.

In Q1′ 21, Uber’s monthly active user count of 98 million was down from 103 million year-over-year.

Highlights:

As the pandemic largely weighed down on Uber’s ride-hailing business, the company switched its focus to expanding its delivery business which has flourished since the pandemic. Uber paid $1.1bn to acquire alcohol delivery app Drizly this February as part of its expansion efforts.

Recently, Uber also partnered with delivery app GoPuff to have its grocery products available for delivery on its platform. Surely, the company is keen on building up its delivery business and has already begun seeing good results from its efforts, as revenue from the segment rose 230% year-over-year in Q1.