Uber Q4 2025 Earnings Call Full Transcript

James Sterling February 4, 2026 21 min read

Call Participants

The key participants in this earnings conference call included Dara Khosrowshahi, the Chief Executive Officer; Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, the Chief Financial Officer; Balaji Krishnamurthy, the Incoming Chief Financial Officer; and Alex Wong, the Senior Director of Investor Relations.

Key Takeaways from the Earnings Call

During the discussion, several standout achievements were highlighted. Gross bookings surged by 22% year over year, achieving a robust $15 billion annual run rate, which represents the fifth straight year of more than 20% annual growth in gross bookings. Monthly Active Platform Consumers, or MAPC, surpassed 202 million, with growth rates picking up from 14% at the beginning of the year to an impressive 18% by the close of the period. Adjusted EBITDA reached $8.7 billion, reflecting a solid 35% increase compared to the previous year. Free cash flow hit $9.8 billion, marking a 42% rise year over year. The Uber One membership program expanded by 55% year over year, boasting 46 million members by year-end, approaching half of the total gross bookings. In terms of autonomous vehicle expansion, AV trips per vehicle per day on Uber’s platform outperformed standalone AV competitors by 30%, and operations are slated to extend to 15 cities by the end of the year. Geographically, 60% of mobility gross bookings came from outside the United States, while nearly 75% of U.S. profits were generated beyond the top 20 largest cities. Advertising penetration in the delivery segment exceeded the previous 2% target, with enterprise growth now surpassing that of small and medium-sized businesses. On capital returns, management affirmed their ongoing commitment to aggressively repurchasing shares at a consistent pace, aiming to significantly reduce the share count moving forward. Notable partnerships included a new exclusive deal for the first 25,000 passenger vehicles from Wabi to operate exclusively on Uber’s platform, alongside a collaboration with NVIDIA to gather over three million hours of real-world autonomous vehicle data.

Executive Summary of the Call

The earnings call underscored continued momentum in user expansion and strong revenue performance, fueled by increasing monthly active users and substantial improvements in free cash flow. Leaders highlighted the growing importance of markets outside the core areas, including international regions and less urbanized U.S. locations, coupled with purposeful advancements in autonomous vehicle partnerships and associated capital investments. Uber Technologies reported that autonomous vehicles are delivering superior utilization rates and favorable economics. They detailed a strategy where further scaling of AVs and fleets would be supported through equity financing and external capital sources. Emphasis was also placed on growth in the delivery business, bolstered by strategic merchant selections, enhanced advertising revenue, and new international rollouts. Returning value to shareholders remains central, with pledges for substantial share repurchases as cash flows continue to strengthen.

Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi expressed strong confidence in autonomous vehicle deployment, stating that AVs would prove to be a net positive for the mobility industry, expanding the overall category. He positioned Uber as the dominant player in the three-party marketplace, anticipating it to become exceptionally large and thriving.
Chief Financial Officer Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah pointed out the initiation of the company’s inaugural share repurchase initiative and the attainment of investment-grade credit status, laying the groundwork for robust capital returns to investors.
Management attributed accelerations in U.S. trips and gross bookings to insurance reforms and stable pricing strategies, which have led to cost efficiencies, price consistency, and improved demand elasticity.
A multi-year exclusive partnership with Kohl’s, Australia’s leading grocer, was revealed, furthering expansions into grocery and retail delivery services.

Industry Terminology Guide

Autonomous Vehicle (AV): A self-driving vehicle capable of operating without direct human intervention for transporting passengers or freight.
MAPC (Monthly Active Platform Consumers): The count of unique individuals interacting with the Uber platform in a specific month.
Uber One: Uber’s subscription-based membership offering benefits and perks across its range of services.
Enterprise Advertising: Digital ad solutions targeted at major corporations or brands, separate from advertising by smaller merchants on the platform.
SMB (Small and Medium-sized Business): Merchants on the Uber platform categorized as small or medium enterprises by the company.
Gross Bookings: The aggregate value, encompassing taxes, tolls, and fees, of rides and deliveries processed on Uber’s platform before specific deductions.

Complete Conference Call Transcript

The call commenced with the operator’s introduction. “Thank you for standing by,” the operator began. “My name is Greg, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to today’s Uber Technologies, Inc. Q4 and Full Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers’ remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to withdraw your questions, simply press 1 again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Alex Wong, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Alex?”

Alex Wong responded, “Thank you, Greg. Thank you all for joining us today, and welcome to Uber Technologies, Inc.’s fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings presentation. On the call today, we have Uber Technologies, Inc.’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, CFO, Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, and incoming CFO, Balaji Krishnamurthy. During today’s call, we will present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures, are included in the press release, supplemental slides, and our filings with the SEC, each of which is posted to investor.uber.com. Certain statements in this presentation and on this call are forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements we make today except as required by law. For more information about factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements, please refer to the press release we issued today as well as risks and uncertainties described in our most recent Form 10-Ks and in other filings made with the SEC. We published our quarterly earnings press release, prepared remarks, and supplemental slides to our investor relations website earlier today, and we ask you to review those documents if you have not already. We will open the call to questions following brief opening remarks from Dara, Prashanth, and Balaji. With that, let me hand it over to Dara.”

Dara Khosrowshahi took the floor: “Thanks, Alex. Q4 was another great quarter for Uber Technologies, Inc. Trip volume on our platform accelerated again to a $15 billion annual run rate, and our user base grew to more than 200 million monthly active users. These healthy inputs drove exceptional outputs, with gross bookings up 22% year on year. Looking at 2025 in full, we had our fifth consecutive year of annual gross bookings over 20%. We generated $8.7 billion in adjusted EBITDA, representing 35% growth, and a phenomenal $9.8 billion in free cash flow, up 42%. We started 2026 with a ton of momentum, a scaled and profitable platform, and a clear operating framework to generate durable growth. This gives us the confidence to make targeted growth-oriented investments aligned with the six strategic areas of focus that we outlined last quarter. Of course, one of these areas is autonomous. At this time last year, we laid out our view on AVs in more depth, and we have done that again this quarter. With the benefit of learning from multiple AV deployments around the world, we are more convinced than ever that AVs will unlock a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for Uber Technologies, Inc. AVs amplify the fundamental strength of our platform: global scale, deep demand density, sophisticated marketplace technology, and decades of on-the-ground experience matching riders, drivers, and vehicles all in real time. We also understand that there are reasonable questions being asked and a debate being had about what AV economy means for Uber Technologies, Inc. both in the short term and the long term. I would encourage everyone to read our prepared remarks and take a look at our supplemental slides where we lay out our latest views and why we believe our approach is proving to be the right one. Finally, I want to take a moment to say thank you to Prashanth, whom we announced this morning will be stepping down as CFO on February 16. Whether it was getting us that investment-grade status, spearheading our first share repurchase program, or steering us through several acquisitions, Prashanth has been a great partner to me and the management team. I wish him all the best in a very exciting new opportunity that he will share more about very soon. I am also thrilled that Balaji will be stepping up as CFO. Balaji will not be a stranger to many of you on the call. I have worked closely with him for a long time, and I am confident that he is the right person for this job. He knows our business inside and out. He is a bold thinker and brilliant strategist, and I am super excited to have him join the management team at this important time for Uber Technologies, Inc. Now I will hand it over to Prashanth and Balaji to say a few words, and then we will take your questions.”

Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah followed: “Thank you, boss. First, I want to say thank you to Dara and the entire Uber Technologies, Inc. management team. And, of course, my heartfelt congratulations to Balaji, who I know will do a terrific job. Uber Technologies, Inc. is a once-in-a-generation company. It is a dynamic, fast-moving, and innovative place, and I have loved every moment of my time here. I am extremely bullish about its future. Over the holidays, I had a chance to take stock of where we were and all that we had achieved. From delivering phenomenal growth at scale, achieving investment-grade status, and returning significant cash to shareholders. At the same time, a new opportunity presented itself where I could serve America and give back to the country that has given me and my family so much. I look forward to sharing more on that soon. In the meantime, I will be working with Dara and Balaji to ensure both a successful and seamless transition. Let me hand it over to Balaji.”

Balaji Krishnamurthy then spoke: “Thank you, Prashanth, for everything you have done for Uber Technologies, Inc. And thank you, Dara, for the trust you are putting in me. It is an honor to step into this role at this moment. I am lucky to be building from such a strong base: an accelerating core business supported by a huge and increasingly active consumer, owner, and merchant base, large and growing cash flows, which we can use strategically to invest into our future, and world-class talent that is innovating and executing at scale with a go-get-it culture that is always pushing ahead. I look forward to working with Dara, the management team, our board, and all of you to solidify Uber Technologies, Inc.’s position as a once-in-a-generation company that stands the test of time. With that, we will take your questions.”

Dara Khosrowshahi prompted, “Alright, operator.”

The operator continued, “Alright. Thank you very much. At this time, again, I would like to remind everyone in order to ask a question, please press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. Alright. Looks like our first question today comes from the line of Justin Post with Bank of America. Justin?”

Justin Post inquired: “Great. I guess I will ask about the competitive environment on AVs, and really appreciate all the slides and prepared remarks. Just wanted to think, in the context of 30% of your bookings coming from major cities, which you outlined, how do you think about the impact of AV ramps from, say, Tesla or Waymo in those cities on market share and your profitability? Just high level on those things. Thanks.”

Dara Khosrowshahi replied extensively: “Yeah. Definitely, Justin. So I think the good news on AV for us is that we view the introduction of AVs as actually an overall growth driver for the markets in which we operate. Right? So San Francisco gross bookings for us have accelerated where we are in Austin and Atlanta as well. Our bookings have accelerated, and new riders to the platform are growing faster than the rest of the country. Frequency is super strong as well. So AVs in the marketplace, whether they are competitive in SF or whether they are on our platforms like in Atlanta, are turning out to be net positives in growing the overall economic pie or the economic pie available to Uber Technologies, Inc., so to speak. So from that standpoint, when we look at AVs, it is fundamentally a positive opportunity. As reflected in Waymo’s latest valuation of $110 billion, which is pretty incredible on a pre-money basis. But this is not a technology that is going to replace; it is going to augment. And then when we see our own performance as it relates to AVs, we are seeing AVs on our platform at significantly higher utilization than kind of one-piece standalone platforms based on the publicly available data. In that, trips per vehicle per day are 30% higher. ETAs are better as well. So we know that the best product today out there in the market is an AV on the Uber Technologies, Inc. platform as well. And then if you look at the partnerships that we are setting up, whether it is a partnership with Waymo, NVIDIA, our newest partner Wabi, or Avride, or NeuroLucid, which kind of have a production-ready car out there, we expect to be in 15 cities by the end of this year and then expanding beyond that as well, which should actually increase kind of the wave of the AV business that we are seeing behind us. So from a top-line basis, we see AV as a net positive for the ecosystem. In terms of margins, I think AVs are going to be very similar to other products out there, which is any time we introduce a newer product, we introduce it at a lower margin than, let us say, UberX or UberBlack or UberReserve as we are building out liquidity. And then over a period of time, margins improve. And for example, in the deals that we are striking today with various partners, with AV partners, at scale, we are going to have healthy economics based on current consumer fares, and healthy economics being positive economics, and these are deals that we are striking right now. So from a margin standpoint, structurally, we think the AV kind of ecosystem will add value. It will be a net positive to mobility generally. The margins that we are getting now are good positive margins, and they are fair for our partners, and they are fair for us as well. And from a competitive standpoint, at this point, AVs really scaled. Right? We added fifty times the trips on the Uber Technologies, Inc. platform this last year than kind of the entire AV industry added. As it scales up, you know, we expect it to be competitive. We think a lot of these players will be on our platform. As they realize that utilization is structurally higher in a three p platform. And listen, competition is nothing new for us. We are the multiproduct player. We are everywhere. We are global as well. And then with the membership program that really gets people highly, highly engaged with our platform, we are very confident in terms of what we will do in competitive markets, and we are very confident that we are going to be the first choice for kind of AV manufacturers and technology companies to put their assets on our platform.”

Balaji Krishnamurthy added: “And, Justin, this is Balaji. One additional thing I would add there is while you asked about the top market, it is important to remember that 70% of The US is outside of the top markets, and nearly 75% of our US profits come from those markets. And those numbers have been growing because those markets are growing faster than the top 20 cities. I think this is a very, very common misconception. We have heard many times that Uber Technologies, Inc.’s profit pools are concentrated in the top cities, and it could not be further from the truth. And as you think about where AVs go in the near term, those non-top 20 markets are going to be unlikely to be addressed by AVs for a long time to come as well. So from our perspective, not only are we going to be well-positioned in those markets to be the platform of choice for our AV partners, but for the remainder of The US, it is going to be played by traditional ride-sharing operators such as Uber Technologies, Inc.”

Dara Khosrowshahi continued: “And also just remind investors that 60% of our mobility gross bookings are international, outside of The US as well. So we have a big business in The US outside of the big cities. And we have an even bigger business outside of The US as it relates to mobility. Alright. Next question. Thank you.”

Justin Post acknowledged, “You bet. Next question. Alright.”

The operator announced, “Yes. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Eric Sheridan with Goldman Sachs. Eric, please go ahead.”

Eric Sheridan asked: “Thanks so much for taking the question. First, wishing you the best going forward, Prashanth, and congrats, Balaji, on the new role. I wanted to drill down a little bit in the shareholder letter. You talked about customer growth and the momentum you have coming out of 2025. Can you lay out some of the strategic priorities and growth investments that are top of mind for you guys in terms of maintaining that momentum in terms of new users across your products? And then also reflect on how Uber One can continue to evolve the customer lifetime relationship you have looking out over the next twelve to eighteen months? Thanks, guys.”

Dara Khosrowshahi responded: “Yeah. Absolutely. So we have been very, very happy in terms of our user growth. And in terms of the strategy behind the user growth, I would lay it down in terms of products, use cases, demographics, and geographies. We are introducing products along each of those different segments. If you look at the products, for example, our Moto product, it is a two-wheeler product. It is much more affordable. That is bringing on significant new segments to our audience. And then we are seeing on occasions, those Moto users, if it is raining, if they are on a date at night, they will upgrade to an UberX or other use cases. So just introducing newer products is one area where we get new consumers. Then there are new use cases. A new use case might be reserved. Where we thought that reserve was actually going to serve people who wanted higher reliability, but it is also there is a whole customer base, much of them in the suburbs outside of the big cities, that did not find previously Uber Technologies, Inc. reliability high enough for an airport trip, for a time-sensitive trip. Now they do because we offer the reserve product, and so that is a product that has higher margins, has higher earnings for our drivers as well. At the same time, it is introducing new customers into the flow. Same thing for women preferred. Same thing for teens. Same thing for older demographics, kind of the simpler product that we have. All of these are introducing our kind of newer use cases or different demographics that are coming to the platform. And then last but not least, I would say international and the growth that we see in the less dense markets that Balaji just referred to. This is growth outside of the mainline cities. Generally, growth in less dense markets is about one and a half to two times more than growth in the middle of the big cities. This is as a result of, again, new supply coming on first, and then new audience coming on after that supply as well. So we are very, very happy with the customer growth. And at this point, we do not see any signal of it slowing down. And then, of course, what I started with, which is AVs are an entirely new use case. There are people who are curious about the product. And then there are people who absolutely love the product. And we think AVs can be another opportunity for customer acquisition. Anything to add, Balaji, to that?”

Balaji Krishnamurthy supplemented: “I would just say just adding some quantitative lens on everything Dara said. If you think about where the crux of our growth is coming from, it is still audience growth. It is very encouraging for where this business will go over the next few years. And looking at 2025, we started the year with MAPC growth at about 14% year on year. We ended the year with MAPC growth at 18% year on year, which is a very, very strong step up. And there is a lot of runway in front of us still as you look at that MAPC number at over 202 million monthly actives, our annual active base is over 450 million, and we are continuing to improve our penetration of that base. As we are doing that, frequency, while it is growing at a slower rate, that is more a function of our cohorts coming on and maturing from there. What we are seeing is our new rider cohorts, new EDA cohorts, are exhibiting much stronger retention than prior years’ cohorts. And part of it is driven by our focus on early life cycle investments. We are ensuring that consumers we are acquiring retain better through the early part of their engagement with Uber Technologies, Inc.’s platform. Then as we introduce them to multiple products that we are serving our consumers with, which, at this point, 40% of consumers in Q4 were using more than one Uber Technologies, Inc. product. And then finally, our membership program, which has been a key investment area and still is growing 55% year on year, that then supercharges that cohort that we are acquiring. So there is a lot of runway here, and we feel pretty good about the investments we are making. We are being quite deliberate in measuring the LTV to CAC ratios. Over on that?”

Dara Khosrowshahi concluded the response: “Alright. Next question.” Eric Sheridan replied, “Great.”

The operator proceeded: “Thank you, Eric. And our next question is from the line of Brian Nowak with Morgan Stanley. Brian, please go ahead.”

Brian Nowak posed his questions: “Thanks for taking my questions. I have two, one on autonomous, one on capital returns. Dara, I appreciate all the color on autonomous in the letter. I wanted to give you a chance to refute one of the other concerns. You know, the history of technology with capital-intensive heavy investment technologies often kind of shows the technology will migrate toward winner-take-most at scale. Can you just sort of walk us through why you do not think AV will go that way when safety is so important to scaling AV in the next, you know, three, five, ten years? That is the first one. Then the second one, maybe for Balaji or Prashanth, I think throughout 2025, you talked about sort of a 50% free cash flow commitment to shareholders. Are you still sort of maintaining that philosophy? Or what is sort of the reinvestment versus capital return philosophy as we look at 2026? Thanks.”

Dara Khosrowshahi addressed the first part: “Yeah. Absolutely. As it relates to AV and winner-take-most, listen, I think this is true of technology platforms. And I would remind you that as it relates to mobility, and now increasingly delivery, Uber Technologies, Inc. is the winner who has taken most. And that was not always the case. It is because of how we built the fact that we have this international footprint, the fact that we go broader than our competitors, and the fact that we are multiproduct and have built those products organically within the system. So we are the winner-take-most kind of product. As it relates to mobility and delivery. Certainly outside of The US. I think hardware is fundamentally different. And if you look at the OEM industry, there are many, many car manufacturers. Manufacturing is local. You have local champions, etc. And if you look at the trend as it relates to AV, it looks more and more like our vision of the future, which is ten years from now every single car, a new car sold, is going to have L4 or L3, full L3 and L4 software attached with it. In that kind of a world, we think we will have many, many suppliers, not just one or two suppliers. And if you look at AV now, there are multiple players developing solutions, aligning with our expectation of a diverse ecosystem rather than consolidation into a single dominant entity.”