Uber's second-quarter results beat on ride-sharing demand

By Yuvraj Malik

(Reuters) -Uber's second-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates on the back of steady demand for its ride-sharing and food-delivery services, sending the company's shares up 5% on Tuesday.

With more people returning to offices and stepping out of their homes, ride-sharing demand has got a boost in the past several months, benefiting companies such as Uber and rival Lyft.

"Mobility had a standout second quarter ... growth was consistent across use cases and geographic strength was led by LatAm and APAC, in particular Brazil, Australia and India," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

Trips by self-driving vehicles on Uber's platform were six times higher in the quarter, helped by partnerships with companies including Alphabet's Waymo for rideshare and food delivery, as well as startup Waabi for freight services.

Uber's revenue rose 16% to $10.70 billion in the second quarter ending June, while gross bookings increased 19% to $39.95 billion. Analysts had expected $10.57 billion and $39.68 billion, respectively, according to LSEG data.

The company reported a profit of 47 cents per share, beating estimates of 31 cents.

Revenue from the company's ride-sharing segment, its largest, rose 25% to $6.13 billion, above expectations of $5.94 billion. Uber's delivery business reported revenue of $3.29 billion, compared with estimates of $3.32 billion.

"While there have been some concerns about consumer spend on restaurants and delivery, we are not seeing any impact today," Khosrowshahi said, adding that a greater push on groceries through expanded partnerships with Instacart and Costco Wholesale was boosting deliveries.

Uber forecast third-quarter gross bookings — which include its mobility, delivery and freight segments — between $40.25 billion and $41.75 billion, the midpoint of which was below analysts' estimates of $41.26 billion.

"We would expect forward gross bookings and EBITDA estimates to rise modestly based on Q2 results and the Q3 guide," Evercore ISI lead analyst Mark Mahaney said.

Uber forecast adjusted core earnings between $1.58 billion and $1.68 billion in the third quarter, compared with estimates of $1.62 billion.

Lyft's shares were up nearly 2%, with the company scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)