UBER · Q1 2026 Earnings
BullishUber
Reported May 6, 2026
30-second summary
30-second take: Q1 gross bookings of $53.7B (+25% YoY, +21% constant currency) cleared the high end of the $52.0B–$53.5B guide, Adjusted EBITDA of $2.52B beat the high end of the $2.37B–$2.47B range, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.72 hit the top of the $0.65–$0.72 guide. Delivery revenue accelerated again to 34% YoY — a third consecutive quarter of acceleration and now 28 points ahead of Mobility's 5% — while Freight returned to growth for the first time in nearly two years. Q2 guide of $56.25B–$57.75B bookings (+18–22% YoY cc) and $2.70B–$2.80B EBITDA implies sequential EBITDA dollar growth despite Q1's already-record $2.52B — the margin-reinvestment regime management telegraphed last quarter has not yet shown up as a dollar drag.
Headline numbers
EPS
Q1 FY2026
$0.72
0.0% vs est.
Revenue
Q1 FY2026
$13.20B
+14.0% YoY
-0.4% vs est.
Free cash flow
Q1 FY2026
$2.29B
Operating margin
Q1 FY2026
14.6%
Key financials
Q1 FY2026| Metric | Q1 FY2026 | YoY | Q4 FY2025 | QoQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $13.20B | +14.0% | $14.37B | -8.1% |
| EPS | $0.72 | — | $0.71 | +1.4% |
| Operating margin | 14.6% | — | 12.3% | +225bps |
| Free cash flow | $2.29B | — | $2.81B | -18.6% |
Guidance
Q1 FY2026 beat guidance on EPS, Gross Bookings, and Adjusted EBITDA; Q2 guidance raised sequentially with higher bookings and EBITDA outlook reflecting accelerating momentum.
Guidance is issued one quarter forward. The Prior-guide column references the guide issued last quarter for the period just reported; the New-guide column is for next quarter.
Actuals vs prior guidance
| Metric | Period | Prior guide | Actual | Δ | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-GAAP EPS | Q1 FY2026 | $0.65 to $0.72 | $0.72 | in-line (at top of guide) | Met |
| Gross Bookings | Q1 FY2026 | $52.0B to $53.5B | $53.7B | +$0.2B above high end of guide | Beat |
| Gross Bookings YoY Growth (constant currency) | Q1 FY2026 | 17% to 21% | 21% | in-line (at top of guide) | Met |
| Adjusted EBITDA | Q1 FY2026 | $2.37B to $2.47B | $2.52B | +$0.05B above high end of guide | Beat |
New guidance
| Metric | Period | Guide | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-GAAP EPS | Q2 FY2026 | $0.78 to $0.82 | +8–14% YoY |
| Gross Bookings | Q2 FY2026 | $56.25B to $57.75B | +18–22% YoY |
| Adjusted EBITDA | Q2 FY2026 | $2.70B to $2.80B | — |
Segment performance
Q1 FY2026| Segment | Q1 FY2026 | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Mobility | $6.798B | +5.0% |
| Delivery | $5.068B | +34.0% |
| Freight | $1.337B | +6.0% |
Platform metrics
Q1 FY2026| Segment | Q1 FY2026 |
|---|---|
| Gross Bookings | $53.7B |
| Gross Bookings YoY Growth | 25% (21% constant currency) |
| Trips | 3.6B |
| Trips YoY Growth | 20% |
| Monthly Active Platform Consumers (MAPCs) | 199M |
| MAPCs YoY Growth | 17% |
| Uber One Members | 50M |
Profitability
Q1 FY2026| Segment | Q1 FY2026 |
|---|---|
| Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 4.6% |
Management tone
Q2: Delivery-at-parity + $20B buyback → Q3: six-pillar platform reframe and AV as operating reality → Q4: AV commercialization phase with explicit margin-reinvestment regime → Q1: AI as operating model, capital-efficient AV, profit-growth-outpacing-bookings as the new bumper sticker.
The AV narrative quietly demoted from front-page commercialization to one workstream inside a broader "capital-efficient" frame. One quarter ago Khosrowshahi was committing to 10+ AV cities by end of 2026 with the verbatim "technology problem has been solved, now commercialize and scale for profits." This quarter the press release language is "we're investing with conviction in the significant opportunities ahead, while taking a capital-efficient approach to AVs and embracing AI to drive growth and productivity" and Q&A references "up to 15 cities by end of year." The city-count went up, but the framing softened from "commercialize for profits" to "capital-efficient." Read: management is hedging against the prior aggressive monetization timeline while delivering on the deployment count.
The margin-reinvestment warning from Q4 did not actually materialize in Q1. Last quarter's verbatim anchor was "you probably won't see the same level of margin expansion that you've historically seen." This quarter the press release leads with "Non-GAAP EPS increased 44% year over year, more than twice as fast as our bookings growth, driven by discipline, cost management, and operating leverage." EBITDA dollar guide for Q2 ($2.75B midpoint) is $230M above Q1 actuals. Either the reinvestment is back-end loaded into 2H26 or Q4's framing was sandbagging — both readings are bullish for the next two quarters, but investors who reset their model on Q4's language now need to reset back.
AI graduated from productivity tool to operating model in a single quarter. Q4 didn't meaningfully feature AI as a strategic pillar. This quarter the Q&A reveals ~10% of code commits now come from autonomous agents, the December 2025 budget was re-upped after new model releases, and the AI investment is offsetting headcount growth. The verbatim from Q&A: "AI is an accelerator for employee productivity, not primary cost reducer." The shift signals AI is being structurally embedded in the cost stack — productivity gains funding reinvestment rather than dropping to the margin line.
Freight got its first positive framing in eight quarters. Q4: "bleeding stopped." This quarter: "Freight returned to growth for the first time in nearly two years." 6% YoY growth on a segment that was flat for two consecutive quarters is small in absolute dollars but symbolically meaningful — the three-engine narrative is reactivated, removing a chronic drag from the bear case.
Vs. typical: management is claiming clear inflection points (Freight recovery, Delivery acceleration to 34%, EPS growing 2x bookings) rather than communicating gradual progress — notably more assertive than Uber's measured baseline, and a shift back toward Q2/Q3 2025's forward-leaning posture after Q4's deliberately moderating tone.
Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:
Risks management surfaced:
Q&A highlights
Doug Anmuth · JP Morgan
How are insurance cost savings playing out in LA and San Francisco, and what gives confidence in continued US mobility acceleration in 2026? Also, how is Uber shifting users from on-demand to advance booking behavior for hotels?
Management highlighted hundreds of millions in insurance savings expected in 2026, with auto insurance renewals in March showing continued rate improvements. Price reductions from savings are translating to strong elasticity and trip growth acceleration. LA trip growth significantly outpaces California and the US; 700,000 hotels now available via Expedia partnership with 10% Uber credits for One members and 20% off rolling list of 10,000 hotels. Uber Reserve demonstrating ability to shift consumer behavior from on-demand to planned services.
Brian Nowak · Morgan Stanley
Progress on US suburban delivery and drivers of Uber One growth?
Suburban delivery still very early innings but showing strong results. Sparse markets globally showing 2x faster trip growth than core urban markets in both mobility and delivery when selection is added. Uber One growth driven by structural membership benefits (no delivery fees, mobility credits), new benefits (hotels, global benefits, grocery no-fee threshold), and member-exclusive days. Membership now at 50 million (added 20 million in single year), representing 50%+ of bookings and growing 50% YoY.
Eric Sheridan · Goldman Sachs
What are critical consumer-facing technology investments to tie services together with personalization and recommendations? How much will behavior shift to agentic-driven interactions?
Management emphasized getting basics right first (reliability, selection in mobility and delivery) before layering AI/agents. AI solves UI standardization problem by allowing personalized user interaction instead of fixed interfaces. Demonstrated AI use cases: card assistant, earner earnings guidance, destination prediction. Cross-platform consumers growing 1.5x faster than overall. Nearly $15B of delivery bookings flowing from mobility app; 30% of eligible mobility consumers never used Uber Eats. Larger language models enabling personalized upsells (e.g., pre-selected destinations 75% accurate, coffee offers in reserve rides).
Nikhil Devnani · Bernstein
What does successful ROI/payback look like at aggregate level? How should investors think about integrating financing partners like Santander for AV fleet scaling?
Management explained ROI varies by product; uses 'barbell strategy' balancing low-cost high-frequency products (75% higher frequency than core) with premium high-margin products (3.5x higher profit growth), both driving 25% first-time acquisition lift. No single formula; products evaluated on incremental audience, frequency, or margin contribution. Discussed building broader AV ecosystem including financing, fleet management, depots, charging, insurance. Santander partnership valuable because predictable AV revenue per vehicle enables better financing terms than traditional used car markets. AV insurance expected cheaper than human drivers long-term.
John Colantoni · Jefferies
AI spending approach: supplementing or replacing existing processes? Any notable market share trends in top 10 delivery/mobility markets and how Uber achieves leverage while growing lower-margin offerings?
Management views AI as accelerator for employee productivity, not primary cost reducer. AI helping across legal, marketing, engineering (code commits, lines per code increasing). ~10% of code now written by autonomous agents (checked before commit). AI investment increasing offset by slower headcount growth. Budget for 2026 was increased in December after new models emerged. On competition: delivery position improving globally, holding well in Europe against DoorDash and Process expansion, on offensive in new markets (Finland launch achieved #1 App Store position). APAC showing strong trends in Australia, Japan, Taiwan with Australia reaccelerated to 30% growth in sparse markets.
Answers to last quarter's watch list
What to watch into next quarter
Mobility revenue growth — does the 5% reset hold or recover? The single biggest unanswered question. If Q2 prints below 10%, the insurance-passthrough drag is structural rather than transitional, and the segment-mix shift to Delivery accelerates beyond what the bull case can absorb without margin pressure. If Q2 recovers above 12%, Q1's 5% was an FX-and-passthrough trough.
Whether Q2 Adjusted EBITDA hits the high end of $2.70B–$2.80B. The high end implies ~$280M sequential dollar growth from Q1's $2.52B. Anything below $2.75B midpoint puts the Q4 margin-reinvestment warning back on the table; anything above $2.80B confirms operating leverage hasn't peaked.
Whether Delivery growth holds above 30%. 34% is the new ceiling; falling under 30% would break the three-quarter acceleration streak just as Delivery has become the entire growth story.
First quantified AV trip/GB disclosure — Q2 is now four quarters past "free pass." Management has talked AV strategy on five straight calls without quantifying it. With 15 cities targeted by year-end and a Santander financing partnership in place, the absence of a hard number is starting to look deliberate. Sustained silence into Q2 erodes credibility built on the city-count commitments.
MAPC trajectory — does the -3M QoQ reverse? First sequential audience decline in the visible series. If Q2 MAPCs print below 199M again, the funnel is the leading indicator the bear case has been waiting for.
Uber One penetration of bookings. Q&A disclosed One now accounts for "over 50% of bookings" — watch for a more precise figure and whether the 50% YoY member-growth rate is sustainable past 50M.
Sources
- Uber Technologies Q1 2026 earnings press release, SEC filing — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000154315126000019/uberq126earningspressrelea.htm
- Uber Q1 2026 earnings call Q&A exchanges
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