By Akash Sriram
Feb 4 (Reuters) – Uber Technologies backed its capital-intensive, early-stage autonomous vehicle strategy on Wednesday even as its profit took a hit from its push for affordable rides and higher taxes, sending the shares of the ride-hailing company down 5%.
The company said it was committing capital to vehicle partners to secure early supply and speed up deployments as its plaform has a structural advantage, while working with banks and private equity firms to finance most of the autonomous fleets.
Uber, however, forecast first-quarter profit below expectations and missed the fourth-quarter estimates, while warning that it expects a higher effective tax rate of 22% to 25% in 2026 due to its operations in more than 70 countries.
In a sign of strong demand, trips rose 22% in the fourth quarter, as more consumers opted for shared rides and other lower-cost mobility products aimed at improving affordability and expanding the user base.
Uber said robotaxis are likely to expand the mobility market rather than displace existing demand, as robotaxis add supply, improve reliability and lower prices, while increasing trip volumes.
The company plans to facilitate robotaxi trips in up to 15 cities globally by 2026 end and expand services to Madrid, Hong Kong, Houston and Zurich, with Hong Kong set to be its first autonomous ride market in Asia.
CEO Dara Khosrowshashi said vehicles operating through Uber’s platform have achieved higher utilization and shorter pickup times than standalone robotaxi services, supporting its view that a large, multi-product platform can deliver better economics as autonomous vehicle deployment scales.
“We believe Uber will be able to operate in an increasing AV market environment and the model will continue to expand in both the core business and in free cash flow, although there will likely be a continued AV debate,” said William Blair analyst Ralph Schackart said.
Autonomous vehicle startup Waabi last month raised $1 billion and entered a tieup with Uber to deploy self-driving cars. Khosrowshashi said the first 25,000 passenger vehicles that the startup produces will be exclusively deployed on Uber’s platform.
“We are putting our capital up in order to guarantee supply going forward, and much of that supply is going to be on profitable economics, which is terrific, and we will continue making these kinds of commitments,” Khosrowshashi said.
CFO CHANGE
Uber said Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah will step down as chief financial officer, with longtime executive Balaji Krishnamurthy set to take over the role.
The company forecast first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 65 cents to 72 cents, below analysts’ expectations of 76 cents. For the fourth quarter, adjusted earnings of 71 cents, missed estimates of 79 cents per share.
Gross bookings, a measure of the total value of rides, deliveries and other services, are expected to be between $52.0 billion and $53.5 billion in the first quarter, above estimates, underscoring resilient demand, as it balances growth, profitability and longer-term bets on autonomous vehicles.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
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