Catenaa, Wednesday, May 06, 2026- Uber trips have grown by 20% year-on-year in Q1 as the ride-hailing app intends to invest $ 1.25 billion in an autonomous taxi fleet.
Uber’s first quarter gross bookings came in at $53.72 billion vs. $52.9 billion expected, up 25% year over year and better than Uber’s guidance range of $52 billion to $53.5 billion.
Uber said trips grew 20% year over year to 3.6 billion, with monthly active platform consumers (MAPCs) up 17% year over year to 199 million.
Uber reported Q1 revenue of $13.20 billion vs. $13.33 billion, per Bloomberg consensus, up 14% from a year ago.
The company posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0. 72 vs $0.71 expected, with adjusted EBITDA of $2.48 billion vs $2.44 billion estimated, up 33%.
“Uber is off to an exceptional start in 2026, with gross bookings and non-GAAP EPS at or above the high end of our guidance, despite a complex macro backdrop marked by weather disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and gas price volatility,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in his prepared remarks.
Uber stock surged by about 8% on Wednesday after the company released its earnings report.
The company unveiled Uber Autonomous Solutions, a new business unit designed to help partners build and commercialize AV fleets globally on Uber’s network.
Uber upped its commitment to the partnership with Lucid to $500 million in April and now owns more than 11% of Lucid Motors. Uber’s robotaxi network will use Lucid electric vehicles and Nuro Level 4 autonomous software, with both using Uber’s demand-matching platform.
Uber and its fleet partners will also purchase 10,000 Rivian R2 robotaxis, with an option to purchase an additional 40,000 in 2030. Initial deployments will start in San Francisco and Miami in 2028, with plans to scale to 25 cities by 2031.
Uber’s $1.25 billion investment is subject to certain autonomous milestones, though an initial $300 million investment has been committed.
Beyond autonomy, Uber made a notable push into travel at its annual GO-GET showcase last week. A new in-app hotel booking feature, powered by Expedia, gives users access to more than 700,000 properties globally.
Uber One members earn 10% back in credits on bookings and unlock discounts at more than 10,000 hotels. The app also features AI-powered voice booking using OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Investors were also buoyed by Uber’s second quarter guidance. For Q2 2026, where Uber projects Gross bookings of $56.25 billion to $57.75 billion, up 18% year over year.
Uber is also one of many companies in the travel and mobility space catering to higher-end consumers, who are spending more and are less susceptible to economic conditions.
“We’re already seeing strong momentum in premium, with Uber for Business (U4B) growing more than twice as fast as Mobility overall, as we continue to lead in corporate travel globally. Building on this, we introduced Uber Elite, our most elevated ride experience to date, designed for executives and frequent travelers,” Khosrowshahi said.
The slew of recent moves by the company builds on the focus on premium
