“Strong, broad growth around the world” helped propel Uber to its first full-year profit since its initial public offering in 2019, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said Wednesday in a call with analysts to discuss 2023 fourth quarter and full-year results.
The ride-sharing giant saw its number of trips increase 24% for both Q4 and the full-year, to reach 2.6 billion and 9.4 billion, respectively. Revenue for the quarter reached $9.9 billion, 15% higher than the same period in 2022. Gross bookings were up 22% year over year to $37.6 billion.
Those figures helped Uber reach annual net income of $1.9 billion in 2023, including $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter, which the company said included a $1 billion net tail wind thanks to “unrealized gains” from revaluations of its equity investments.
“2023 was an inflection point for Uber, proving that we can continue to generate strong, profitable growth at scale,” Khosrowshahi said. “These results and our Q1 outlook demonstrate that we’re starting 2024 with tremendous momentum and reliable execution. I’m energized by the pace of innovation I’m seeing across the company, and I’m looking forward to another exciting year ahead.”
The company was coming off back-to-back profitable quarters after reporting revenues of $9.3 billion in the third quarter of ’23. The second quarter marked Uber’s first-ever quarterly net profit.
Surging global travel demand boosted Uber in 2023, and Khosrowshahi speaks optimistically about Uber Travel features. Those include the company's growing presence in the United Kingdom, where — besides hailing a ride — travelers can book rail and coach tickets and even ferry rides on the Thames. In May, Uber added flight booking to its options in the U.K.
During his third quarter call with analysts in November, Khosrowshahi also spoke about the company’s opportunities to build ridership to and from airports using Uber Reserve, a service that allows pre-booking up to 90 days in advance.
The subject didn’t come up Wednesday, but he hinted at something more when asked about what new features Uber had in store for surprising and delighting customers.
“Next year you will see some bells and whistles, I would say more on the mobility front, in terms of surprising or delighting the customer, if it’s an upsell or if you’re, say, in an airport,” he said. “But I want to save those surprises and delights for when we’re ready to announce them. But stay tuned.”
For the fourth quarter, Uber’s gross bookings for mobility increased 29% year over year, while deliveries were up 19% and freight business was down 17%.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at nearly $1.3 billion, up from $665 million in Q4 2022. Sales and marketing costs were $935 million for the quarter, down from $1.1 billion year over year. For the year, those costs were $4.36 billion, down from $4.76 billion in 2022.
Said Khosrowshahi, “If next year’s the same as this year, just with bigger numbers, I’ll be happy.”