Uber Reports $59.8 Billion in Quarterly Gross Bookings as Revenue Climbs 10%

Uber Technologies reported $59.8 billion in gross bookings for the third quarter of 2026, a 20% increase from a year earlier, as more people used its ride-hailing and delivery services. Revenue climbed 10% to $14.77 billion, giving the company another quarter of double-digit sales growth even though reported revenue rose much more slowly than spending across its platform.

The figures cover the three months ended September 30 and were announced November 4. Gross bookings increased from $49.74 billion a year earlier to $59.82 billion, while revenue rose from $13.47 billion. The two measures capture different parts of Uber’s business: bookings represent the value of activity conducted through the platform, whereas revenue reflects the amounts Uber recognizes under its arrangements with drivers, merchants and customers.

Demand also grew in terms of usage, not just dollars. Completed trips rose 16% to 4.06 billion, from 3.51 billion a year earlier. Monthly active platform consumers reached 215 million, an increase of 14% from 189 million, and the company reported a 2% rise in monthly trips per active consumer. Together, those figures suggest that a wider audience and slightly more frequent use supported the increase in bookings.

In its third-quarter results filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Uber said business model changes reduced its reported revenue growth by eight percentage points. That distinction matters when comparing the 20% expansion in gross bookings with the 10% increase in recognized revenue: the gap does not, by itself, show that activity on the platform grew less quickly.

Delivery closes in on the size of the ride-hailing business

Mobility remained Uber’s largest operation by gross bookings, generating $29.51 billion during the quarter. That was an 18% increase from $25.11 billion a year earlier. Delivery grew faster, with bookings up 22% to $28.54 billion from $23.32 billion. The distance between the two businesses narrowed to roughly $1 billion in quarterly bookings, compared with about $1.8 billion a year ago.

The difference is important for understanding where the additional volume came from. Delivery added about $5.22 billion in bookings year over year, compared with approximately $4.40 billion for Mobility. The company now generates almost as much customer spending through deliveries as through rides, although bookings alone do not measure the operating profit or cash generated by either business.

Reported revenue by segment told a different story. Mobility revenue declined 2% to $7.52 billion despite higher bookings. Delivery revenue increased 23% to $5.49 billion, broadly in line with its booking growth. Uber Freight, a smaller part of the platform, recorded $1.77 billion in bookings, up 35%, and $1.76 billion in revenue, up 34%. Freight accounted for only about 3% of total gross bookings, so its faster percentage growth was less consequential to the companywide result.

Part of the contrast in Mobility is explained by the way Uber records revenue in certain markets. A change to its operating model in parts of the United Kingdom took effect in January, following regulatory and tax developments. Under the revised arrangement, payments to drivers reduce reported revenue rather than being recorded as a cost of revenue. Uber described that treatment in its earlier quarterly regulatory filing. It changes the presentation of sales without requiring an equivalent change in the value of rides booked.

For the third quarter, Uber attributed an eight-percentage-point drag on overall revenue growth to business model changes. The company did not present the 10% headline revenue increase as a full measure of booking demand. The separate disclosure of trips, active users and gross bookings therefore provides useful context for assessing how the marketplace performed.

Operating earnings rise as net income remains volatile

Uber generated $1.45 billion in GAAP operating income, up 30% from $1.11 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or adjusted EBITDA, increased 31% to $2.96 billion. The adjusted EBITDA margin measured against gross bookings improved to 5.0% from 4.5% a year earlier.

The company also reported $2.30 billion in non-GAAP operating income, a 38% increase, taking that measure to 3.9% of gross bookings from 3.4%. Both adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP operating income exclude items included in GAAP results and should not be read as interchangeable with reported operating profit. The improvement nevertheless indicates that Uber retained more operating earnings relative to the volume of business booked on its platform.

At the segment level, Mobility produced $2.36 billion in segment operating income, up 27%, while Delivery contributed $1.06 billion, up 30%. Freight reported a $33 million segment operating loss, narrower than the $40 million loss in the comparable period. Shared corporate expenses and platform research costs sit outside those segment totals, making a direct sum an imperfect measure of consolidated profitability.

Net income was less straightforward. GAAP net income attributable to Uber fell to $512 million from $6.63 billion a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share declined to $0.25 from $3.11. The prior-year quarter included a $4.9 billion benefit from the release of a tax valuation allowance and a $1.5 billion pretax benefit from equity investment revaluations. This year’s quarter included a $476 million pretax loss from revaluing equity investments. Those large items make the net-income comparison a poor stand-alone indicator of changes in underlying operations.

Cash generation provided another perspective. Net cash from operating activities increased 13% to $2.64 billion, and free cash flow rose 14% to $2.54 billion. Uber reported $10.1 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments at quarter-end. That financial position gives management flexibility, although the balance should not be confused with cash earned during the quarter alone.

Fourth-quarter forecast sets a higher bookings range

For the fourth quarter, Uber forecast gross bookings of $63.25 billion to $65.25 billion. The range implies year-over-year growth of 18% to 22% on a constant-currency basis, according to the company, which also assumed an approximately one-percentage-point currency headwind to growth as reported. This is guidance rather than a completed result, and the outcome will depend on activity during the final three months of the year.

Management expects non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.95 to $0.99 in the fourth quarter, representing growth of 34% to 39% from a year earlier. That outlook corresponds to adjusted EBITDA of $3.13 billion to $3.23 billion. The adjusted earnings forecast is not directly comparable with the latest quarter’s $0.25 GAAP earnings per share, which reflects items excluded from the non-GAAP measure.

The latest bookings increase also marks some moderation from the second quarter, when gross bookings rose 24% on a reported basis. Mobility growth slowed from 20% on a constant-currency basis in that quarter to 17% in the third, even as Delivery continued to expand at a faster pace. Uber has said it intends to invest in increasing the supply of rides, placing execution in the Mobility business alongside Delivery growth as a focus for the months ahead.

Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi also set out the company’s expectations for autonomous vehicles, saying Uber anticipates roughly 700 fully driverless vehicles on its platform by the end of 2026 and more than 2,000 in 2027. Those are deployment targets, not vehicles already in service. Their contribution to Uber’s future volumes remains dependent on the rollout of services and the availability of participating fleets.