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Uber Q4 revenue misses expectations despite near-tripling of delivery business, shares sag

Uber said its delivery business had total bookings that more than doubled to $44 billion.
Written by Tiernan Ray, Senior Contributing Writer

Ride sharing pioneer Uber this afternoon reported Q4 revenue that missed analysts' expectations, but beat on the bottom line by a penny, and said it is "on track" to meet its goals for profitability in 2021.

The report sent Uber shares down slightly in late trading.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that last year had "certainly tested our resilience," but added that it "also dramatically accelerated our capabilities in local commerce, with our Delivery business more than doubling over the year to a nearly $44 billion annual bookings run-rate in December," 

Added Khosrowshahi, "With two global businesses stitched together by world-class tech and increasingly valuable membership programs, we are more focused than ever on making people's lives a little bit easier—helping them go wherever they want and get whatever they need."

Uber's report follows a report Tuesday evening by smaller competitor Lyft, whose revenue and profit both beat expectations, sending its stock higher Wednesday by almost 5%. 

Revenue in the three months ended in December declined by 16%, year over year, and rose 13% from the prior quarter, to $3.165 billion, yielding a net loss of 54 cents per share, excluding some costs.

Analysts had been modeling $3.56 billion in revenue and a loss of 55 cents a share.

Gross bookings rose 16% from the prior quarter, to $17.2 billion. 

The company's delivery business, including Uber Eats, more than tripled, year over year, to $1.36 billion. 

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