Uber's $20B Buyback Shocker Can't Stop the Slide--Here's What Went Wrong

Uber UBER just dropped 2.23% at 11.24amand not because the numbers were bad. Quite the opposite. The company posted a record $2.12 billion in adjusted earnings last quarter and beat Wall Street estimates on total gross bookings, which hit $46.8 billion. Its delivery business came in strong across the US, Canada, Australia, and Mexico, with management highlighting cross-platform growth and a 60% jump in Uber One subscribers. But the rideshare unitthe heart of Uber's modelmissed slightly, and that was enough to rattle investors after a 48% year-to-date rally.

Uber's management tried to keep the optimism flowing. They raised third-quarter guidance, projecting bookings between $48.25 billion and $49.75 billionwell above consensusand announced a new $20 billion buyback on top of the $3 billion still unused from a previous authorization. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi pointed to growing user engagement, a $10 billion delivery run-rate coming from inside the rides app, and efforts to make rides more affordable through pooled trips and monthly passes. But in this market, almost good enough doesn't always cut itespecially when the rideshare growth engine stalls, even temporarily.

Behind the scenes, Uber is placing long-term bets on autonomous vehicles. It's already partnered with 20 players across rides, delivery, and freightincluding Waymoand it's laying the groundwork to finance future robotaxi fleets with third-party capital. CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah says Uber will test how much revenue each autonomous vehicle can actually generate before scaling. The company may even invest in real estate, depots, and vehicles to speed up learning. For now, it's early daysbut Uber sees its ability to self-fund and de-risk AV adoption as a strategic edge that could reshape its economics down the line.