Uber had a great first quarter of 2022 by some measures, as it more than doubled its revenue year-over-year to $6.85 billion.
The increased demand for rides after the COVID-19 Omicron surge played a massive role, as did higher ride prices because of the shortage of drivers.
Uber is Bouncing Back
The ride-hailing company reported that riders took 1.71 billion trips in the first three months of 2022, and that is an increase of 10% from the first three months of 2021, according to Engadget.
Gross bookings, which is the total amount that Uber receives from customers, for rides increased by 58% year-over-year to $10.7 billion.
The gross delivery bookings increased by 12% to $13.9 billion. Uber's revenue from rides was $2.52 billion, and from deliveries, the company earned $2.51 billion in revenue.
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But Uber's net loss increased from $108 million in Q1 2021 to $5.93 billion in Q1 2022. That is largely due to its equity investments in Didi, Grab Holdings, and Aurora Innovation.
Still, Uber believes it will be cash-flow positive on a full-year basis for 2022.
Growth is expected to continue in Q2 2022. Uber stated that the value of rides booked in April surpassed 2019 levels. The ride-hailing company also noted that the rider wait times and surge trips were at their best levels for a year.
Uber says that a lot of drivers have opted to move over to Eats deliveries. The company's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, said that they wouldn't have to make any significant incremental incentive investments to keep drivers on the platforms and persuade new and lapsed drivers to get behind the wheel.
However, the same can't be said for its rival, Lyft.
Lyft expects that it will need to spend more to entice drivers to return or join its platform. It is taking longer than expected for its driver base to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Lyft president John Zimmer.
Reuters reported that Uber has a leg up on Lyft in this regard since its drivers can choose to deliver food and other items instead of ferrying passengers around. But Lyft did not provide more details on how much it will spend on driver incentives.
Lyft earned revenue of $875.6 million for the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of 44%. It had a net loss of $196.9 million, down significantly from the $427.3 million net loss it posted in 2021. Its active number of riders increased to 17.8 million from 13.5 million in Q1 2021.
Soaring Gas Prices
According to CNBC, another reason why drivers are hesitant to get back on the road is because of the increase in gas prices.
Almost half of the rideshare workers, including Uber and Lyft drivers, as well as food deliverers for DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats, quit or drive less because of the problem with gas prices.
The Consumer Price Index, which measures the prices that Americans must pay for goods and services, is up 8.5% from 2021, notching a fresh high in March.
However, gas prices increased 18.3% for the month, boosted by the war in Ukraine and the pressure that is putting on the supply.
In December 2021, Uber added an audio recording safety feature while on a ride.
In February, Uber talked about the possibilities of accepting crypto payments.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
