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While Uber had plenty to highlight as it reported a strong second quarter marked by estimate-beating sales and net income, the ride-hail company focused heavily on its plans for an autonomous future.
Uber said Tuesday that the number of trips taken in self-driving vehicles grew sixfold through its collaborations with 10 partners across its different segments, although the company did not specify an exact number of trips. Among others, Uber has inked deals with Google’s Waymo, Volvo, Aurora Innovation, and self-driving truck startup Waabi.
The company’s presentation of its second quarter results began by highlighting Uber’s autonomous vehicle plans. Uber said its hybrid network of both autonomous cars and humans behind the wheel enables consistent and reliable experiences. It added that its industry knowledge allows autonomous vehicle companies to focus on “responsibly” advancing their work.
“With a rapidly growing AV business and industry-leading utilization on the Uber platform, we remain confident that we are the best partner for the commercialization of AVs and are driving better economics for the AV ecosystem overall,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in prepared remarks during an earnings call.
Uber’s pronounced focus on autonomy comes as rivals also explore the possibility of using self-driving fleets to provide ride-hail services. Chief rival Lyft says it has conducted more than 100,000 paid self-driving rides with its partners.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised to deliver a robotaxi launch event in October, after delaying plans to give workers more time. Musk has described launching a network that’s a “combination of Airbnb and Uber,” since owners can opt their cars into the service at their leisure. Much of Tesla’s expected value in the future is expected to come from an eventual ride-hail service made up of self-driving Tesla electric vehicles.
Uber late last month announced a partnership with Tesla’s chief rival, Chinese automaker BYD, to provide 100,000 EVs to its drivers in Europe, Latin America, Oceania, and Canada. The companies also plan to work on deploying vehicles capable of self-driving on Uber’s platform.
The data cited by Uber on Tuesday includes rides across its freight division. Waabi and Uber have been working together on commercial pilot trips between Dallas and Houston since last September. In June, Uber signed a deal with Aurora to haul freight using its self-driving tech through 2030. Uber in 2020 sold off its self-driving car project to Aurora.
San Francisco-based Uber is currently working with Google’s Waymo to provide autonomous rides in Phoenix. In some parts of the U.S. and Japan, Uber offers autonomous deliveries through driverless cars or robots.
“We’ll have more to announce in the coming months,” Khosrowshahi said during the call Tuesday.
Uber stock climbed more than 6% in trading Monday following the autonomous tech updates and news of a strong quarter.
Revenue for the April to June quarter grew to $10.7 billion, up 16% from a year earlier, and above the $10.5 billion expected by analysts. Gross bookings reached $39.9 billion, a 19% increased compared to last year.
Net income came in at $1 billion, far more than the $654 million expected by analysts, according to FactSet. That includes a $333 million benefit due to net unrealized gains from the revaluation of the company’s equity investments, according to a press release.