Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says company is focused on profitability this year

Dara Khosrowshahi

Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi is confident the company’s dual mission in ride-hailing and delivery will set it apart from peers in the event of an economic downturn.

“The business is really hitting on all cylinders,” Khosrowshahi said in an interview to Bloomberg Television after the company reported results that beat analysts’ estimates. He pointed to Uber’s record gross bookings and revenue, which more than doubled to $8.1 billion in the second quarter. Uber’s shares surged 19% to $29.26 in New York.

Khosrowshahi’s optimistic tone stands out in a turbulent time for technology companies, as rising inflation stokes fears of a pullback in consumer spending for services like food-delivery and rides. Uber Eats revenue grew 25% from a year ago and Khosrowshahi said a key focus for the company the remainder of this year will be increasing profitability in the delivery segment.

“Both the US and international are growing at a rate of 40 plus percent which is super healthy,” Khosrowshahi said. “We are big believers in delivery and the focus here is really profitability.”

The number of new drivers on the platform increased during the second quarter and wait times and surge pricing will improve further as driver supply comes back into balance with customer demand, Khosrowshahi said.

The CEO also addressed the recently announced partnership between Amazon.com Inc. and Grubhub to offer food-delivery for Prime subscribers. “We see zero material effect in the US.,” he said. “Because of our global scale we have a lot of chances to work with different players. Amazon is a great company and we will look to work with them however we can.”