Despite Growth, Uber Swings to a Loss
Starbucks loves late night delivery, Lyft lifted, Amazon pushes EVs
Earnings season continues, with big numbers coming out of that most famous of duets: Uber and Lyft. Meanwhile, a close read of Amazon’s recent earnings shows the promise of late night delivery, and Amazon is working to green up its fleet.
This week’s edition is brought to you by Yoshi Mobility.
Today:
Uber’s Q1 Delivers Mixed Bag
Starbucks Doubles Down on Nighttime Delivery
Chart Time | Lyft Lifted by Rider Growth
Amazon Accelerates EV Deployment
FINANCE | Uber Swings to $654M Loss On Reevaluated Investments
Uber just posted some big Q1 numbers, with just about everything looking right except for an unexpected loss. Delivery gross bookings were up 18% YoY, with revenue up a more modest 4%; meanwhile mobility gross bookings jumped 26% and revenue growth came in even hotter at 30%. “Our results this quarter once again demonstrate our ability to deliver consistent, profitable growth at scale,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. “More than 7 million people now choose to earn flexibly on Uber every month, with driver earnings of $16.6 billion continuing to grow faster than our topline.” Income from operations was $172 million, up $434 million YoY, but due to a $721M of net unrealized losses related to the revaluation of equity investments, the company swung to an overall loss of $654M.
The Big Picture: Delivery margin fell from 20.6% to 18.2%, but most of that was driven by business model adjustments that classified certain sales and marketing costs as contra revenue. On the more positive side, Uber One membership fees hit a $1 billion plus revenue run rate, with the premium service driving members to spend 3.4X as much as non-members. Swapping from a member perk of 5% discount on rides to a “cash-back” model has also pushed users to spend a quarter of those rebates on Eats purchases. Overall, the company is seeing stronger growth in the ‘burbs than in city cores, and thanks to developments like its new partnership with Instacart, it expects to end the year with Gross Bookings of $38.75-$40.25 billion, up 18-23% YoY on a constant currency basis.
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OPS | Late Night Delivery Drives Growth for Starbucks
Last quarter, coffee giant Starbucks launched a pilot, whereby a third-party off-site partner prepped Starbucks orders for delivery between 5 PM and 5 AM; in last week’s earnings call, CEO Laxman Narasimhan revealed the initiative “doubled our business.” The company now plans to expand on the model, aiming for $2 billion in incremental revenue over the next five years.
The Big Picture: While Starbucks was coy with the particulars, the details sure sound a lot like its aforementioned partnership with GoPuff, whereby the q-commerce contender brewed up PSLs in its MFCs. Narasimhan also noted strengths in the “existing delivery business, which grew by double digits in the U.S. this quarter with both ticket increase and transaction growth.” That was a rare spot of good news in a quarter that was otherwise pretty weak, with the Seattle-based company seeing comparable transactions fall 6%, revenue flat and operating income down 6% as well.
CHART TIME | Lyft Hits the Gas
Lyft stock is riding high this morning, as the company’s Q1 blew past expectations. Gross bookings were up 21% YoY to $3.7 billion, while revenue rose 28% to $1.3B. Its net loss shrunk to a manageable $31.5 million, while active riders hit 21.9 million — a gain of 12% that represents the company’s best performance since 2022. Lyft also saw strong growth in Canada, its sole international market, while Lyft Media revenue grew 250% YoY. (Ads, it’s always ads!)
VEHICLES | Amazon Deploys Largest E-Truck Fleet Yet
Amazon’s sustainability push continues, as the company is deploying its biggest allotment of electric trucks yet: nearly 50 battery-electric Class 8 Volvo VNR Electric trucks are now live in Southern California. The 82,000 lb vehicles have ranges of up to 275 miles and are complemented by 45 new DC fast chargers. These trucks will primarily be used for drayage, hauling goods from the Ports of LA and Long Beach to an Amazon facility in Santa Fe Springs.
The Big Picture: While this publication usually focuses on last mile vehicles, it’s important to see delivery giants greening up their entire logistics chain. Domestically, Amazon has pushed its packages into tens of thousands of Rivian electric vans, while in markets like the U.K. it’s adopting an even more sustainable model: cargo bikes and micromobility hubs.
A Few Good Links
Craveworthy buys three more brands. ItsaCheckmate rebrands, buys voice ordering startup. Foxtrot Market assets head to foreclosure sale. NationsBenefits offers POS. Grocery Outlet posts Q1 loss. Dutch Bros sees $16.2M profit. First Watch revenues hit $242.4M. Bloomin’ Brands swings to a loss. ShipFlex adds carriers. iRobot names new CEO. Tesla revealed as Luminar’s largest customer. Rivian loses $1.45B on $1.2B in rev. Bloom looks to reshore US ebike manufacturing. African ecommerce player Jumia back to growth. Amazon launches in South Africa. Daimler previews new EV, AV Class 8. Letter carriers’ food drive set for May 11th.
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