Uber Technologies, Inc.
Uber Technologies, Inc. develops and operates proprietary technology applications in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. The Mobility segment connects consumers with a range of transportation modalities, such as ridesharing, carsharing, micromobility, rentals, public transit, taxis, and other modalities; and offers riders in a variety of vehicle types, as well as financial partnerships products and advertising services. The Delivery segment allows consumers to search for and discover restaurants to grocery, alcohol, convenience, and other retailers, as well as order a meal or other items, and either pick-up at the restaurant or have it delivered; and provides Uber direct, a white-label delivery-as-a-service for retailers and restaurants, as well as advertising services. The Freight segment manages transportation and logistics networks, which connects shippers and carriers in digital marketplace, including carriers upfronts, pricing, and shipment booking; and offers on-demand platform to automate logistics end-to-end transactions for small-and medium-sized businesses to global enterprises. The company was formerly known as Ubercab, Inc. and changed its name to Uber Technologies, Inc. in February 2011. Uber Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
What does it do?
Uber is the app you open when you need a ride or want food delivered to your door. You tap a button, a driver shows up, and Uber takes a cut of that fare. Beyond cars and food, Uber also runs a freight business that matches trucking companies with companies that need to ship goods. Think of Uber as a giant digital matchmaker — it connects people who need something moved with people who can move it.
Uber is one of the few gig-economy companies that has actually crossed into consistent profitability, which is a big deal after years of burning through cash. With a $140 billion market cap, it's now being watched as a potential major beneficiary of autonomous vehicle technology — if robotaxis take off, Uber already has the network and the customers. Investors are also paying attention because Uber's scale in both rides and food delivery makes it hard for any single competitor to dislodge it.
How does it make money?
Uber made $52 billion in revenue in its latest financial year, up from $44 billion the year before — that's an 18% jump. Most of that comes from its Mobility segment, where Uber keeps roughly 25-30% of every ride fare booked through the app. Its Delivery segment, which includes Uber Eats, works the same way — restaurants and couriers do the work, Uber clips a fee. The Freight segment, which is smaller, charges fees for connecting shippers with truckers digitally.
Why do investors care?
The growth story is simple: more people in more cities are giving up car ownership and relying on Uber instead, which means the total number of trips is rising every year. Uber is also pushing deeper into advertising — selling ad space to restaurants and brands inside its app — which is very high-margin money. The big wildcard is autonomous vehicles: if Uber can put self-driving cars on its platform, it cuts out driver costs entirely and profits could explode. For that to happen, partnerships with companies like Waymo need to scale beyond pilot cities.
Deep Dive
MemberA full investor briefing on Uber Technologies, Inc. — history, leadership, risks, and outlook.