Shut Up And Drive

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What's going on?

Uber posted record-breaking bookings at its quarterly update on Tuesday.

What does this mean?

The number of Ubers monthly users hit a new peak last quarter, with the company reporting 24% more journeys than the same time last year. And with plenty of highly profitable airport trips among them, the value of bookings made on the platform across its ride hailing, delivery, and freight offerings also hit an all-time high, helping revenue more than double to $8 billion from the same time last year. Cue one last milestone: Uber which has burned through around $25 billion since it was founded 13 years ago finally posted its first ever positive cash flow last quarter (tweet this). Investors have been dreaming of the day, and they sent its stock up 14%.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Uber gives the drivers what they want.
Uber also said that more drivers and couriers were earning money on the platform than before the pandemic, which might be why wait times across a range of markets were at their lowest in a year in July. That suggests its recent efforts to improve the driver experience on the app has been paying off, and its not finished yet: the company announced new features last week thatll allow drivers to choose the trips they want and see how much theyll earn before accepting.

Zooming out: Prime the pump.
One thing Uber cant do to make the experience any better is bring down fuel prices, which could see drivers reduce the number of hours theyre on the road. But one companys risk is another companys reward, and oil giant BP just posted its highest quarterly profit in 14 years on Tuesday more than triple what it made the same time last year. That caps off a bumper set of profits from Big Oil, and could spark another call for tax increases on the industry.

Originally posted as part of the Finimize daily email.

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