Uber announced its third-quarter financial statements on November 4, 2021. With this announcement, the company achieved its first profit before deducting taxes due to improved car-sharing demand, but the business situation was still difficult.
According to the overview of the third quarter financial statements that Uber announced on September 30, before deducting growth booking, i.e. driver’s payment, the billing amount was $23.1 billion, 57% compared to the same period of the previous year, and total sales increased by 72% to 4.8 billion won. , was $50 million. As a result, EBITDA after excluding temporary expenses improved significantly from the previous year, when losses of $8 million and $625 million were recorded.
The strong growth this quarter was supported by improved demand for ride-hailing and delivery businesses. According to the announcement, mobility growth booking, including ridesharing, increased 67% year-on-year to $9.9 billion, and delivery gross booking was $12.8 billion.
Uber CEO Dara Hosrowshahi said the firm initial investment in driver growth is driving drivers back to the platform and leading to further enhancements to the consumer experience. Revitalization is particularly important, he added, with mobility bookings rising 18% in the past two months, and Halloween weekend usage in 2021 surpassing 2019 levels.
Uber has been in the red due to the rapid growth of its food delivery service due to the impact of COVID-19, but this financial report turned it into a profit for the first time on a quarterly basis. However, although its main business has been solid, there are still challenges, such as a sharp drop in the share price of Didi Chuxing, a ride service in China owned by Uber, resulting in a net loss of $2.4 billion, an increase of 123% compared to the same period last year.
Nelson Tsai, Uber’s CFO, knows that the transition to profit is a simple step, but said that EBITDA surplus after company-wide adjustment is an important milestone for Uber. As a result, the entire delivery business is nearing the break-even point. As for the future outlook, Uber said its glossbooking would be between $25 billion and $26 billion and adjusted EBITDA between $25 million and $75 million. Related information can be found here.
Airbnb also reported its third-quarter financial statements. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is fading, travel demand has also recovered, resulting in sales of $2.237 billion and net profit of $834 million, up 280% from the same period last year.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, who reported its third quarter financial results on November 4, 2021, said the third quarter was the best quarter ever for Airbnb and continues to innovate. According to an Airbnb report, revenue for the third quarter of 2021 was $2.237 billion, up 67% year-over-year, beating analysts’ forecast of $2.05 billion. Even compared to the third quarter of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, sales increased by 36%, which is the highest record in the past. Net income also increased by 280% year-on-year to $834 million.
Since the third quarter overlaps with the summer vacation, Airbnb sales tend to be higher in the third quarter than in other quarters. In some cases, the number of travelers is recovering from the beginning of 2021, so the total booking amount on the platform in the third quarter reaches $11.9 billion. In the third quarter, bookings for accommodations and experiences increased 29% year-over-year to $79.7 million. Among them, the number of reservations in North America and Latin America exceeded the same period of 2019 by 10-20%, but in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the number of reservations did not return to the level of 2019.
In the third quarter, more than 40% of the total number of lodgings were to travel within 480 km of their home, and there was a tendency for a relative increase in nearby travel. In addition, the number of regional non-urban reservations increased by more than 40% compared to the third quarter of 2019, and the proportion of the top 10 cities in total sales also decreased to 6% from 11% in the third quarter of 2019.
Airbnb also reported that the number of long-stay users in destinations is increasing as more companies are adopting remote working amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Long-term stays of 28 days or more accounted for 14% of the total number of stays in 3 minutes in 2019, but in the third quarter of 2021, 20% were due to long-term stays.
Airbnb expects revenue to remain robust in the fourth quarter of 2021, forecasting revenues from $1.39 billion to $1.48 billion. In 2022, Airbnb said vaccine progress in the fourth quarter of this year and the recovery of international travel will be key themes for growth into the new year. Related information can be found here.
Meanwhile, in addition to these ging-ups, Square, a mobile payment service company founded by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, reported its financial statements for the third quarter of 2021. The total gross profit increased by 43% compared to the same period of the previous year to $1.13 billion, but due to the stabilization of the crypto asset market price, the gross profit from Bitcoin is decreasing.
Square’s third-quarter revenue was $3.84 billion and gross profit was $1.13 billion, up 43% year-over-year. Square has been focusing on Bitcoin investments, such as buying large amounts of Bitcoin in February, and in the first quarter, it more than tripled its profits as Bitcoin rose. However, revenue from bitcoin in the third quarter was $1.81 billion, less than $2.72 billion in the previous quarter, and gross profit was $42 million, less than $55 million in the previous quarter. In the closing report, Square explained that the reason for the decrease in Bitcoin revenue and gross profit was that the Bitcoin price was stable compared to the previous quarter, which affected trading activity. In addition, revenue from Cash App, a money transfer app, was $2.39 billion, and gross profit increased by 33% year-on-year to $512 million.
In addition to announcing the development of a Bitcoin hardware wallet in July 2021, Square also announced the development of its own mining system in October 2021. Regarding these initiatives, CEO Jack Dorsey said that both development plans are focused on strengthening networks and ecosystems while helping Bitcoin reach customers. He added that he created a business to build an open developer platform with the goal of making an announcement on November 19th. Related information can be found here.