Uber Sees Record Ridership, Finally Posts a Profit

Long known as a poster child for venture capitalism gone wild, with years upon years of losses buoyed only by massive investments, Uber has finally posted an operating profit, according to a Bloomberg article published in Crain’s New York. “Uber posted a second-quarter operating profit according to generally accepted accounting principles of $326 million and free-cash-flow of $1.14 billion.”

“After struggling with a driver shortage that caused fares and wait times to increase, Uber said the number of active drivers were up 33% in the second quarter compared with last year. The number of trips taken increased 26% from a year earlier to a record high.” Meanwhile, the company’s food delivery sector has shown strong growth.

Uber’s main competitor, Lyft—which now operates some of the country’s biggest bike share programs—isn’t doing as well: “Uber accounted for 74% of the US consumer ride-share sales at the end of June, while Lyft had 26%, according to Bloomberg Second Measure.”