Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) stock edged higher in Wednesday's premarket trading after the ride-hailing and delivery company reported mixed third-quarter 2026 results. The headline numbers were fine. The story underneath them was more interesting.

Revenue Beats, Earnings Fall Short

Uber reported third-quarter revenue of $14.77 billion, up 10% year over year. That topped Wall Street's estimate of $14.70 billion.

Adjusted earnings of 88 cents per share, though, missed analysts' expectations of 96 cents. Gross bookings rose 20% year over year to $59.8 billion, both on a reported and constant-currency basis.

Trips, Users And Profits Climb

Trips increased 16% to 4.06 billion, while monthly active platform consumers grew 14% to 215 million.

Operating income jumped 30% to $1.45 billion. Net income attributable to Uber, however, plunged 92% to $512 million. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 31% to $2.96 billion.

Delivery And Freight Drive Growth

Mobility revenue fell 2% to $7.52 billion. Delivery revenue surged 23% to $5.49 billion, while Freight revenue jumped 34% to $1.76 billion.

On the bookings side, Mobility gross bookings rose 18% to $29.51 billion. Delivery gross bookings climbed 22% to $28.54 billion, and Freight gross bookings increased 35% to $1.77 billion.

The CEO On Growth, Drivers And Robotaxis

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted record consumer engagement and a fifth consecutive quarter of gross bookings growth above 20%.

He also had a less cheerful note: rising fuel costs and driver shortages in several international markets pushed Mobility growth 1 to 2 percentage points below expectations.

The details matter here. Driver supply failed to keep pace with demand in India and Brazil, while tighter immigration flows constrained supply in Canada. Uber is investing in driver recruitment and retention to address the shortages.

Management said Mobility trends improved in October. Delivery remained strong, with gross bookings rising 23% and Grocery & Retail growing about 40%.

Uber expanded partnerships with Costco, Wakefern, Tesco, REWE and Decathlon. Its planned ezCater acquisition aims to expand catering and workplace meals.

On the autonomous front, Uber plans to increase fully driverless vehicles on its platform from roughly 700 by year-end 2026 to more than 2,000 by the end of 2027. Its autonomous vehicle partners include Zoox, Motional, Nuro, Lucid, Avride, NVIDIA, Rivian, WeRide, Baidu, Pony.ai and Wayve.

Uber expects little to no additional dealmaking through at least 2027, apart from autonomous vehicle investments. It plans to focus on integrating Delivery Hero, ezCater, Getir, Blacklane and SpotHero.

Fourth-Quarter Forecast

Uber repurchased about $750 million in shares and generated $2.54 billion in free cash flow during the quarter.

For the fourth quarter, Uber expects gross bookings of $63.25 billion to $65.25 billion, reflecting constant-currency growth of 18% to 22%.

The company forecasts adjusted earnings of 95 cents to 99 cents per share, below Wall Street's estimate of $1.06.

UBER Price Action: Uber shares rose 0.30% to $66.80 in Wednesday's premarket trading, according to market data.