Uber Freight still unprofitable after big revenue jump

Uber (NYSE: UBER), in its earnings and on its conference call with analysts, made no comment about the performance at Uber Freight. Its slide presentation for analysts only had basic financial data.

But what was provided did have some positive news besides the revenue growth.

Uber as a whole and by extension Uber Freight individually changed its financial reporting starting this year by reporting segment operating income rather than EBITDA. Outside of a few quarters when Uber Freight was breakeven or barely profitable under EBITDA, the digital brokerage and shipper TMS provider through the acquisition of Transplace in 2021 has been unprofitable.

That did not change in the latest report. Uber Freight’s operating income was negative $24 million for the quarter. The last five quarters of data show operating income, starting with the second quarter of 2025, as negative $26 million, negative $40 million, negative $18 million, negative $30 million followed by the latest report.

But one positive is that the company’s operating income as a percentage of gross bookings edged up to 1.5% from 2.2% in the first quarter. A year ago it was 2.1%. The final quarter of 2025 recorded a margin of 1.4%.

Compared to other public 3PLs, Uber Freight outperformed or tied them in terms of revenue growth. RXO (NYSE: RXO) recorded about a 25% growth in the top line, similar to Uber Freight. But Landstar (NASDAQ: LSTR) was 18.2% and C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) was 19.3%.

One positive for Uber Freight is that its operating income as a percentage of gross bookings edged up to negative 1.5% from negative 2.2% in the first quarter. A year ago it was negative 2.1%. The final quarter of 2025 recorded a margin of negative 1.4%.

As Transplace’s operations have become a bigger share of total Uber Freight revenue, the company does not break out any sort of division between legacy Uber Freight and legacy Transplace. But with almost five years since the acquisition, sources say there has been an increasing amount of intertwining between the two, making such an effort at segregating revenue and income pointless.

However, a 25% growth in revenue does not come from a surge in sales of a TMS platform like Transplace; it would presumably come from a brokerage riding higher market rates.

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