Uber trims near‑term profit expectations and names new finance chief to lead robotaxi pivot

Uber reported quarterly results that fell short of the profitability benchmarks it had set for investors and revised its near‑term profit guidance downward, prompting market concern about margins and cash flow. The company concurrently appointed a new chief financial officer whose brief explicitly includes aligning capital deployment and reporting to support a long‑horizon robotaxi strategy. Management framed the leadership change as a governance step to reconcile pressure for predictable near‑term earnings with the capital intensity of scaling autonomous mobility. Complementing that internal shift, Uber has deepened commercial ties with AV suppliers — notably a financing and deployment arrangement with Waabi that includes milestone‑linked tranches intended to underwrite vehicle installations and accelerate fleet deployments on Uber’s platform. Those partner agreements signal a two‑pronged approach: accelerate external technology sourcing while committing incremental capital to bootstrap early deployments. Investors will watch whether the incoming CFO tightens cost discipline, introduces clearer segment reporting that isolates AV investment burn, and rebalances capital between legacy ride‑hail operations and robotaxi commitments. In the near term, the guidance reduction is likely to pressure margins and could constrain free cash flow targets that factored into prior valuations. Over the medium term, prioritizing robotaxis raises the potential for a high‑margin, asset‑efficient network if technology, OEM partnerships and regulation align — but it also increases execution and regulatory risk and requires sustained R&D and deployment spend. The company’s partners and suppliers will interpret Uber’s personnel and commercial moves as sustained demand for development capital, while credit investors and rating agencies will scrutinize runway and covenant headroom more closely. Operational clarity — including activity‑level KPIs, concrete deployment milestones with partners, and transparent accounting of AV‑related capital commitments — will be critical for analysts to model the trade‑offs between short‑term profitability and the hoped‑for long‑term mobility payoff. The next quarterly updates and any detailed disclosures around partner tranches or AV Labs‑style investments will determine whether the CFO appointment is seen as credible stewardship of the transition or a headline maneuver that leaves core execution risks unaddressed.