Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER)

The financial data reflects significant fluctuations in the company's profitability and capital efficiency over the five-year period.

Net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT)

There is considerable volatility in NOPAT figures, beginning with a large negative value in 2020 at -6,617 million US dollars. The amount improves sharply in 2021 to -819 million, followed by a dramatic decline in 2022 to -9,117 million. Notably, the trend reverses in the final two years, showing positive NOPAT in 2023 and 2024, with 2,401 million and 3,752 million US dollars respectively. This suggests a recovery and improvement in operational profitability towards the end of the period.

Cost of capital

The cost of capital remains relatively stable throughout the period, fluctuating narrowly between 16.76% and 17.93%. There is a slight peak in 2023 at 17.93%, indicating a marginal increase in the required return on invested capital or perceived risk, but overall the cost remains consistent, which implies steady capital market conditions or risk assessment.

Invested Capital

The invested capital demonstrates a declining trend over the five years, starting from 21,038 million US dollars in 2020 and decreasing to 14,934 million in 2024. The reduction appears steady but includes some periods of minimal change, particularly between 2021 and 2023. This reduction could indicate asset disposals, less reinvestment, or optimization in capital allocation.

Economic Profit

The economic profit shows a pattern of substantial negative values initially, with the lowest point at -11,877 million in 2022. The figures improve significantly in 2023, nearly breaking even at -408 million, and move into positive territory by 2024 at 1,079 million US dollars. This progression aligns with the improvement seen in NOPAT despite the slightly elevated cost of capital and declining invested capital, suggesting enhanced value creation and more efficient use of resources over time.

In summary, the period is marked by early operational losses and negative economic returns, transitioning into a phase of profitability and positive economic value added. The stable cost of capital alongside a decreased invested capital base reflects a strategic repositioning or operational turnaround. This recovery towards profitability and value creation by the end of the analyzed period signals an improvement in financial health and capital management effectiveness.

The financial data reveals significant fluctuations in the profitability of the company over the observed five-year period. The net income attributable to the company shows a notable trend from substantial losses to considerable profitability.

Net Income (Loss)

Initially, the company experienced very large net losses, with the loss amounting to -6,768 million US dollars in 2020. This negative result significantly narrowed in 2021, with losses reducing to -496 million US dollars. However, 2022 saw a dramatic reversal with net losses deepening again to -9,141 million US dollars, indicating potential challenges or one-off expenses during that year. Subsequently, there was a marked recovery in 2023, with the net income turning positive to 1,887 million US dollars. This positive trend continued and further improved in 2024, reaching a net income of 9,856 million US dollars, signaling a strong turnaround and improvement in profitability.

Net Operating Profit After Taxes (NOPAT)

The trend in NOPAT mirrors that of net income with persistent losses in the initial years followed by improvements. In 2020, NOPAT was negative at -6,617 million US dollars, narrowing to -819 million US dollars in 2021. In 2022, this metric worsened sharply to a loss of -9,117 million US dollars, closely paralleling the net income loss for the year. From 2023 onward, NOPAT turned positive, registering 2,401 million US dollars in 2023 and increasing to 3,752 million US dollars in 2024. This shift indicates enhanced operational efficiency and effective tax management contributing to overall profitability in the latter years.

Overall, the data illustrates a company overcoming significant financial difficulties between 2020 and 2022, with a pronounced recovery beginning in 2023 and accelerating in 2024. This improvement in financial performance suggests effective strategic adjustments, cost management, or increased revenue generation that have reversed previous losses into substantial gains. The parallel movement of net income and NOPAT indicates consistent operational performance improvements alongside tax-related factors.

The provision for income taxes experienced significant fluctuations over the observed period. Initially, the provision was a negative value of -192 million US dollars at the end of 2020, indicating a tax benefit. This trend continued and amplified in 2021, reaching a benefit peak of -492 million US dollars. However, the following year saw a reduction in the tax benefit to -181 million US dollars, followed by a notable reversal in 2023 where the provision turned positive to 213 million US dollars, indicating a tax expense. In 2024, the provision saw an extraordinary shift to a substantial tax benefit amounting to -5758 million US dollars.

Cash operating taxes showed a generally increasing trend from 2020 through 2022, rising from 184 million US dollars to 375 million US dollars. In 2023, cash operating taxes decreased to 242 million US dollars and remained relatively stable in 2024 with a slight increase to 250 million US dollars.

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes

Exhibits significant volatility with large swings between tax benefits and expenses. The values indicate a trend of fluctuating tax positions, possibly influenced by changes in earnings, tax regulations, or accounting treatments. The abrupt change in 2024 to a large tax benefit suggests the occurrence of unusual or one-time tax events.

Cash operating taxes

Show a moderate upward trend initially, peaking in 2022 before declining in subsequent years. The reduction in cash operating taxes despite the volatility in the provision for income taxes suggests differences between accounting for tax expenses and actual tax payments.

Total reported debt & leases

The total reported debt and leases have exhibited a gradual increase from 9,603 million USD in 2020 to a peak of 11,702 million USD in 2023, followed by a slight reduction to 11,436 million USD in 2024. This trend indicates a relatively stable but elevated leverage position with a modest decrease in the most recent period.

Total stockholders’ equity

Stockholders’ equity showed significant fluctuations over the observed periods. It increased from 12,266 million USD in 2020 to 14,458 million USD in 2021, then sharply declined to 7,340 million USD in 2022. Subsequently, equity rebounded to 11,249 million USD in 2023 and surged strongly to 21,558 million USD in 2024. This volatility might reflect periods of significant capital restructuring, losses, or valuation adjustments followed by recovery and strengthening of the equity base.

Invested capital

Invested capital displayed a downward trend from 21,038 million USD in 2020 to 14,934 million USD in 2024. While there were minor fluctuations between 2021 and 2023, the overall trajectory indicates a reduction in the resources actively employed by the company over the five-year span.

The financial data reveals notable fluctuations in key performance indicators over the observed periods. The economic profit demonstrates a pattern of significant losses initially, followed by a gradual reduction in negative values and eventual positive growth in the latest period. Specifically, the economic profit starts at a substantial deficit, improves moderately, deteriorates again, and finally shifts to a positive figure, indicating a possible turnaround in profitability dynamics.

Invested capital shows a declining trend throughout the periods. Starting from a higher value, the invested capital consistently decreases year-over-year, suggesting a reduction in asset base or reallocation of capital. This decline may reflect strategic divestments, asset optimization, or other capital management decisions.

The economic spread ratio, which measures the return on invested capital relative to cost, follows a similar trajectory to economic profit but in percentage terms. It begins at a deeply negative value, improves but remains negative, worsens drastically, then approaches near break-even, and finally turns positive. This progression aligns with the economic profit trend, underscoring an improvement in how invested capital generates value.

Economic Profit

Exhibits volatile dynamics with heavy losses initially, moderate improvement, setback, and a final positive outcome, suggesting fluctuating operational performance and potential recovery efforts producing results by the last period.

Invested Capital

Displays a steady decrease, implying a strategic reduction in capital deployment or asset base optimization over time.

Economic Spread Ratio

Demonstrates a marked improvement from highly negative to slightly positive territory, reflecting enhanced efficiency or profitability related to the invested capital.

The financial data reveals significant fluctuations and developments over the observed five-year period, highlighting both challenges and improvement trends.

Revenue

There is a consistent and strong upward trajectory in revenue, increasing from $11,139 million in 2020 to $43,978 million in 2024. This trend indicates robust top-line growth, with revenue nearly quadrupling over the period, suggesting effective market penetration and possibly expansion in services or geographic reach.

Economic Profit

The economic profit shows considerable volatility, starting at a substantial negative value of -$10,328 million in 2020, then improving markedly in 2021 to -$3,514 million. However, there is a sharp decline again in 2022 to -$11,877 million, followed by a significant recovery in 2023 with a near breakeven result at -$408 million and finally turning positive at $1,079 million in 2024. This pattern may reflect varying cost structures, investment cycles, or operating efficiencies that impacted profitability.

Economic Profit Margin

The economic profit margin mirrors the trend in economic profit, starting from a deep negative margin of -92.72% in 2020 and improving substantially in 2021 to -20.13%. A regression occurs in 2022 with the margin worsening to -37.26%, before approaching neutrality at -1.09% in 2023 and finally moving into positive territory at 2.45% in 2024. The margin improvement suggests enhanced profitability relative to revenue, reinforcing the effect of recovering economic profit and more efficient operations.

Overall, the data reflects a company on a growth path, with increasing revenue accompanied by a challenging but ultimately improving economic profit and margin profile. The transition to positive economic profit and margin in the latest year signals a turning point towards sustainable profitability after several years of significant losses.