Uber Announces Massive Buyback Program: Will it Aid the Bottom Line?

San Francisco, CA-based Uber Technologies UBER, which provides ride-hailing, food delivery and freight (leasing vehicles to third parties) services through its Mobility, Delivery and Freight segments, respectively, has announced a stock repurchase authorization of up to an additional $20 billion of common stock. With this bold initiative, UBER is not only enhancing shareholder value but also signaling confidence in its ongoing business strategy.

The announcement of the massive buyback program is a value-enhancing move and indicates that there is further room for growth at its core rideshare and delivery units. Companies frequently employ stock buybacks or share repurchase programs to bolster shareholder value. These initiatives involve firms purchasing their own outstanding shares. This effectively consolidates ownership and reallocates profits among fewer shares, potentially boosting earnings per share and shareholder returns.

Such buybacks are often seen as a prudent use of extra cash, especially when a company's stock is undervalued. By resorting to share buybacks, companies signal confidence in their financial health and provide reassurance to investors.

The latest shareholder-friendly announcement by Uber is in addition to the $7 billion authorization announced in 2024. We remind investors that the $7 billion share repurchase authorization was the first such program in the company's history. The accelerated $1.5 billion stock buyback program, a part of the $7 billion program, was completed in the first quarter of 2025. In 2024, Uber generated a record $6.9 billion in free cash flow, highlighting its financial bliss, with an adjusted EBITDA of $6.5 billion.

What About Other Ride-Hailing Players?

In a shareholder-friendly move, Lyft’s LYFT management announced in May an increase to its share repurchase program to $750 million from $500 million. Lyft intends to utilize $500 million of this authorization within the next 12 months. In the second quarter of 2025, Lyft repurchased 12.8 million shares for $200 million. Strong cash flow generation allows Lyft to remain committed to returning value to its shareholders. Lyft’s cash flow generation is $993 million for the trailing 12 months.

Singapore-based Grab GRAB is also active on the buyback front. In 2024, Grab announced a share buyback program of up to $500 million, indicating its shareholder-friendly stance. As of June 30, 2025, Grab has repurchased and retired 126 million Class A ordinary shares for $499.6 million.

Uber’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of UBER have gained 53.7% so far this year against the Zacks Internet-Services industry’s 5.9% uptick in the same timeframe.

YTD Price Comparison

From a valuation standpoint, UBER trades at a 12-month forward price-to-sales of 3.5X. UBER is inexpensive compared with its industry.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UBER’s 2025 and 2026 earnings has been revised upward over the past 90 days.

UBER's Zacks Rank

UBER currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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