Uber Eats Turns a Profit for the First Time Ever

Although the third-party delivery giant has reached the long-in-the-making milestone, many industry experts say it comes at the cost of restaurants, delivery drivers and customers.

By Luca Piacentini1851 Franchise Managing Editor

Updated 1:13PM • 11/09/21

Uber Eats' core restaurant delivery business was profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis for the first time ever in Q3 2021, said Uber CFO Nelson Chai during the company's latest earnings call.

"We expect continued strong growth in the years ahead, from both our core restaurant delivery business and our emerging new verticals business," said Uber CEO Dara Khrosrowshahi during last week’s earnings call. "As cities reopen, we're seeing evidence that delivery complements dine-in, as third-party food delivery has continued to grow even a[s] seated dining trends have fully recovered to 2019 levels."

But many industry experts note third-party delivery companies like Uber can only become profitable through questionable practices, which everyone including consumers, restaurant operators, couriers and government officials have been rallying against. The practices of third-party delivery platforms were being questioned long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the topic became an increasingly relevant issue over the past year as restaurant owners struggled to turn a profit and the popularity of online ordering skyrocketed.