Uber Reaches Fork In The Road, Turns Down Profitability Street: 'We Plan To Be Profitable For Every Quarter Going Forward'

Uber Technologies Inc UBER shares reacted positively to the company's second-quarter results early Tuesday before pulling back. Following the print, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company is just getting started on the profitability front.

What Happened: Uber reported second-quarter revenue of $9.23 billion, which missed the consensus estimate of $9.32 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The ride sharing company reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 2 cents per share, which beat estimates for a loss of 1 cent per share. Uber turned in its first GAAP operating profit in company history, as well as its highest free cash flow of $1.1 billion.

Gross bookings climbed 16% year-over-year to $36.6 billion in the second quarter. Uber guided for third-quarter bookings in the range of $34 billion to $35 billion. 

Related Link: Uber Technologies Stock Rides Higher On Q2 Performance: The Details

Why It Matters: Tuesday morning on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Khosrowshahi said Uber has reached a turning point after delivering its first profitable quarter ever. 

"We thought that we would be on track either in Q2 or Q3. We tend to underpromise and overdeliver and everything came together this quarter," the Uber CEO said. "We plan to be profitable for every quarter going forward."

Khosrowshahi told CNBC the company's service continues to improve, attracting more users to the platform. When you combine that with cost discipline, you get free cash flow over $1 billion, he said. 

Khosrowshahi believes the company's all-in-one platform is a significant competitive advantage that will allow the company to continue to scale, while remaining profitable. He sees Uber becoming a complete "operating system for everyday life in a city."

"When you combine that with ML and AI (machine learning and artificial intelligence), we essentially are there for you any place you want to go, anything you want to get delivered to your home. As we get to know you more and more we become more of a utility and more of, you know, a service that you can't do without," the Uber CEO said.

UBER Price Action: Uber shares initially traded higher on the company's second-quarter results, but have since pulled back and turned negative. The stock was down 5.47% at $46.75 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.

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