Uber's sales more than doubled to $1.75 billion in the second quarter, despite all its drama

Glassdoor/Uber

Uber may have tanked in the public's eyes, but its highly publicized scandals from the past few months appear not to have had much effect on its business. 

Gross bookings — which represent the amount customers pay for rides on Uber, not what the company actually earns on them — were up 17% in the second quarter from the first quarter. Meanwhile, Uber's adjusted net revenue rose to $1.75 billion in the period. That was up from $1.5 billion in the first quarter and $800 million in the year-ago period.

Axios first reported Uber's latest financial details. A company representative confirmed the numbers to Business Insider. 

In addition to the gains in bookings and revenue, Uber also saw a big jump in the number of trips riders took. Worldwide, trips were up 150% from the same period last year. That number excludes China, which the company exited last year, merging its operation there with that of Didi Chuxing.

In developing markets, trips were up 250%. Uber has been competing with companies like Didi for a share in the global ridesharing market, and recently announced a partnership in Russia with Yandex, a locally approved ride-hailing service. 

In another positive sign, Uber's adjusted net loss shrank to $645 million, a 9% decrease from the first quarter. Still, that translated into another big hit to the company's cash hoard. Uber had $6.6 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter, down from $7.2 billion at the end of the first quarter. 

The app-based taxi company has had a rough and rocky year so far. A blog post written by a former employee touched off an investigation into its workplace culture that resulted in numerous firings and Travis Kalanick's resignation from his post as Uber's CEO. 

 

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