Truist reiterates Buy on Uber stock, cites AV positioning strength

Truist reiterated a Buy rating on Uber with an unchanged $112 price target, implying about 50% upside from the current $74.7 share price. The firm cited improving momentum in Rides and Eats, expected U.S. Mobility acceleration in 2026 despite elevated gas prices, and a strengthening autonomous vehicle strategy heading into 2H26/FY27. The article also notes several other firms raised targets after Uber's strong first-quarter results, reinforcing a constructive analyst outlook.

Analysis

The market is still underappreciating how much of Uber’s equity story has shifted from cyclical mobility recovery to optionality on platform monetization and autonomy. If Uber can keep converting trip demand into higher take-rate economics through membership, pricing, and mix, the multiple deserves to expand even before any autonomous fleet contribution shows up. The key second-order effect is that a stronger Uber One flywheel pressures smaller regional ride-hail and delivery players far more than the headline competitor set, because they lack the cross-subsidy and frequency engine to match retention economics.

The autonomy angle is less about near-term revenue and more about negotiating leverage with OEMs, AV developers, and fleet operators over the next 12-24 months. A credible pathway to AV commercialization should lower Uber’s future customer acquisition and driver-supply costs even if it initially looks like a margin swap rather than pure accretion. That makes the risk asymmetrical: any proof-point on AV launch cadence can rerate the stock quickly, but delays do not necessarily break the thesis as long as core bookings and EBITDA stay compounding.

The market is probably still discounting how durable UBER’s earnings revisions can be versus the consensus narrative that mobility is late-cycle. Elevated gas prices can actually support the economics of rideshare versus personal driving, while eating into local commuting and making delivery frequency more resilient than feared. The contrarian miss is that the bear case increasingly needs a demand collapse or a severe regulatory shock; absent that, the more likely downside is simply slower multiple expansion, which is easier to hedge than to short outright.

DASH is the quiet loser here: stronger Uber delivery execution plus membership-driven retention increases the odds that Uber keeps taking share at the premium end of the basket, where order frequency and basket economics matter more than pure promo spend. If Uber proves it can grow without leaning on discounts, competitors will be forced into lower-margin defense, which should show up first in local marketing spend before it hits reported growth.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long UBER vs short DASH into the next 1-2 quarters: the pair captures relative monetization quality and should benefit if Uber keeps printing upward earnings revisions; target 10-15% relative outperformance, stop if Uber engagement trends decelerate materially.
• Add to UBER on pullbacks near support rather than chasing strength; use a 3-6 month horizon and size for a rerating toward the low- to mid-90s if bookings and EBITDA continue compounding.
• Buy UBER calls 6-9 months out with strikes ~15-20% above spot to express AV optionality without overpaying for near-term catalyst timing; this is a convex way to own a 2026 launch narrative.
• Short a basket of smaller ride-hail / delivery proxies rather than UBER outright if you need a hedge against consumer softening; the competitive squeeze is more likely to show up in second-tier names first than in the category leader.
• If you already own DASH, hedge with a partial UBER long-short overlay ahead of the next earnings cycle, since the market is likely to reward mix/retention more than headline order growth.