Uber Q3 earnings show strong growth but $479 million legal hit cuts profit

Uber’s latest Q3 earnings report came out on Wednesday, showing strong business growth but a big fall in profit because of a major legal cost of $479 million for “undisclosed legal and regulatory matters.” The company said this big charge hurt its profits, even though it had one of the biggest trip-volume jumps in its history.

Uber’s operating income for the quarter ending September 30 was $1.11 billion, much lower than analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah said the profit drop happened partly due to these legal and regulatory issues, but Uber didn’t give details about which cases or settlements caused the charge.