Uber Shares Fall 1.9% on Autonomous Vehicle Investment Costs

Uber Technologies shares fell 1.9 percent on Friday, closing at 73.89, as investors weighed the costs of the company's expanding investments in autonomous vehicles against its core ride-hailing operations. The decline capped a three-day drop of about 5 percent for the stock, mirroring a broader technology sector retreat where the Nasdaq lost 2.01 percent amid concerns over rising oil prices and inflation.

The pullback followed Uber's recent announcements of major partnerships aimed at integrating robotaxis into its platform. On March 19, Uber disclosed a deal with electric vehicle maker Rivian to invest an initial 300 million dollars, potentially scaling to 1.25 billion dollars if self-driving milestones are met. Under the agreement, Uber plans to deploy 10,000 fully autonomous R2 vehicles starting in San Francisco and Miami in 2028, with an option for up to 40,000 more from 2030 onward. The fleet would operate exclusively on Uber's network, with expansion targeted to 25 U.S. cities by 2031.

Earlier in the week, Uber expanded its collaboration with Nvidia to launch robotaxis in Los Angeles and San Francisco as early as 2027, aiming to reach 28 cities worldwide by 2028. Uber's...