One growth stock that’s boosted my retirement portfolio recently is Uber (NYSE: UBER). Over the last 12 months, it’s risen about 65% in US dollar terms (it’s listed in the US).
I remain very bullish on it however. In fact, this is one of my top stock ideas for the next decade.
A fast-growing company
There’s a lot to like about this company from an investment perspective, in my view.
Right now, Uber’s revenues are growing at a rapid rate as the company expands into new markets (16% growth’s expected this year). Not only is it launching in new geographic markets but it’s also adding whole new features to its app, such as the ability to book train tickets.
Just last week, I booked a train ride from London to Southampton through the Uber app. The advantage was that I received a 10% credit that I can use on car rides with the company.
But it’s not just revenues that are climbing – profits are too. This year, Uber’s earnings per share are expected to rise 11% to $1.03. Next year, Wall Street analysts expect growth of a whopping 114%. This earnings growth – which is one reason the share price is moving higher – is being driven by a focus on efficiency by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Enormous long-term potential
Looking further out, this is where things get really exciting. You see, in the future, self-driving cabs (‘robo-taxis’) are likely to be a widespread transportation option (they’re already on the roads in some US cities). And Uber looks set to play a major role in the industry.
Given that it already has an well-established mobility app with around 150m users worldwide, it has the perfect platform for any car manufacturer with autonomous vehicle (AV) technology that’s looking to move into the robo-taxi space.
As CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently said in the company’s Q2 earnings call: “Put simply, Uber is uniquely positioned to offer tremendous value for AV players looking to deploy their technology at scale. Uber can provide enormous demand without AV players needing to invest capital toward acquiring customers or building the marketplace tech that delivers reliability at the standard that consumers have come to expect.”
So I think there’s massive growth potential here.
I’m expecting bumps in the road
I’ll point out that, while I’m very bullish on Uber, I don’t expect its share price to rise in a straight line over the next decade. I reckon it’ll be a bumpy ride.
In the short term, the company could experience a growth slowdown if we see further consumer weakness (the good news here is that Uber tends to serve more affluent consumers).
Meanwhile, in the long term, there are threats to my robo-taxi thesis. Tesla, for example, could attempt to launch its own AV taxi service.
Another issue to be aware of is regulatory intervention. This is a company that’s often targeted by regulators due to the fact that it’s so disruptive.
Taking a long-term view however, I’m very excited about this stock. With Uber’s market-cap sitting at just $155bn today, I see a lot of room for growth in the years ahead.
I plan to continue buying the stock – which currently has a forward-looking P/E ratio of 33 using the 2025 earnings forecast – on pullbacks.
