While Wall Street was busy watching the road ahead, UberUBER

pulled over and filled its profit tank. The ride-hailing kingpin’s Q1 posted an $0.83 EPS (vs. $0.50 expected), marking a 66% beat, but fell beneath revenue and growth targets. Investors focused on the slowdown, sending shares skidding up to 6.7% despite the profit surge.

• Gross bookings and revenue missed analyst expectations by 0.47% and 0.77%, respectively — casting shadows as potential warning signs of slowing growth momentum.
• Swinging from last year’s $654M loss to a hefty ~$1.78B profit, Uber projects an EPS of $0.79 for Q2 and $0.86 for Q3 — with increasing analyst confidence amid three upward revisions.

Beyond the numbers: CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah blames the bookings miss on decreased US inbound travel amid border tensions and trade wars. To compensate, Uber is betting big on autonomous vehicles as “the single greatest opportunity ahead,” announcing five new partnerships last week alone. Otherwise, Uber’s $700M acquisition of Turkey’s Trendyol Go mirrors rival DoorDash’sDASH

$5.1B spending spree on Deliveroo and SevenRooms — showcasing how both giants supersize global orders in this delivery land grab.