(Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies Inc. reported gross bookings in the first quarter that missed analysts’ estimates with softer-than-expected demand in Latin America and earlier holidays weighing on orders.

First-quarter gross bookings, which includes ride hails, delivery orders and driver and merchant earnings but not tips, rose 20% from a year earlier to $37.7 billion, the San Francisco-based company said Wednesday. That’s below the midpoint of the company’s own guidance provided in February and the average analyst estimate of $38 billion. Revenue was in line with expectations. 

Shares fell as much as 9.4% to $63.84 after the market open in New York, the biggest intraday slump since October 2022.

Chief Financial Officer Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah attributed the bookings miss during the quarter to softer ridehailing activity in Latin America — compared with last year’s heightened demand tied to the return of Brazil’s Carnival. He also noted in prepared remarks the earlier start of holidays such as Easter and Ramadan.

The miss brings into question Uber’s strength in US ridesharing and food deliveries as rivals including Lyft Inc. and DoorDash Inc. both beat Wall Street’s expectations last quarter. Investors have become increasingly focused on whether Uber can sustain double-digit growth with new product offerings, shifting away from their focus on Uber’s bottom-line results since Uber hit a profitability milestone last year.

Uber said Wednesday that bookings this quarter will total $38.75 billion to $40.25 billion, with the midpoint falling just below Wall Street’s estimates of $40 billion.

“We think investor expectations have gotten ahead of the stock following the company’s analyst day in mid-February,” Wedbush analysts said. “Recent currency headwinds may have also been overlooked by the Street,” Wedbush said while noting that its underlying business remains healthy.

Over the past year, the San Francisco-based firm has added more transportation options such as two-wheelers, taxis, shared rides and tens of thousands of monthly autonomous rides through a partnership with Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo. So far, Uber said these efforts have managed to attract new consumers and increase ride frequency, while revenue growth in the mobility business has continued to taper. Still, the firm called out particularly strong growth in airport rides in international markets and increased demand during the workday.

The delivery business, which has also seen moderating overall growth, proved a bright spot, surpassing expectations on gross bookings in the first quarter. Order frequency reached an all-time high with Uber offering global users more delivery services such as groceries and retail purchases, as well as more perks through the paid membership program Uber One.

In the coming weeks, the company is integrating its Uber Eats interface into the Instacart app so it can fulfill restaurant orders placed by customers there, part of a partnership announced Tuesday. Uber’s chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi said the company will further leverage the technology to pursue similar partnerships.

Uber’s Freight business remained a drag due to industry-wide headwinds, but the decline in bookings for the segment has slowed compared with previous quarters.

The company’s operating profit on a generally accepted accounting principles basis, a key measure of profitability, fell to $172 million in the first quarter, down from $652 million in the prior period. Mahendra-Rajah cited an increase in reserve built up for litigation and regulatory efforts, and to pay for class-action lawsuit settlements such as the $178 million compensation for Australian taxi drivers in March. 

Last week, Uber was sued by thousands of London’s black-cab drivers seeking hundreds of millions of pounds, accusing it of unlawfully operating in the capital city. Earlier this year, it was fined $11 million by the Dutch data protection authority for allegedly violating drivers’ privacy rights.

Uber shares have rallied nearly 90% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 Index. Still, the stock has fallen more than 9% since Uber in February announced its first buyback plan, for a total of $7 billion.

(Adds share prices in the third paragraph and analyst commentary in the seventh paragraph)

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