NEW YORK, Jan 6, 2026, 11:21 (EST)
- Uber shares fell about 2% after Melius Research cut the stock to Sell and set a $73 target
- Wolfe Research set a $110 price target, data showed
- Investors are watching 2026 robotaxi timelines ahead of Uber’s next earnings update
Uber Technologies (UBER) shares slid on Monday after Melius Research downgraded the ride-hailing company to “sell” and set a $73 price target, as investors weighed rising robotaxi competition. The stock was down 1.9% at $81.30 in afternoon trading, putting Melius’ target about 10% below that level; rival Lyft fell 2.8%. 1
The call lands as autonomous vehicles (AVs), or self-driving cars, move closer to broader commercial use in 2026. For Uber, the risk is that robotaxi operators end up controlling more of the economics of each trip, squeezing its “take rate” — the share of rider spending it keeps after paying drivers and incentives.
Melius analyst Conor Cunningham wrote that “Even with Uber’s position, AV competition is set to rise in 2026 and beyond.” He argued Uber’s push to act as a “demand aggregator” for new AV entrants may not protect returns, and flagged the risk of further expansion announcements from players such as Waymo and Tesla. 2
Some analysts remain more upbeat. Wolfe Research analyst Shweta Khajuria set a $110 price target — about 35% above Monday’s trading level — according to data tracked by Quiver Quantitative. 3
Uber’s stock trades at about 3.4 times trailing sales — revenue over the past 12 months — and about 10 times trailing earnings, with a market value near $171 billion, according to Trefis data. Trefis lists Feb. 4 as the next earnings date and shows expectations of about $14 billion in revenue and $0.83 a share in earnings. 4
Uber has aimed to stay central to autonomy through partnerships rather than building a full self-driving system. In an October press release on a deal with Nvidia and Stellantis, Uber said Stellantis would supply at least 5,000 Level 4 vehicles — capable of driving themselves in limited areas — for robotaxi operations, and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, “Autonomous mobility will transform our cities for the better.” 5
Uber also agreed last year to invest $300 million in EV maker Lucid as part of a robotaxi deal that aims to deploy more than 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro’s self-driving technology over six years starting in 2026, Reuters reported. 6
