Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) had a bruising Wednesday session on December 10, 2025, as the stock sold off sharply on the back of European taxi protests, an apparent retreat from aggressive EV incentives, and eye‑catching progress from rival Waymo in autonomous ride‑hailing.
Here’s a clear rundown of what actually happened after the bell — and the key things traders and longer‑term investors should have on their radar before markets open on December 11.
Where Uber stock stands after the bell
By the official close on December 10, UBER finished at $84.16, down about 5.5% on the day. Intraday, the stock opened near $88.6, briefly traded just under $88.8, and sank to the low‑$83s before settling near the lows, on more than 51 million shares traded, well above normal volume. [1]
After hours, things calmed down. Extended trading data from MarketBeat showed Uber hovering around $84.15 as of 7:59 p.m. Eastern, essentially flat versus the official close. [2]
Zooming out a bit:
- The stock has now dropped roughly 9% over the last two sessions, from Monday’s close near $92.6 to Wednesday’s close at $84.2. [3]
- Uber now trades about 17.5% below its 52‑week high around $102, set in late September, according to MarketWatch data. [4]
- Even after this pullback, Uber shares remain roughly 30% higher year‑to‑date, according to recent coverage from Yahoo Finance and Invezz. [5]
In other words: the stock has given back a chunk of recent gains very quickly — but it’s correcting from a strong multi‑quarter run rather than imploding from a position of weakness.
Why did UBER sell off so hard?
Three big narratives collided on December 10: regulation in Europe, EV strategy confusion, and autonomous‑driving competition.
1. Taxi protests and an “anti‑Uber” law in Barcelona
The ugliest headlines came out of Catalonia.
- In Barcelona, taxi association Élite Taxi led a general stoppage and large‑scale protest against proposed changes to a so‑called “anti‑Uber” law. The proposed rules would slash the number of ride‑hailing VTC licences in the city from about 990 to roughly 390, effectively shrinking the operating room for platforms like Uber and Cabify. [6]
- Local reporting notes that the new taxi law aims at the gradual elimination of urban ride‑hailing services in Barcelona, intensifying fears that Uber could be squeezed out of one of Europe’s major tourist hubs. [7]
- Coverage from outlets including the Economic Times and Yahoo Finance adds that around 80% of Catalan taxi drivers reportedly joined the protests, and similar anti‑Uber sentiment has surfaced in the UK’s Cotswolds region and in Halifax, Canada, where municipal reports call for tighter oversight of ride‑hailing companies. [8]
In short: investors were reminded that regulatory risk is not some old 2017 story. Local politics in a few cities can still change the economics of Uber’s business at surprising speed.
2. EV incentives: from “Go Electric” to “go figure?”
The second hit came from the electric‑vehicle narrative, which turned messy.
On the positive side, Uber has spent the last few years positioning itself as an EV cheerleader:
- In October, Reuters reported that Uber rebranded its “Uber Green” product as “Uber Electric” and launched a “Go Electric” grant program offering $4,000 to eligible US drivers to help them switch to EVs, as part of its goal for zero‑emission rides globally by 2040. Uber claimed about 200,000 EVs on its platform and highlighted that EV adoption among its drivers in North America and Europe is outpacing the general population, with additional rider discounts to nudge passengers into electric trips. [9]
But last week brought the hangover:
- A Bloomberg Law report described how Uber abruptly discontinued its monthly EV bonuses, which had previously helped drivers justify the higher cost of electric cars. [10]
- Benzinga, summarising Bloomberg’s reporting, noted that Uber now expects to miss its prior pledge of achieving 100% EV adoption in North America and Europe by 2030, fuelling fears that regulators and climate‑conscious customers may sour on the company. [11]
- CleanTechnica pounced on the shift with an opinion piece arguing that Uber is effectively abandoning its climate leadership after drawing closer to Donald Trump’s policy stance, a framing that, regardless of your politics, adds reputational risk to the story. [12]
Put bluntly, the market now has to reconcile two clashing narratives: flashy EV initiatives on one side and a sudden rollback of everyday EV pay incentives on the other. That uncertainty is rarely great for multiples.
3. Waymo’s robotaxis grab the spotlight
While Uber was fighting on the regulatory and ESG fronts, rival Waymo (owned by Alphabet) grabbed the cool‑tech headlines:
- Waymo announced it is now delivering over 1 million fully driverless rides each month, and it expects to hit that pace weekly by the end of 2026 as it expands to around 20 more cities, including Tokyo and London. [13]
- The company says it has logged about 14 million trips in 2025 alone, with an all‑electric fleet that has avoided tens of millions of kilograms of CO₂ emissions while sharply reducing serious crashes compared with human drivers. [14]
- Investor Ross Gerber used the numbers to taunt on social media that “Uber is cooked,” highlighting investors’ fear that fully autonomous services could eventually siphon off the most profitable urban demand. [15]
For now, Waymo’s footprint is tiny next to Uber’s global platform, but the optics matter: on a day when Uber looked politically and environmentally vulnerable, its most technologically advanced competitor looked like it was lapping the field.
4. Bearish technicals and options flows
It wasn’t just the headlines.
- AInvest noted that Uber’s slide took it down to an intraday low around $82.8, a drop of almost 6% from the prior close, with the price pressing against the lower end of its Bollinger band and trading below short‑ and medium‑term moving averages — a textbook short‑term breakdown. [16]
- Benzinga’s technical read similarly flagged Uber trading well below its 20‑, 50‑, and 100‑day moving averages, with the RSI in the mid‑40s (not yet deeply oversold) and key support around the low‑$80s and resistance around the low‑$90s. [17]
- The AInvest piece also highlighted heavy short‑dated options activity, with traders focusing on out‑of‑the‑money puts for aggressive downside bets and calls near the current price as rebound hedges. [18]
That combination of ugly headlines and fragile technicals was enough to knock Uber more than 5% lower and even modestly drag the SPY ETF into the red, with QuiverQuant noting that Uber’s drop was one of the notable contributors to the S&P 500’s tiny loss on the day. [19]
Under the hood: Uber’s fundamentals still look powerful
Here’s the twist: none of Wednesday’s drama came from new financial results. On the numbers, Uber’s latest quarter looked very strong.
Q3 2025: Growth, profitability, and free cash flow
In prepared remarks for Q3 2025, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted a quarter of accelerating growth: [20]
- Trips grew 22% year‑over‑year, driven heavily by mobility.
- Gross bookings grew 21%, the strongest trip‑volume increase since pre‑Covid days.
- Adjusted EBITDA hit $2.3 billion, up about 33% year‑on‑year.
- Trailing twelve‑month free cash flow reached roughly $8.7 billion, underscoring how capital‑light the model has become.
Independent write‑ups of the quarter add more color:
- Mobility gross bookings reached about $25.1 billion, up nearly 20% year‑over‑year, with trips growing even faster than bookings — a sign of broad demand. [21]
- Delivery continues to evolve from simple meal delivery into “local commerce infrastructure”: Delivery gross bookings grew ~25% to $23.3 billion, while delivery revenue grew about 29%, helped by rapid growth in high‑margin advertising. [22]
- Freight, the problem child, was roughly flat but small relative to the total, effectively a call option on a future freight up‑cycle. [23]
Even more important from a shareholder perspective: Uber ended Q3 with about $9.1 billion in cash and $10.3 billion in equity stakes, refinanced parts of its debt stack, and repurchased roughly $4.6 billion of stock year‑to‑date, while authorizing a further $20 billion in buybacks. [24]
A separate Q3 summary from IndexBox notes that revenue grew about 21% to roughly $13.5 billion, beating expectations, even though the stock still fell on the day of the earnings release — a sign that investors were already focused on valuation and risk, not the basic health of the business. [25]
Long‑term growth outlook
S&P Global Ratings, in a late‑November research update, projected that Uber’s total gross bookings could grow around 17–18% in 2025 and about 15% in 2026, with mobility bookings compounding at roughly the high‑teens rate through 2026. [26]
On the structural growth side:
- Management continues to guide to mid‑to‑high‑teens gross bookings growth over a multi‑year horizon, and is targeting adjusted EBITDA growth at more than twice the gross‑bookings rate, which, if achieved, implies 30–40% growth in profit metrics. [27]
- Bloomberg reporting suggests non‑restaurant deliveries (grocery, retail, convenience) could reach around $12.5 billion in gross bookings in 2025, underscoring how much runway remains outside food. [28]
None of that guarantees a happy share price, but it does mean the business engine is running much hotter than the last time regulators had Uber in a headlock.
What Wall Street is saying now
Despite the ugly tape, the consensus view on UBER is still clearly positive.
- MarketBeat tracks 41 analysts covering Uber. As of Wednesday’s close, the stock carried a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 32 Buys and 9 Holds, and zero Sells. The average 12‑month price target is about $108.60, implying roughly 29% upside from around $84. [29]
- QuiverQuant’s collation of recent research notes shows a median target around $110, with prominent firms including Morgan Stanley, UBS, TD Cowen, BMO, Barclays, DA Davidson and others all in the bullish camp. [30]
There are signs of nerves at the margin:
- Morgan Stanley recently trimmed its Uber target from $115 to $110, while maintaining an “overweight” rating, reflecting recognition of the regulatory and EV‑policy risks even within a broadly bullish thesis. [31]
- Yahoo Finance’s longer‑term “price prediction” feature notes that some analysts think Uber could plausibly trade in the $180‑plus range by 2030, but those are scenario‑driven projections, not promises. [32]
One thoughtful deep‑dive from independent analyst “Level‑Headed Investing” argues that, on conservative assumptions of ~20% free‑cash‑flow growth and a low‑20s FCF multiple, Uber’s intrinsic value might sit closer to $130 per share, suggesting the current price could represent roughly a 40% discount — but that’s one model among many, not a universal truth. [33]
Technical setup before the December 11, 2025 open
Short‑term traders will care less about 2030 and more about the next few hours.
Support, resistance, and “oversold or just sad?”
Putting together the independent technical reads:
- Uber is now trading below its 20‑day, 50‑day and 100‑day moving averages, firmly in short‑term downtrend territory. [34]
- Momentum gauges such as the RSI sit in the mid‑40s, which is neither wildly oversold nor comfortable — more “fragile equilibrium” than “capitulation.” [35]
- AInvest and Benzinga both flag support in the low‑$80s (around $81–82) and resistance in roughly the $89–93 band. A decisive break below support could invite more algorithmic selling, while a bounce toward that resistance zone would simply move the stock back into the middle of its recent range. [36]
The quant site StockInvest, which models “fair” opening prices, currently estimates a theoretical open near $85.20 for December 11, a bit above Wednesday’s close — essentially a modest bounce in a still‑bearish channel. That’s a model, not a prophecy. [37]
Insider activity: not exactly diamond hands
Another small but psychologically important data point:
QuiverQuant’s compilation of insider trading shows 17 insider transactions over the last six months — 16 sales and just 1 tiny purchase. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi alone sold about 450,000 shares, with other senior executives also predominantly selling. [38]
Insider selling doesn’t automatically mean trouble — executives diversify, exercise options, and pay taxes — but the one‑sidedness of the flow makes some investors more cautious about buying every dip.
Key things to watch before Thursday’s open
If you’re trying to understand how UBER might trade at the open on December 11, 2025, here are the big levers:
- Fresh headlines out of Europe
- Any update from Catalan lawmakers on the Barcelona taxi law — especially signals of compromise or further hardening — could sway sentiment.
- Additional local moves in the UK or Canada to tighten rules on ride‑hailing would reinforce the “regulatory overhang” narrative. [39]
- Uber’s messaging on EVs
- Investors will be listening for any follow‑up communication from Uber about the end of EV bonuses: are there new targeted incentives to replace them? Is the 2030 EV goal formally revised, or just “softened”?
- Clearer guidance could ease ESG concerns — or, if handled poorly, deepen them. [40]
- Robotaxi and autonomy newsflow
- Waymo’s announcement hit on a thin news day; further details from Alphabet or other AV players could either amplify or fade the “Uber is behind” anxiety.
- Remember, Uber is not ignoring autonomy: its Q3 commentary and partner announcements with Nvidia, Lucid, Nuro and others point toward a hybrid human‑plus‑autonomous marketplace strategy, albeit one that’s still mostly future tense. [41]
- Macro backdrop and rates
- The Federal Reserve just cut rates by 25 basis points in its final decision of the year, a move that typically helps long‑duration growth assets like Uber, even if the effect doesn’t show up immediately in daily noise. [42]
- If broader indices bounce on a “dovish cut” narrative, Uber could ride that tide; if markets fade the move, idiosyncratic risks will stand out more.
- Pre‑market tape and short‑term positioning
- Watch where UBER trades in low‑liquidity pre‑market sessions: a push below the low‑$80s would suggest technical sellers still dominate, while stabilization above $84–85 would hint that dip‑buyers are stepping in.
- The cluster of near‑dated options around strikes in the high‑70s and mid‑80s means volatility could remain elevated as market makers rebalance. [43]
Bottom line: strong engine, messy traffic
Right now, Uber looks like a company with clear operating momentum and serious free‑cash‑flow power, trading at a price that reflects very real political, regulatory and technological risks:
- The business: growing bookings in the mid‑teens to low‑20s, scaling profits faster than revenue, buying back stock, and expanding from rides into delivery, grocery, retail, and logistics. [44]
- The risks: increasingly loud protests and regulatory pushes in core markets, a muddled EV story that could irritate both drivers and regulators, escalating competition from robotaxis, and insider selling that makes some investors wonder how much upside insiders see from here. [45]
For Thursday’s open, the market’s job is simply to rebalance those forces. Whether UBER drifts sideways, stages a relief bounce, or extends its slide will depend less on any one headline and more on how traders collectively weigh short‑term fear versus long‑term cash‑flow math.
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. www.marketbeat.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. www.marketwatch.com, 5. finance.yahoo.com, 6. elpais.com, 7. en.ara.cat, 8. m.economictimes.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. news.bloomberglaw.com, 11. www.benzinga.com, 12. cleantechnica.com, 13. www.benzinga.com, 14. www.benzinga.com, 15. www.benzinga.com, 16. www.ainvest.com, 17. www.benzinga.com, 18. www.ainvest.com, 19. www.quiverquant.com, 20. s23.q4cdn.com, 21. www.levelheadedinvesting.com, 22. www.levelheadedinvesting.com, 23. www.levelheadedinvesting.com, 24. www.levelheadedinvesting.com, 25. www.indexbox.io, 26. www.spglobal.com, 27. www.levelheadedinvesting.com, 28. finance.yahoo.com, 29. www.marketbeat.com, 30. www.quiverquant.com, 31. www.tradingview.com, 32. finance.yahoo.com, 33. www.levelheadedinvesting.com, 34. www.benzinga.com, 35. www.benzinga.com, 36. www.ainvest.com, 37. stockinvest.us, 38. www.quiverquant.com, 39. m.economictimes.com, 40. news.bloomberglaw.com, 41. www.indexbox.io, 42. finance.yahoo.com, 43. www.ainvest.com, 44. s23.q4cdn.com, 45. elpais.com
