Uber posted its first full-year profit since going public in 2019 and its stock is hitting all-time highs as strong bookings in the final quarter of the year pushed profit and revenue beyond Wall Street expectations.

When DoorDash began, its three co-founders did all the deliveries themselves.

Shares of Uber are surging after the company said there is little evidence that Americans are pulling back on hailing rides or ordering food deliveries despite soaring inflation.

As Uber pushed into markets around the world, the ride-sharing service lobbied political leaders to relax labor and taxi laws and used a “kill switch″ to thwart regulators and law enforcement.

Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft say they will cover the legal fees of any driver who is sued under the new law prohibiting most abortions in Texas.

Uber’s ride-hailing service is regaining the momentum that it lost during the pandemic, but it’s coming at a cost that’s raising more doubts about the company’s ability to make money.

Uber saw record demand in the first quarter as its food delivery business grew while lockdowns ended and more customers hailed rides.

It's an early sign of what companies like Uber face as authorities get to grips with regulating the app-based gig economy. San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc. says a driver's minimum wage will be calculated based on the time they accept a trip through the app. Of course you should," said James Farrar, one of two former Uber drivers who filed the initial claim. THE GIG ECONOMY'S FUTUREThe Uber case is part of broader efforts to rein in the gig economy that are gaining traction, at least in Europe. AdCEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been a dvocating for reforms to what he called outdated labor laws that force gig workers to choose between flexibility and social protections.

In 2020, the ride-hailing service was forced to rely more heavily on its food-delivery service. But analysts believe Uber’s pioneering ride-hailing service will also eventually bounce back as more people are vaccinated against COVID-19. He also predicted that Uber's losses may evaporate by the end of this year. The company’s ride-hailing service brought in revenue of $1.48 billion in the quarter, a 52% drop from the prior year. Meanwhile, revenue in Uber's food-delivery service more than tripled from the previous year to $1.37 billion.

SAN RAMON, Calif. – Uber is selling off its autonomous vehicles development arm as the ride-hailing company slims down after its revenues were pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic. Self-driving vehicle technology company Aurora will acquire the employees and technology behind Uber's Advanced Technologies Group in an stock transaction, the companies said Monday. Uber will also invest $400 million into Aurora, and Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Aurora's board of directors. After the transaction, Aurora will be worth $10 billion and Uber will hold 26% stake in the company, Aurora CEO Chris Urmson said in an interview. San Francisco-based Uber will lose a critical piece of its company after the pandemic cut into its finances by suppressing demand for shared rides.

Uber's food delivery business brought in more money during the third quarter than its signature rides business , showing just how much consumer behavior has changed — and how far the company has adapted — since the pandemic struck. Uber brought in $3.13 billion in revenue, down 18% from the same time last year. Despite the decline, the rides business showed improvement from the second quarter, when it brought in just $790 million. Uber’s food delivery business also brought in more revenue than its rides business in the second quarter, when demand for rides was even lower due to the pandemic. Uber also expanded its grocery delivery service, which is now operating in 10 countries outside the U.S.

Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Instacart and others sought to get out of those requirements, and after failing in court, succeeded in convincing voters to give them an exemption from most of the year-old law’s provisions. A record $200 million spending spree by the companies and their supporters helped them win the vote. The investment yielded a huge return for Uber and Lyft, whose combined market value climbed by $10 billion on Wednesday. Uber told its drivers the company would let drivers know how to enroll in benefits in the next few weeks. “It’s not really fair that Uber, Lyft etc.

FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2020, file photo travelers request an Uber ride at Los Angeles International Airport's LAX-it pick up terminal. A California ballot measure that would exempt Uber, Lyft and other app-based delivery drivers from being classified as company employees eligible for benefits and job protections led Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in early vote counts. San Francisco-based Uber and Lyft had threatened to pull out of California if they lost. Opponents said the companies exploit drivers to keep profits high and the ballot measure would deprive workers of rights like overtime pay and workers’ compensation. Supporters said the measure would allow drivers to maintain the freedom to work hours they choose and would provide other benefits.

And just like every election year, it’s of the utmost importance that citizens cast their ballot in this year’s election. If you’ve registered but are already concerned about how you will make it to a polling station, the ride-sharing company Uber wants to step in and lend a hand. As Election Day approaches, and as part of its “Get Out the Vote” campaign, the company aims to help people find their polling location, as well as offer discounted rides to and from the poll during early voting. “As we look ahead to this year’s election, we are committed to doing our part to make sure every citizen has access to vote,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. Uber officials said as Election Day nears, people will begin to have access to important information in the app.

Then came what she calls Nashvilles quadruple-whammy: a tornado, coronavirus closures, protests that rocked downtown, then more closures. Bicknese says business has gone from dismal to tolerable, but only because so many drivers have voluntarily stayed home. Bicknese chose to keep driving because she didn't think she could make her car and insurance payments on unemployment. Then what happened is so many drivers filed for unemployment and stopped driving that demand came back," she said. Instead of well-heeled tourists, Bicknese finds herself driving people on unemployment, factory workers and patients travelling to medical appointments.

NEW YORK Uber has cut 3,000 jobs from its workforce, its second major wave of layoffs in two weeks as the coronavirus slashed demand for rides. It will also pursue strategic alternatives for its job recruiting app, Uber Works, Khosrowshahi said. I wanted there to be a different answer ... but there simply was no good news to hear.Uber's rides business, the company's main profit generator, fell 80% in April compared to the same month last year. Uber's drivers are considered freelance or contract workers, not full-fledged employees, so despite the sharp drop in their incomes from obliterated demand, they are not eligible for severance or benefits from the company. One silver lining to the pandemic is that Uber's Eats business has become more important to people staying home and restaurants, and delivery is here to stay, Khosrowshahi said.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - Uber is still reporting steep losses but its revenue growth is showing some promise. On Monday, the ride-hailing company reported it lost $1.16 billion during the third quarter including $401 million in stock-based compensation expenses related to its public offering in May. In the second quarter, it reported a staggering loss of $5.2 billion, about $3.9 billion of which was related to IPO expenses. There are some bright spots: Uber posted revenue of $3.8 billion during the quarter, a 30% increase from a year earlier. Revenue growth was just 12% in the second quarter compared to the year prior.

KTXL via CNN(CNN) - Uber laid off approximately 350 employees across several different teams on Monday, a spokesperson confirmed to CNN Business. In addition to the cuts, some employees were asked to relocate to other offices. Over 70% of the employees impacted by this round of layoffs are based in the US and Canada. In September, Uber laid off about 435 employees from its product and engineering teams. In August, Uber reported its largest quarterly loss ever: $5.2 billion in the three months ending in June.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - With pressure mounting on its business, Uber decided to take a well-worn page from the Big Tech playbook: hold a flashy press event. Khosrowshahi also showed off what he described as "the next generation of the Uber app," with more integration of its food delivery and micromobility services. "It's lipstick on several pigs at once," said David Kirsch, a University of Maryland business professor. Gad Allon, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School, described Uber's announcements as focusing on small issues when big challenges remain unresolved. Chen also thinks that Uber's announcement of expanding its rewards program to include food delivery will be helpful.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - Uber laid off hundreds more employees -- this time, across its engineering and product teams in an effort to "reset." The company confirmed to CNN Business Tuesday that about 435 positions -- 170 in its product team and 265 on its engineering team -- were eliminated. The company said the layoffs represent about 8% of the product and engineering teams. Notably, the layoffs did not impact product and engineering staffers working on its growing meal-delivery business known as Eats. After careful consideration, our Engineering and Product leaders concluded the answer to this question in many respects was no."

CNN imageSAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Even by Uber's standards, the company burned through a staggering amount of money in its most recent quarter. Uber said Thursday that it lost $5.2 billion in the three months ending in June, its largest quarterly loss ever, fueled mostly by $3.9 billion in stock-based compensation expenses related to its public offering during the quarter. Without those charges, however, the company still lost about $1.3 billion during the quarter, a roughly 50% spike from the year prior. Khosrowshahi stressed that Uber's ride-hailing service, along with its meal delivery service, each have the potential to "be a spectacular business long-term." But even as it invests aggressively, Uber's revenue growth continues to slow.

Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesUber is laying off roughly one-third of its global marketing staff. In an email sent by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to staff and seen by CNN Business, he says, "we are not making these changes because Marketing has become less important to Uber. The layoffs are just the latest turbulence inside Uber in the less than three months since it went public. In early June, Khosrowshahi announced that two top executives were leaving the company, including chief marketing officer Rebecca Messina. According to an Uber spokesperson, Hazelbaker and Khosrowshahi announced a new marketing team structure to staff Monday.