"Gig Economy"! The four major "freelance" platforms in the United States released their financial reports on the same day, with significant increases in free cash flow

The U.S. gig economy is demonstrating strong profitability.

On August 6, the four major "freelance" platforms in the U.S.—Uber, DoorDash, Lyft, and Airbnb—released their financial reports, showcasing robust profitability. The four companies collectively generated $4.2 billion in free cash flow, significantly exceeding expectations.

Among them, Uber leads the industry with $2.475 billion in free cash flow, a year-on-year increase of 44%, with revenue reaching $12.7 billion, an 18% increase. The total bookings for the company's ride-hailing and food delivery businesses grew by 16% and 20%, respectively, indicating sustained growth in a highly competitive market.

DoorDash saw a 23% increase in total order value, reaching $24.2 billion, with its stock price rising 3% in after-hours trading. Airbnb's revenue grew by 13% to $3.1 billion, net profit increased by 16%, and it announced a $6 billion stock buyback plan. In contrast, Lyft's revenue of $1.59 billion was slightly below expectations, but its free cash flow still reached $329 million.

Analysts say this strong performance reflects the deep expansion of the U.S. gig economy. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2012 to 2023, non-employer businesses grew at an average annual rate of 2.7%, far exceeding the 1.1% growth rate of traditional employer businesses, with the ride-hailing and transportation warehousing sectors being the main drivers.

Uber Leads the Gig Economy, Lyft's Profitability Exceeds Uber

Uber showcased its strength as the leader of the gig economy in the second quarter, with free cash flow soaring 44% year-on-year to $2.475 billion. The company's revenue reached $12.7 billion, an 18% year-on-year increase, surpassing analysts' expectations of $12.46 billion.

The total bookings for Uber's ride-hailing business grew by 16%, and food delivery business grew by 20% to $21.7 billion.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated that the number of users in the Uber One membership program grew by 60% year-on-year in June, reaching over 36 million, and these users contributed to more than one-third of the bookings.

Uber also announced a $20 billion stock buyback plan and raised its third-quarter total bookings guidance to $48.25 billion to $49.75 billion, above analysts' expectations of $47.3 billion.

In an interview, Khosrowshahi mentioned that the company is preparing for the era of autonomous taxis, saying, "Just as we seek to add more human drivers, we also want to add more robot drivers."

Although Lyft's revenue of $1.59 billion was slightly below the expected $1.61 billion, its earnings per share of $0.10 exceeded the expected $0.04. The company's free cash flow reached $329 million, accounting for 7% of total bookings, with a profitability level higher than Uber.

Lyft raised its total bookings guidance for the quarter to $4.65 billion to $4.8 billion, well above the expected $4.59 billion.

DoorDash's Food Delivery Business Continues to Expand

DoorDash's second-quarter performance significantly exceeded expectations, with revenue growing by 25% year-on-year to $3.28 billion, surpassing the expected $3.17 billion. Earnings per share were $0.65, exceeding expectations by $0.20 Adjusted EBITDA reached $655 million.

The company's total market booking value (GOV) reached $24.2 billion, exceeding the expected $23.6 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 23%. Total order volume grew by 20% to 761 million orders, also surpassing analysts' expectations of 749 million orders.

DoorDash stated that strong performance in U.S. food orders drove overall growth, with DashPass members' ordering frequency continuing to rise.

DoorDash is accelerating its expansion in Europe and will compete directly with Uber, which has already established a strong presence in the region. The company expects third-quarter market GOV to be between $24.2 billion and $24.7 billion, with adjusted EBITDA expected to be between $680 million and $780 million.

Accommodation platform Airbnb shows robust performance

Airbnb's second-quarter revenue was $3.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13%, exceeding market expectations of $3.02 billion. Net profit was $642 million, a year-on-year increase of 16%, with earnings per share of $1.03, higher than the expected $0.94.

Despite facing global economic uncertainties, the company maintained stable travel demand and booking lead times. Airbnb set its third-quarter revenue guidance range at $4.02 billion to $4.1 billion, with the midpoint above analysts' average expectation of $4.05 billion.

Meanwhile, the company announced a new $6 billion Class A common stock repurchase plan, demonstrating confidence in future business prospects.

Gig economy reshapes the U.S. employment landscape

The strong performance of these four major platforms reflects the deep development of the U.S. gig economy.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that from 2012 to 2023, the number of non-employer businesses grew at an average annual rate of 2.7%, significantly outpacing the 1.1% growth rate of traditional employer businesses, causing the latter's share of U.S. businesses to decline by 3 percentage points to 21.6%.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. In 2021 and 2022, the growth rates of non-employer businesses reached 4.9% and 4.7%, far exceeding the 1.9% and 1.8% growth rates of employer businesses during the same period.

The transportation industry is the main driver of growth for non-employer businesses, with over 200,000 new such businesses added from 2022 to 2023. Among them, nearly 122,000 new non-employer businesses were added in the taxi and luxury car service industry, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time.

The accommodation and food service industry and utilities also added approximately 40,000 and 884 non-employer businesses, respectively.

Although some industries, such as retail trade, have contracted, non-employer businesses overall still contributed about $1.8 trillion to GDP, accounting for 6.4% of the total U.S. economy