--- title: "A week after the FTC demanded Uber's pricing formulas, its CEO described the algorithms in action" description: "One week after the FTC ordered Uber to open its pricing and driver-pay formulas, the CEO said algorithms trained on billions of trips now decide where every incentive dollar goes, and that rider prices may rise to fund drivers. The stock rose 7% anyway." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Applications" published: 2026-11-04T17:18:21.313Z modified: 2026-11-04T17:18:21.313Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/a-week-after-the-ftc-demanded-uber-s-pricing-formulas-its-ceo-described-the-algorithms-in-action language: en keywords: "Uber, FTC, Earnings, Driver Incentives, Pricing, Regulation" --- # A week after the FTC demanded Uber's pricing formulas, its CEO described the algorithms in action > One week after the FTC ordered Uber to open its pricing and driver-pay formulas, the CEO said algorithms trained on billions of trips now decide where every incentive dollar goes, and that rider prices may rise to fund drivers. The stock rose 7% anyway. One week after the Federal Trade Commission [ordered Uber to hand over the inputs behind its pricing and driver-pay formulas](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/28/ftc-walmart-uber-target-data-personalized-pricing.html), [Uber](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/uber)'s chief executive stood on an earnings call and described those formulas running the company's money in real time. "If you have a dollar, what is the maximum predicted return for that dollar? The algorithms are making these choices," [Dara Khosrowshahi](https://theinference.org/markets/people/dara-khosrowshahi) said Wednesday, describing a system trained on billions of trips [2]. The call landed one week into the agency's 45-day clock, and it handed regulators their evidence on the spot [2]. ## Riders now fund the drivers Uber faces its worst driver shortage since 2021, the year it last poured money into driver payments after the pandemic emptied the roads [2]. The fix this time is to cut rider incentives and move those dollars to drivers, which "[does mean sometimes higher prices for riders](https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-boosts-driver-incentives-may-increase-rider-prices-2026-11)," Khosrowshahi said [2]. The squeeze is global: fuel prices spiked in Brazil and India after the US and Israel started a war with Iran, so driver incentives are rising there too, said chief financial officer Balaji Krishnamurthy [2]. ## The beat, and the soft patch Investors liked the quarter anyway. [Revenue rose 9.6% to $14.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA, Uber's reported profit measure, rose 31% to $2.96 billion](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-q3-profit-revenue-beat-124359214.html), both ahead of estimates; gross bookings jumped 20% to $59.82 billion [3]. But the fourth-quarter guidance came in light: bookings of $63.25 billion to $65.25 billion against the $64.29 billion analysts expected, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.95 to $0.99 versus $1.00 forecast [3]. The stock rose 7.06% on Wednesday [1]. *Chart: **Fourth-quarter bookings guidance brackets the Street view at $64.29 billion** Column chart of Uber gross bookings for Q3 2026 and its fourth-quarter guidance range against the Street view* *Gross bookings, US dollars in billions: Q3 2026 actual and the fourth-quarter guidance range from Uber's earnings release [3], against analyst expectations for the fourth quarter [3]. [3]* *Chart: **Revenue grew 33% over two years, with a dip in Q1 2026** Column chart of Uber quarterly revenue, Q3 2024 through Q3 2026* *Uber quarterly revenue, US dollars in billions, Q3 2024 to Q3 2026 from its SEC filings [6], Q3 2026 from its earnings release [3]. [6][3]* ## The FTC now wants the formulas Khosrowshahi just described The order, [covered in our November 3 piece](https://theinference.org/article/the-ftc-wants-uber-s-pricing-formulas-the-earnings-call-is-its-first-test), arrived October 28 under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, a study tool rather than an enforcement finding, and went to [nine companies including Uber, Lyft and DoorDash](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/full-list-of-companies-ftc-probing-over-personalized-pricing/ar-AA2gln3W) [4][5]. Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the agency wants the "opaque methodology" behind what consumers pay and what gig workers are offered, with responses due 45 days after receipt, mid-December for Uber [4][5]. The call gave the agency a running description of exactly those systems: algorithms deciding where each incentive dollar goes, with the cost passed to riders [2]. Transparency is a modest cost for a company growing bookings 20% [3], but it is the first test of whether the margin record holds up once the formulas are public. Watch the filing in mid-December, and the next driver-incentive line. ## Takeaway Uber beat Q3 estimates and the stock rose 7%, but it is shifting incentive dollars from riders to drivers, may raise rider prices, and owes the FTC its pricing and driver-pay formulas by mid-December. ## Sources 1. [MT Newswires via Yahoo Finance, Uber Third-Quarter Results Top Street Views; Issues Soft Bookings Guidance, 4 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/uber-third-quarter-results-top-144530468.html) 2. [Business Insider, Uber boosts driver incentives, may increase rider prices, 4 November 2026](https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-boosts-driver-incentives-may-increase-rider-prices-2026-11) 3. [Investing.com via Yahoo Finance UK, Uber rises after Q3 profit, revenue beat estimates as gross bookings jump 20%, 4 November 2026](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-q3-profit-revenue-beat-124359214.html) 4. [Newsweek, Full list of companies FTC probing over personalized pricing, 29 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/full-list-of-companies-ftc-probing-over-personalized-pricing/ar-AA2gln3W) 5. [CNBC (Reuters), FTC demands Walmart, Uber, Delta and others hand over data on personalized pricing, 28 October 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/28/ftc-walmart-uber-target-data-personalized-pricing.html) 6. [Uber, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 4 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001543151) --- A week after the FTC demanded Uber's pricing formulas, its CEO described the algorithms in action — The Inference. 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