Arete Research analyst Oliver Lester downgraded Uber Technologies Inc. shares to “Neutral” and cut his price target to seventy-four dollars, pointing to a lack of meaningful upside from current levels. Despite the downgrade, the company’s shares ended Thursday’s trading session higher, although they remain down about twenty percent from their peak since the start of twenty twenty-six.

The downgrade was driven by expected margin deceleration: Uber’s earnings per share are projected to drop by sixty-five percent to one dollar and nine cents in the current quarter, despite a nine point six percent increase in annual sales to fourteen point seventy-six billion dollars. This divergence stems from rising operational costs, higher driver payouts, and regional investments.

Additional pressure on valuations comes from intensifying competition in autonomous transport, particularly from Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi network, whose lower cost per mile could undermine Uber’s pricing strategy. Nevertheless, the Wall Street analyst consensus on the stock remains a “Strong Buy,” with a mean price target exceeding one hundred three dollars per share.