Shares of Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) ticked higher in Friday's premarket trading. The move came after news broke that the ride-hailing giant is deepening its ties with Delivery Hero SE (DELHY), the German food delivery and quick-commerce platform.

Buying More of the Pie

Uber isn't just using Delivery Hero's platform—it's buying more of the company itself. Uber acquired an additional 13.6 million shares from Prosus, which represents about 4.5% of Delivery Hero's issued capital. This isn't a casual nibble; it's a strategic bite that brings Uber's total stake in the company to about 7%.

For Delivery Hero, which operates in around 65 countries delivering everything from tacos to toilet paper in under an hour, the vote of confidence is welcome. CEO Niklas Östberg called Uber's increased investment a "meaningful endorsement" of the company's platform and long-term strategy. In other words: having a deep-pocketed ally like Uber as a major shareholder is rarely a bad thing.

The $10 Billion Robotaxi Dream

This Delivery Hero move isn't happening in a vacuum. Uber is also putting the pedal to the metal on its autonomous vehicle ambitions, committing nearly $10 billion to its robotaxi strategy. The plan includes $2.5 billion in equity investments and another $7.5 billion to scale the actual fleet.

To make this happen, Uber is expanding its web of partnerships. It's teaming up with electric vehicle maker Lucid Group Inc (LCID) and autonomous driving tech firms Pony AI Inc (PONY), WeRide Inc. (WRD), and Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc. (BIDU). The goal is a global deployment, because if you're going to spend $10 billion, you might as well aim for the whole world.

The AI Bill Comes Due

But here's the rub: all this futuristic spending doesn't come cheap, and not every tech investment is paying off as planned. Internal reports have flagged rising AI costs as a growing concern. Chief Technology Officer Praveen Neppalli Naga said the company is now "back to the drawing board" after a surge in the use of AI coding tools—particularly Anthropic's Claude Code—blew past internal expectations.

Think of it this way: you give your engineers a fancy new AI tool to make them more productive, and they use it so much that the bill becomes a problem itself. The financial pressure is already visible. Uber's R&D expenses rose 9% to $3.4 billion in 2025, and the company expects that figure to keep climbing. For now, AI looks like it might be as much a cost driver as a productivity lever.

Where's the Stock Going?

So, with all this news, where does Uber's stock actually stand? It's trading in the middle-to-lower end of its 52-week range of $68.46 to $101.99, which suggests it's in a recovery phase, not a runaway rally. The stock is 6.5% above its 20-day simple moving average, showing some improving short-term momentum. But it's still 1.5% below its 100-day average, indicating there's lingering resistance overhead.

Over the past year, the stock is up a modest 1.65%, which looks more like consolidation than a sustained uptrend. The big question is whether the current rebound can turn into something more lasting.

For traders watching the levels, there are two key numbers to know:

• Key Resistance: $78.50. This is where rallies have recently stalled, and sellers might show up again.
• Key Support: $68.50. This is the area where buyers have tended to step in and defend against deeper pullbacks.

Earnings and What the Analysts Think

All eyes are now turning to the next earnings report, confirmed for May 6, 2026. The estimates tell a mixed story:

• EPS Estimate: 71 cents (down from 83 cents year-over-year)
• Revenue Estimate: $13.28 billion (up from $11.53 billion year-over-year)
• Valuation: A P/E of 16.2x, which suggests a fair valuation relative to its peers

Despite the cost pressures, Wall Street hasn't lost faith. The stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $106.52. Recent analyst moves show a bit of caution mixed with optimism:

• Wells Fargo: Overweight rating, but lowered its target to $95.00 on March 30.
• BTIG: Maintained its Buy rating and $100.00 target on both March 17 and March 4.

As of Friday's premarket action, Uber shares were up 1.16% at $77.37. So the market is giving a tentative thumbs-up to the Delivery Hero investment and the robotaxi push. But with AI costs rising and a key earnings report on the horizon, investors will be watching to see if this is the start of a new trend or just another chapter in Uber's volatile story.