Motley Fool Money - Can Uber Make an “Everything” App?

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

Uber has been in the middle of the autonomy debate and recently added hotels to the mix, so we’re wondering if they can be the “everything” app built around transportation? First quarter results indicated they have the momentum to do it. We also get to results from Disney and Novo Nordisk, which had investors cheering today. Travis Hoium, Lou Whiteman, and Rachel Warren discuss: - Uber’s Q1 2026 results - Can Uber make an “everything” app? - Disney’s momentum and challenges - Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 conundrum Companies discussed: Uber (UBER), Expedia (EXPE), Disney (DIS), Novo Nordisk (NOVO). Host: Travis Hoium Guests: Lou Whiteman, Rachel Warren Engineer: Dan Boyd Disclosure: Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, “TMF”) do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within advertisements. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement. We’re committed to transparency: All personal opinions in advertisements from Fools are their own. The product advertised in this episode was loaned to TMF and was returned after a test period or the product advertised in this episode was purchased by TMF. Advertiser has paid for the sponsorship of this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earning season is in full swing and we have good news for investors today. Monty Fool, Hidden Gems Investing starts now. Welcome to Molly Poole and Jem's Investing. I'm Travis Holm. I'm joined today by Lou Whiteman and Rachel Warren. And this is one of those days during earnings season where there is just a flood of earnings. So we got some interesting announcements. We're going to talk today about Uber, Disney, and Novo Nordisk.

Let's start with Uber, Lou. Disruption has been on the market's mind in 2026. and that has impacted a lot of software-related stocks. Uber is maybe in the crossfire a little bit here, but shares were down about 12% over the past year. There's worries that Waymo is going to take market share. Tesla is potentially expanding, although we don't know how quickly that's going to happen.

But Uber's really taking an interesting strategy here, not only moving into autonomy overall, but also becoming more than a ride-sharing company. They've got more retailers. They recently announced hotels on the app. And their earnings were pretty good. I mean, they're still growing at 20-ish percent and just compounding that year over year. So when you look at their earnings and the strategy shift that they're going through right now, what do you, what do you think?

I mean, look, I love what they're doing. I think the core business looks great. I mean, this whole idea of like, and, you know, we were talking about beforehand, this everything app that they're creating, moving around. I'll take the under on that, Travis. I find me. You don't think that they can, that Uber is going to be the one-stop shop for all things. mobility related, whether you're moving people, products, don't know vacation.

Look, look, it makes total sense. Just like PayPal's Everything app made total sense as your one-stop shop on your phone. Just like Meadow, what they tried to do with WhatsApp, especially in developing markets, made all the sense in the world as a one-stop-everything app. X makes perfect sense as a one-stop-everything app. People don't want everything apps. Companies want everything apps because everything means. we get all of the revenue.

We can expand our business on the back of our customer base. I get that, but customers don't want that. Customers are used to what they're doing. There's really, unless you really, really give them a deal and ruin the economics for you, how do you change just behavior? And look, it's a great idea. If they're not spending too much, go for it. But it's not going to work.

None of these everything apps have worked. And this one won't work. Let me push back on that with one. example, and that's Amazon, Amazon, I think, has probably done a better job than any other company becoming the Everything app for at least shopping and then throw a little bit of video on top of that, throw pharmaceuticals and all kinds of stuff. You don't think that Uber could potentially do that with sort of their realm. It's not retail. It's more, hey, I need to move myself or I needed to move something around. And that's kind of the core is that transportation as a service.

I sort of reject the premise of that comparison. I don't think. I mean, Amazon is doing a lot of things, but I think more, Amazon desperately begs me to do Grubhub through their app. And I don't do it. That's the Everything app comparison. And I don't think that works. The fact that Amazon has expanded into new markets,

I don't know if that's because they have an Everything app. Again, I get the idea of it. But look, if I want a ride share, I'm probably going to go to Uber. to train me to do other things like, oh, I want to, you know, book a trip. I'm going to go to Uber. No, I'm going to go to booking. I'm going to go to Delta. I'm going to go to all of the things I go to.

Again, you know, points for trying, Gold Star. Again, I can't come back to this enough. The core business looks pretty good. So I guess this is when you experiment and go ahead and try, but it's not going to work. We've seen this so many times. And it makes so much sense for the companies. The companies fall in love with it because, look, at all the rest. If we could just get 2% of this market, that would be so much revenue.

Those are the conversations they're having right now. And yeah, I get why they're all slapping themselves in the back. But wake me up when it happens. Rachel, do you think that this is a strategy shift that's fun to talk about, but it's still the core business is really what matters here. You know, revenue was up in the quarter 14%. We got gross bookings. We're up 25%. Things seem like they're doing pretty well in the core. Like, said, but are these ancillary additions going to mean anything? Yeah, I do think that the important focus right now is the core business, which is doing exceptionally well. But I think I have a little bit of a different take on this than Lou. I mean, obviously, we're seeing this strategy, right, where they're wanting to shift from

being known as the ride-hailing and, you know, delivery app to maybe become something of a super app, which would center sort of on the entire travel journey, right? This partnership they have where they're adding hundreds of thousands of hotel listings through Expedia and vacation rentals via Verbo. This is this idea that we're seeing where Uber wants to be, you know, the first app you open, say, when you land in a new city. And that goal, I think, is to create kind of a very seamless experience where you, maybe book your hotel, you get a discounted ride there, you order food or forgotten

essentials. It's interesting, too, because this is a model that has proven really, really successful at other parts of the world, right? You think of WeChat in China. It's sort of the gold standard of super apps. You've got a billion users on there that do everything from messaging and paying bills to booking their doctor's appointments. You've got Grab in Southeast Asia, right? There's Gojek in Indonesia. And so this is a model that has been successful in many, many, many markets.

Now, in a lot of the Western markets, where Uber predominantly operates, this is not so much the type of app that consumers tend to use. And so I think they're trying to see whether the appetite is there. I mean, I think by bundling some of these services, this idea is to create something of a loyalty loop, right? Where maybe you earn credits on big ticket hotel stay, it pays for your daily rides. There's a lot of incentives with Uber One. There's a challenge, though, for consumer adoption. And I think that's the biggest question about whether this works for Uber specifically long term, because the model itself works very, very well in other markets.

Well, the interesting piece here, Lou, is the Uber One piece. And the analogy that I would make is to Costco. Costco is the company that made this really profitable and huge business out of, they basically run their stores at break-even. That's why they have really low gross margins. That's why their products are cheaper when you go into the store. And they build everything around basically being break-even at the store and making them at the best experience they could possibly.

And then all the profit comes from those memberships that you pay each year. to be a member of Costco. Could something like that work for Uber? I mean, you know, reduce that take rate and say, hey, if we have, you know, 100 million subscribers to Uber 1 at, you know, 10, 20 bucks a month, that could be a really good business. It could. But again, I mean, look, if this isn't that novel, right?

I mean, the difference with Costco is, is at the end of day, you're getting a really good price on all of these things. And, you know, I mean, I don't know, can with third parties? Can Uber manage those margins? But look, I'm flying Delta tomorrow. The second I bought an airplane ticket, Delta said, hey, you want to get your rental car through me? You want to get your hotel through me? And you know what?

I didn't. And then I paid for it with a Capital One card. Capital One said, hey, you're taking a trip. Do you know about our Capital One travel app where you can get your rental car and hotel? You know, look at what Airbnb has tried with experiences. Tell me, I mean, that's a fine ad. That is a great pushback. Airbnb has not been successful moving into other areas.

What I say is it's that, again, I get why Uber wants to do this. I get why it makes sense. I think the really hard thing is to change consumer behavior. Why does it make sense for me, the consumer, to do it? I get convenience, but I got convenience everything. I can go to booking.com and do it all if I really want convenience. I just think changing consumer behavior is much harder than these companies realize at the time. Again, I go back to, I thought the PayPal everything app was a real thing.

really good idea. And I do think that if we had followed through on it, probably it would have made my life and everyone's life easier. And yet, none of us did it anyway, because we're stuck in our habits. And I feel like that's what's going to happen here. Can Uber change people's behavior? Just remember that 20 years ago getting in a random person's vehicle to get a ride across town, was it completely foreign concept? But again, yes, it was a convenient. Right. I didn't have another way I'm used to doing it. It was a foreign concept. I mean, you know, again, yeah, I get it. I love these straw man, you know, reasons why. I'd love to be an optimist here. It would probably be easy to just do it all through one app. But again, I'll believe it when I see. Well, the market is

buying it for today. Shares were up about 10% early in trading. So we'll see if that holds. When we come back, we're going to get to the news from Disney. You're listening to Motley Fool, Hidden Gems investing. Dell PCs with Intel Inside are built for the moments that matter. For the moments you plan and the ones you don't. Built for the busy days that turn into all-night study sessions, the moment you're working from a cafe and realize every outlet is taken. The times you're deep in your flow and the absolute last thing you need is an auto-update throwing off your momentum. That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to the way you actually work, built with a long-lasting battery so you're not scrambling for the closest outlet and built in intelligence that makes

updates around your schedule, not in the middle of it. They don't build tech for tech, They build it for you. Find technology built for the way you work at Dell.com slash Dell PCs, built for you. Welcome back to Molly Fools and Gems Investing. We got results from Disney this morning. And this is one of those companies that's gotten a lot of flack for investors. You know, shares have really struggled if you look back over the past decade or so. They have a new CEO, Josh DeMorrow.

This quarter I thought was interesting, Rachel, because there's not a lot of flash there. but it is just sort of steady as it goes. The company's growing. Profitability is improving. This is what we want to see. And Disney just seems like the kind of company that the market would love. You know, you have a lot of these big retailers that the market's saying, hey, these companies aren't going anywhere.

Let's trade 50 times earnings. Disney's not getting the same love from the market, but it seems like the results are showing that this business has a ton of staying power. Yeah, I think it goes to show this. Sometimes market responses to earnings reports are not. not always logical. I mean, this was a solid, fantastic quarter for the business. So we're sort of of more of the same. They hit a record $25 billion in revenue. That was up to 7% year every year. So the core business continues to grow at a really solid clip. Operating income for Disney Plus and

Hulu jumped 88%. You saw the entertainment division grow revenue by 10%. And that was notable because they're sort of carrying the weight for the stagnant sports segment, right, that's dealing with a lot of pressure due to rising rights fees. And even though we're seeing, you know, consumer spending fatigue, we're seeing some shifts in international travel experiences revenue rose 7%. And part of that was because they increased the average spend per guest. The newly minted CEO, Josh Tomorrow, he's moving fast to really centralize marketing and use AI personalization to keep streaming margins above 10%. He's been cutting costs through strategic layoffs. They're moving forward with that $60 billion investment, plan. They're trying to turn hits like Inside Out 2 and Moana 2 into physical destinations.

And the takeaway for me here is I think betting on physical experiences is very much a safer long-term play for Disney than say trying to enter into sort of this endless content arms race with Netflix, leading into that experiences division, which already accounts for a lot of their overall profit. They're monetizing their fans multiple times. This is proving to be a really consistently profitable strategy, even in a difficult macro environment. Yeah, Lou, it seems like the experiences business, tomorrow came from the experiences side of the business. So that does seem to be the core. It didn't say that anything was changing strategically, but that sports business more and more seems like it doesn't quite fit under

the Disney umbrella. So maybe we see some changes there, but, you know, it seems like there's a lot of tailwinds for Disney. You know, I did a little bit of research recently on. on the Disney experiences. And they have a lot of capacity in Florida coming online. That's not to mention the cruise lines and all the other expansions they have around the world. So this may be moving in the right direction for a while. Yeah.

So we're not going to call this a referendum on tomorrow because he was only CEO for 14 days of that quarter. So I doubt you know, but again, I mean, that that's good. We don't want it. This looked like a perfectly fine large company report. You know, I mean, look, there's a lot of parts in the investing world where, you know, we're not going to strike up the band

for 7% revenue growth, high single digit revenue growth. But given Disney size, given the fact that, I mean, my big takeaway here is that, you know, everything's fine. And, you know, with slow and steady, maybe what we needed with Disney, because we haven't gotten that quarter to quarter for a couple of years. I will say, though, I don't know why this big amalgamation of assets is really, should wow investors or excite investors. You mentioned sports.

There's a legacy TV business. The more and more I look at this company, the more and more I think that it would benefit from some more strategic pairings or more strategic kind of investitures than I realized. We've talked about the legacy TV. We've talked about maybe sports, maybe almost all of the streaming. I don't, you know, maybe not get rid of it completely, but find partnerships just to focus.

on, as you say, the experiences, the things to do really well, getting that IP, keeping that IP in house. But I don't know if this is ever really going to work as a market wow investment, as is when it's just this huge bundle of everything. I think maybe the Demario era might be about what they sell, where they partner, where they decide we don't have to do it in-house. I think that might be what the feature is for this company. It's pretty easy to see some value here if you're a long-term investor, though.

You know, Lou is probably right. This is not going to be a double-digit 20% growth company. But the company is growing. Price earnings multiple on a trailing basis is 17. On a forward basis, it's under 15. If we get some sort of, you know, pullback in the market, the market is probably going to like some of these safer stocks that single-digit growth at a, you know, mid-teens price earnings multiple isn't all that bad of a formula.

Well, so the question there is, is that why, if that pullback comes, why does it come? If it comes because the consumer's under pressure, it's probably not going to be Disney ealing into there, right? Because so much of it is the parks and experiences. But, yeah, I do think that this is looking more like ballast than exciting. Again, I wonder if there isn't a way to keep the, to not turn into six flags, to keep the natural advantages they have over six flags, but not have. have all of this completely in-house.

I do think that, you know, if I'm an investment banker, that's what I'm spending time trying to talk to Disney management about. I do think there's ways to craft out a middle ground that might make this a more interesting investment while also not giving up on their competitive strengths. Well, the market likes what it hears today. Shares are up 8% as we're recording. So we'll see where things go in the future. When we come back, we are going to get to some good news for Novo Nordisk.

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On Security Now, you'll find it at twit.tv slash SN or wherever you get your podcast. Join us, won't you? Welcome to Motley Fool, Hidden Gems, investing. Novo Nordisk reported earnings as well over the past 12 hours or so, Rachel. This is the area that you follow closely. But as I was looking at this, I was shocked to see Novo Nordist stock is down 75% since its peak in 2024. that is just a crazy fall for a company that I think is still very identifiable with this GLP1 craze. Things are turning around at least it seems like the market's thinking we got a little bit of good news today.

So what did you see from the results? Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest and most obvious takeaway is the oral version of Wagovi that they are selling is proving to be a major volume engine for the business. So this was the first full quarter of the Wagoe pill being on the U.S. market. It did the equivalent of about $354 million in sales, million dollars. I'm translating that from Danish Crotor, but that was essentially double what analysts were expecting. And so there's this idea that Novo's maybe tapping into a segment of patients that weren't using the injectable version by making the drug a simple pill, lowering the barrier to entry. Their overall sales in the quarter jumped about 32% on a constant currency basis. And the Wagovi brand now controls about 65% of all new.

prescriptions in the U.S. obesity market. And they actually elevated their guidance a bit. They're now looking for sales and profits to contract by only 4 to 12 percent instead of 13 percent. So they're still looking at declines. So we're seeing more prescriptions, but less profits. Is this mean that they're lowering prices? I think this is what we've seen with some of their partnerships. They're, I think, down almost 90 percent from that kind of $2,000 a month. Is it, is it we're going to lower prices, are we're going to make it up in volume? Is that the story? I think that's what they're hoping, right? So they're cutting prices by up to 70% in some channels. You've got list prices that are set to drop another 50% in 2027. But there's something I want to note here. The Wagovi pills require

significantly more of the key active ingredient, some of luteide, to be effective compared to an injection. So what that means is, Novo is using more raw material to make less profit per patient. So that is a drag on the margins that doesn't exist for injectable drugs. And of course, they've already been losing ground to the likes of Eli Lilly with competition of the GLP1 space. The other point I'll make is they are spending billions on CAPEX to build massive new factories in places like Ireland, like Italy. They're dealing with a very, very competitive landscape right now. So if demand slows down, you know, if the volume drift slows in any way or you have a better drug from a competitor that hits the market. You've got a major next-gen GLP 1 from Eli Lilly coming soon. Could they be

dealing with very expensive underutilized infrastructure? That remains to be seen. The classic thing, right, Travis? We're making it up on volume, right? I feel like that meme where, well, it didn't work for these others, but it might work for us comes in here. Look, it's fine and good. I think they are second best right now in their core market right now, if we're honest, and that's an issue. It's especially an issue because, look, Eli Lilly is invest. heavily in what's next. They have done billions in deals this year. I love it when a company takes profits from an existing business and tries to invest in the future with it. We haven't seen that from though. I mean, I know they are very, very high on some parts of their pipeline.

There's since being candidates here. But if you dig down, a lot of that pipeline is just different ways to express GLP. Good for them. Use this volume and try and invest in going somewhere else. I think that would be my advice for them right now. Just make sure you don't turn out a one-hit wonder because in pharmaceuticals, just even if it's going well with the way patents work, one-hit wonders tend not to fare too well over time. Yeah, the clock is ticking. They have about five years left on the patent in the U.S.

That patent expired in Canada. Whoops, they forgot to file some paperwork and pay a couple hundred dollars to keep that exclusive in Canada. But yeah, for now, things do seem to be going well. But I agree. You look at Eli Lilly's pipeline, in particular, Red of Trutad. They've got some other things outside of GLP ones that are really compelling. So if you're looking at pharmaceutical stocks, despite the fact that there's a bounce today, look at the fact that lowering prices is really what Novo Nordisk is doing.

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to see our full advertising disclosure. Please check out our show notes. For Lou Whiteman, Rachel Warren and Dan Boyd behind the glass, I'm Travis William. Thanks for listening to Motley Fool, Hidden Jim's Investing. We'll see you here tomorrow.