Analist robotaksi korkularının tamamen gülünç olduğunu söylüyor

Analyst calls robotaxi fears completely ridiculous

Jackson Alton Hinkle

Tue, September 15, 2026 at 2:50 AM GMT+3 3 min read

Uber investors have spent 2026 weighing the threat from Tesla's Cybercab and Waymo. Sam Badawi says the selloff has confused a real long-term risk with an imminent hit to Uber's business.

The WOLF Financial market analyst told TheStreet Roundtable that the reaction was "completely ridiculous." He recommended moving Uber to No. 47 on the Roundtable 100.

His argument is not that autonomous vehicles will never threaten Uber. It is that the market is pricing in a transition that could take years while overlooking growth in delivery, freight and Uber's own autonomous-vehicle network.

What the market is missing

Badawi said Uber has become shorthand for ride-sharing after more than a decade of changing how people hail a car. That original business, however, is only part of the company investors are valuing today.

Uber now spans mobility, delivery and freight. Its proposed acquisition of Delivery Hero would extend the combined company to 99 markets, according to Uber's July announcement.

Uber offered €41.50 a share for Delivery Hero, valuing the company at $14.8 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2027, subject to shareholder acceptance and regulatory approvals.

"With the Delivery Hero acquisition, you're looking at a company that's potentially bringing more autonomy on a global scale," Badawi said. He expects that scale to lower costs and improve margins.

Why robotaxis are not an immediate threat

Badawi acknowledged that autonomous vehicles could challenge Uber. He disputed how quickly Tesla and Waymo can do it at scale.

"The fear that Tesla Cybercab is gonna eat their lunch and that Waymo is gonna eat their lunch is completely ridiculous," he said.

Uber is also positioning itself to profit from the shift. The company says it works with more than 30 autonomous-vehicle partners across mobility, delivery and freight, which already complete millions of autonomous trips on its platform each year.

Uber expects to facilitate autonomous trips in as many as 15 cities by the end of 2026 and aims to become the world's largest facilitator of autonomous trips by 2029, according to its September update.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi reinforced that case on Sept. 10, buying 141,000 Uber shares at a weighted average price of $70.96. The purchase was worth about $10 million, an SEC filing shows.

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The growth behind Badawi's call

Badawi's case rests on a valuation gap. He believes investors are discounting Uber for a threat that remains years away while paying too little attention to the company's current growth.

Uber's second-quarter revenue rose 12% from a year earlier to $14.2 billion, according to the company's earnings release. Delivery revenue grew 28%, freight revenue rose 26% and mobility revenue increased 1%.

"I'm looking at about 20% plus growth, especially for them for the delivery segment," Badawi said.

He expects mobility growth to recover after what he described as adjustments in the U.K. Uber sits at No. 50 on the Roundtable 100 this week, up from No. 83.

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Sep 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.