By Pras Subramanian

Uber (UBER) reported strong third quarter results before the bell on Tuesday, but investors likely wanted more, sending the stock lower in pre-market trade. The results follow a wave of deals Uber has made in the autonomous space.

Uber reported Q3 revenue of $13.47 billion vs $13.26 billion estimated per Bloomberg consensus, a 21% jump from a year ago. Uber posted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.20 vs $0.70, with adjusted EBITDA coming in at $2.3 billion vs $2.27 billion, up 33%. Net income jumped to $6.6 billion, however $4.9 billion of that was due to a tax valuation benefit, not operations.

Uber’s Q3 monthly active platform consumers (MAPCs) hit 189 million vs. 184.1 million expected, up 17% year over year and topping estimates. Gross bookings jumped 21% to $48.7 billion, also better than the $48.96 billion expected.

Looking ahead, Uber said it projects Q4 gross bookings of $52.25 billion to $53.75 billion vs $52.33 billion estimated, and adjusted EBITDA of $2.41 billion to $2.51 billion vs $2.49 billion expected.

But Uber stock dropped 5% in pre-market trade. Uber shares were up 65% year to date prior to today's release.

"Uber’s growth kicked into high gear in Q3, marking one of the largest trip-volume increases in the company’s history,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. “We’re building on that momentum by investing in lifelong customer relationships, leaning into our local commerce strategy, and harnessing the transformative potential of AI and autonomy.”

Uber's third quarter also pushed forward how the company views its future — one that may be driverless.

Last week, Nvidia (NVDA) and Uber revealed that the two companies are partnering on what they described as the world's largest network of nearly autonomous (Level 4) cars.

Nvidia president and CEO Jensen Huang delivers the keynote address during the Nvidia GTC event at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Oct. 28, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.