“Super app” strategy and affordable services fuel user growth across Southeast Asia amid economic uncertainty.
SINGAPORE — Southeast Asia’s tech powerhouse Grab Holdings (NASDAQ: GRAB) posted better-than-expected third-quarter results, buoyed by resilient consumer spending on ride-hailing and food delivery services. The strong performance underscores the success of Grab’s ongoing transformation into a regional “super app” offering everything from transport and groceries to digital payments and financial services.
The company reported $873 million in Q3 revenue, slightly above the $872.9 million consensus estimate from LSEG data, while adjusted EBITDA reached $136 million, also beating forecasts. The results mark a sharp turnaround for the Singapore-based platform, which has steadily improved profitability since its listing on the Nasdaq in 2021.
CFO Peter Oey told Reuters that Grab’s user growth is increasingly driven by budget-friendly offerings, a key component of its multi-tier pricing strategy. “We’re seeing more engagement from savings-focused and lower-cost service channels,” Oey said. “Roughly one-third of our new monthly transacting users in deliveries come through these affordable options — and 40% of them later upgrade to premium services.”
That dual-tier approach has proven timely. Amid a backdrop of trade tensions and slowing regional economies, Grab’s expansion into low-cost ride-hailing and food delivery services has helped it capture price-sensitive consumers while shielding revenue from cyclical downturns in discretionary spending.
Grab’s delivery business — its largest revenue driver — generated $465 million in Q3, just shy of the $470 million forecast, as competition intensifies across Southeast Asia’s booming digital economy. Yet the company remains confident about future growth, particularly in autonomous mobility, where it plans to leverage its extensive ride-hailing platform to enter the robotaxi market, a segment analysts expect to expand rapidly over the next decade.
Riding its strong Q3 momentum, Grab raised its full-year guidance: projected annual revenue now ranges from $3.38 billion to $3.40 billion, up from a previous low-end target of $3.33 billion, while adjusted EBITDA is expected to reach $490–500 million, up from $460–480 million.
The upbeat forecast cements Grab’s position as Southeast Asia’s dominant tech platform — one balancing affordability with innovation. As the company pushes deeper into AI-driven logistics and autonomous transport, its “super app” ecosystem looks increasingly central to the region’s post-pandemic digital economy.
