Gas is up. Most buyers are spending less. But three of the biggest gig apps just beat Wall Street's Q1 numbers.
Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart all topped forecasts this week. The reason isn't a price cut. It's the paid user who keeps shelling out $96 a year for faster service - and didn't pull back.
Uber One is the firm's paid plan. It now has about 50 million users at $96 a year.
Those users drive close to half of all Uber rides, per CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on the Wednesday call.
DoorDash's plan, DashPass, costs the same. Signups grew in Q1, and monthly users hit an all-time high.
The bottom line: A paid user opens your app first, and that flow shows up in earnings.
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Khosrowshahi calls Uber's plan a "barbell" bet. One end serves cost-cutters. The other end serves big spenders.
The big spenders carry the load. Uber says they are 3.5x more profitable than free-tier users. Low-cost and paid plans together pull in more than 25% of new Uber riders.
The push for big spenders keeps growing. In March, Uber rolled out Uber Elite, an invite-only ride with pro drivers and luxury cars for high-paying riders.
Last week, the firm added drinks and snacks to Uber Black rides. It also rolled out a new courier that picks up from local shops.
Lyft is on the same track. CEO David Risher called it "high-value modes" on Thursday's call.
DoorDash orders rose 27% from a year ago. Uber Eats posted a 34% jump in sales and a 28% rise in bookings.
All three stocks rose this week.
"We're definitely seeing that not all consumers are under pressure," said Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment. "Some are still very high earners and doing very well."
DoorDash also gained ground with baby boomers last year, per polling firm Morning Consult. That group tends to have more cash on hand than younger ones.
Instacart is making the other end of the bet pay too. CEO Chris Rogers said shops that match in-store prices grow faster on the app than ones that mark them up.
That's why the math keeps working at both ends.
The bet from here is more of the same: more perks at the top, more deals at the bottom, and a paid plan in the middle.
The risk is that the paid user pulls back too. So far, they haven't.
When half your rides come from users who already paid to be there, a slow shopper doesn't slow you down.
That's the new shape of the gig space. Paid plans on top of paid plans. The bet is built to ride out a slow consumer.
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