Uber COO Buys as EV Signals Flash Red

An open-market purchase by UBER's President and COO Andrew MacDonald stands out among recent insider filings. MacDonald filed on September 8, disclosing he had bought 54,325 shares on September 4 at roughly $75.65 each, for a total of $4.1 million. The trade was discretionary, not made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan. That makes it a stronger signal than a scheduled sale.

Uber has little direct exposure to car ownership trends, but the backdrop is worth noting. US first-time electric vehicle registrations fell 29% year-on-year in August 2026, according to ORTEX Alt Data tracking public registration records. Fewer new EVs on the road means more demand for ride-hailing, which may have factored into management thinking.

On the sell side, JPMorgan Chase filed disclosures as a 5% owner in several Hong Kong-listed names. The bank reported cutting its position in Kingdee International Software by over $84 million and trimming Sunny Optical by $70 million. Stakes like these are disclosed around the 5% threshold and reflect positions as last filed, not necessarily current holdings.

One activist note: Schedule 13D filings data was unavailable in this cycle, so fresh US activist crossings above 5% could not be confirmed.

The ORTEX Index Rebalance Radar flags Life Time Group Holdings and UMB Financial as facing 90% deletion odds from the Russell 2000, each carrying hundreds of millions in forced selling. That index-driven pressure can sometimes mask genuine insider conviction, so discretionary buys like MacDonald's deserve extra attention when the macro tide is working against a name.