Uber Slips on $2.4 Billion Loss, Weak Outlook
By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Uber stock (NYSE:UBER) traded 1% weaker in Thursday’s premarket as the company booked a net loss of $2.4 billion in the third quarter and gave an outlook that analysts found underwhelming.
The loss was due overwhelmingly to writedowns on its equity investments, notably in Chinese ride-hailing Didi Global (NYSE:DIDI), whose stock fell heavily after a bruising battle with regulators in the summer. Uber also spent more to lure drivers back.
Though Uber didn’t name Didi in its report, it holds around 12% in Didi which listed on the NYSE on June 30. Since then, Didi’s shares have lost more than 41%.
The ride-hailing company also holds 7.8% in India’s food delivery app Zomato though those shares trade well above their IPO price.
The company gave a wide range while forecasting its December-quarter adjusted earnings, saying it sees them between $25 million and $75 million. Analysts expected more, given that the pandemic-related driver shortage is easing (thanks in part to its incentives), allowing the company to cash in better on a market where public confidence has rebounded to a level that encourages more cab use, both in absolute terms and relative to public mass transit systems.
Uber did manage to report an adjusted profit for the first time since listing, albeit it was a modest $8 million.
That compares to adjusted EBITDA of $67.3 million at Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT). Uber’s smaller rival expects adjusted EBITDA of $72.5 million at the midpoint of its fourth-quarter guidance range.
Uber’s gross bookings grew 57% on the year to $23.1 billion and revenue grew 72% to $4.8 billion.
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