Even as investors await the day when ride-hailing behemoth Uber would show some profits, and despite years of operation as the top-company in its domain, the company does not seem to be showing many signs of moving to profitability in the immediate future. In its latest quarter, the company managed to post losses of $1 Bn, despite better than expected revenues.
However, when you compare the losses in this quarter to those in the last, why Uber has pulled off a veritable miracle. From losing a massive $5 Bn last quarter on revenues of $2.9 Bn, the company only lost $1 Bn while the revenues increased to $3.8 Bn in its latest report.
Speaking on the topic, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO. said:
Our results this quarter decisively demonstrate the growing profitability of our Rides segment. Rides Adjusted EBITDA is up 52% year-over-year and now more than covers our corporate overhead. Revenue growth and take rates in our Eats business also accelerated nicely. We’re pleased to see the impact that continued category leadership, greater financial discipline, and an industry-wide shift towards healthier growth are already having on our financial performance.
Expectedly, the company’s ride sharing business continues to fuel most of its growth. by virtue of being the most established and largest of the company’s various forays. Both Uber Eats and the company’s freight division continued to lose money, $316 Mn and $81 Mn, with losses increasing by 67% and 161% over last year. The company lost close to half a billion to stock-compensation based expenses.
Uber stock took a nosedive in after-hours trading post this news, and is currently trading at $31.
Meanwhile, the Uber leadership has been taking some hard decisions to bring the company on the path to profitability. This has included the recently concluded layoffs where over 1,100 employees were let go. Dara and company believe that all these moves will ensure that the ride-hailing company gets on track to profitability within the next two years.
