Uber Technologies Inc. stock rose sharply premarket Tuesday as the ride-hailing and delivery giant’s revenue and forecast beat expectations, and as it reported free cash flow for the first time.
Uber
UBER,
shares are up about 12% in premarket trading after rising 4.9% to close at $24.60 Monday.
Uber reported growth in its business year over year, with overall gross bookings of $29.1 billion, beating analysts’ expectation of $28.93 billion. Mobility, or rides, gross bookings were $13.4 billion, compared with $8.64 billion in the year-ago period. Delivery gross bookings were $13.9 billion, up from $12.91 billion in the first quarter last year. Analysts expected $12.64 billion in rides gross bookings and $14.49 billion in delivery gross bookings.
Uber also reported free cash flow of $382 million, beating expectations of $106.7 million, though it posted a second-quarter loss of $2.6 billion, or $1.33 a share. That compared with net income of $1.14 billion, or 58 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Uber said the loss included $1.7 billion in losses related to the revaluation of its Aurora, Grab and Zomato stakes.
Revenue more than doubled to $8.1 billion from $3.93 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast a loss of 27 cents a share on revenue of $7.36 billion.
As it tries to ensure an adequate supply of workers, the ride-hailing giant announced last week that it would let most U.S. drivers see fares up front so they can decide if a trip is worth accepting. The company said it would also let drivers see other nearby trip requests.
The company reported adjusted Ebitda of $364 million, compared with an adjusted Ebitda loss of $509 million in the prior year period. Ebitda stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; Uber further excludes additional items such as costs associated with stock-based compensation and more.
Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on the conference call that driver supply continues to improve, with inflation affecting drivers’ decision to come onto the platform.
“The machine is working,” he said. “We’re in a competitive place to earn, and it’s showing in driver retention numbers.”
In response to an analyst’s question about whether improving driver supply will help lower the prices of rides, Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai said on the call that he expects prices to improve but that the company would spend on driver incentives in markets where they’re needed.
Khosrowshahi said markets on the West Coast, such as San Francisco, L.A. and Seattle, continue to lag in the recovery from pandemic-related effects.
Uber expects third-quarter gross bookings of $29.0 billion to $30.0 billion and adjusted Ebitda of $440 million to $470 million. Analysts expected adjusted Ebitda of $383 million, and are also forecasting a loss of 19 cents a share on revenue of $7.67 billion.
Shares of Uber have fallen about 41% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
has decreased almost 14% year to date.
